The coppell independent school district into session.
sorry, there we are. The time is 5:00, and I'm going to call the board workshop of the coppell independent School district into session.
first thing we need to do is establish a quorum. To my right, we have
we do have a quorum, and we're going just a little bit out of order from our norms Tonight.
you know, this was an add on meeting, and the curriculum night at chs nine was already Planned in on the books.
so we started just a little bit earlier, and we're going to do open forum at the end.
we're allowed to do that in workshops according to board policy and so the only reason we Did that is to accommodate any parent that wanted to at least hear most, if not all
of the presentation tonight before that starts and not to take away from the important Curriculum night that's happening at cs nine because those dates are put on the calendar
in the spring. So that's how far in advance and it was too difficult to try to make those Last minute changes.
so with that I'm going to turn it over to doctor hunt and then we will come back to open Forum.
all right. Thank you, president caviness. Good evening board and community. Appreciate you all being here.
we have several slides that we're going through tonight. I think the translation app slide had been posted earlier and so anybody that needed that Hopefully has already received that information.
this is an additional workshop that was added after the town hall that we had last week.
I think our board members and community for your attendance, if you were there or just The input that you provided since then, as we've said all along, we're focusing not only
on today but also tomorrow. We're doing our best to work on this together.
as you all know, the first two words of our mission statement are working together, and That's what we are attempting to do, is focus on not only our issues that we're
facing immediately, but looking at long term. As you know, one of our core values is engagement, as well as great teaching and Redefining success and relationships and we're trying to do all of this work through the
lens of those four core values, as well as our vision and our priority.
focus, as we have said many times, is to make sure that we take care of the needs of our Students and our family, as well as our staff.
these are difficult conversations. They are hard conversations, but they are conversations that we need to have.
we are dealing with some budget challenges. We've been talking about that for a while.
we hit it hard last spring and you know, again, I know some people aren't as plugged in As they are now as they were then, or they're more plugged in now than
they were then. But regardless of where you are in this journey, we appreciate you being Here and giving us your input and again, want you all to know that we are working on
this, attempting to work on this as a team. We've received a lot of emails.
I see people out and about in the community when I visit campuses. I get a lot of information, as you can imagine, and we are doing our best to try to work On this as a team.
that's the only way this is going to work, and I think our community has prides itself on Our ability to come together as a community.
my big fear during all of this process, as I have said previously, is that we are going To have our heads down fighting amongst ourselves and look up and wonder what in the world
has happened to public education. We have to work together as a team. We don't have to agree on everything.
we many times don't, but we can agree that we want to do what's best for our children.
now we're doing the best with making some of these decisions, not having a crystal ball And knowing what the final outcome will be.
but we are a community of great, smart people that can work together to figure things Out, and our kids are too important for us not to do that.
so we are trying hard to take our time. We are trying hard to make sure that we bring all the input in.
but this is a process that we've been working on, as I have said, for really longer than Last spring, if you've been plugged in at all, but really talked a lot about it last
spring as we went through the budget process and so we're going to focus tonight on dual Language immersion.
it's a fantastic program that I am super proud of, but it is one that has had a lot of Questions come up and a lot of concerns, and I want to make sure that we can address
those. We have phenomenal educators. We have two amazing principals at our dli campuses.
we have kids that have done exceptional things through the dual language immersion Program, and we know we have some parents that feel very passionate about that program as
well. We as a staff feel the same. We are very proud of those programs, but these decisions are ones, and these Conversations at least are ones that we have to make.
what, regardless of what the outcome is, we're going to take care of our kids. But we have really tried to work through the priorities that the board established well Over a year ago and that number one priority is to take care of our staff to remain
competitive with salaries and benefits. That's super important as we see teacher shortages throughout the state.
we state we want to make sure that our teachers, our educators. Our staff members are looking at cisd as a destination school district.
we talk about that a lot as parents and community members, but we also mean that for our Staff as well.
we want to make sure that we are focusing on the support that we provide our educators, The training.
it's hard to be a teacher today. Our teachers need training. They need support. Some of that comes in positions.
some of that comes in resources. Some of that comes in training. We want to make sure that we're taking care of our teachers in that regard as well.
also looking at program effectiveness. We clearly have programs that people feel passionate about.
to me, that's a good thing. That would be sad if we had nobody asking about why we're doing some of the things that We're doing, or why are some of these decisions being made for people to feel so strongly
about some of the programs we've talked about tonight. We're talking very extensively about dual language immersion.
to me, I think that's a good thing. We also like choices as parents. We like choices as community members.
we like choices. So we want to make sure that we're looking at our choice programs and Doing the best we can, not just with efficiencies, but also providing the support that
they need. We have expanded open enrollment. I get a lot of questions in the community.
doctor hunt, why aren't you doing more with open enrollment? We've done a lot with open enrollment.
there's certainly more we can do. We're also we have been using our fund balance. We will be using our fund balance.
sometimes we don't realize those deficits as much as we project.
but the fund balance is there as a little bit of a safety net, but it really isn't Something to live on.
as our chief financial officer, diana sircar, has, has said several times it's more of a Checking account than just a rainy day fund.
so those priorities, you know, knowing that we're not going to make everybody happy, but Doing the best we can with what we have today and so dual language immersion is what we're
going to talk a lot about tonight. This has been a request of the board. The board heard feedback at open during open forum previously.
as well as the town hall. Doctor brooks and several of her team members are here tonight to provide some additional Information and also some clarification based on some feedback that we've
received from the board as well as the community. So I'll turn it over to doctor brooks. No problem. Thank you and school board.
y'all had some questions that we had kind of prepared as well as we're going through This. So if you have additional questions as well this evening we are definitely welcome to Take those.
but we've tried to kind of prepare based on some of the things that you had as well for Us.
so for our first slide here this was actually something that was presented in october of 2023, and it's talking about our emergent bilingual population and what we're thinking
about this. This isn't specifically for dual language immersion, but it's overall as a District when you're looking at our numbers.
so as a district, we continue to have growth in our emergent bilingual population.
in the chart and graphs, you can see our growth and the specific language percentages for Our learners.
as a reminder, these are learners meeting the eligibility of emergent bilingual based on State requirements with language proficiency and district assessments.
when learners are coming into the district and you can kind of see oops, hold on. Sorry, naveen, you're jumping ahead of me.
you can kind of see the breakdown of the top five languages within there. Our first being telugu, next spanish, tamil, hindi and arabic.
within that kind of looking at the percentage too, one of the things I'd like you to note Is that with our spanish population in particular, we're actually seeing a decline right
now in the percentage of emergent bilinguals for coppell isd. So just noting that.
our next slide has our two way dli participation by school year and as you can see, as You're going from 2014 and down to
2024-25, we have seen a decline necessarily. You see a bigger jump too, when you're looking at the particular graph right there, that Kind of just drops down within that.
once again, don't necessarily know the reason. However, there was a pandemic in case anybody remembers that in 2019, 2020 during that School year and so that may have had an impact, too, on some of our families and some of
the things within there specifically for our dual language immersion program.
good evening. For those of you who don't know me, my name is kristin eichel, and I am one Of the assistant superintendents here in coppell.
over the next couple of slides, I want to highlight the current enrollment numbers and Class sizes, both for denton creek elementary and wilson elementary school, the two
campuses that currently have the dual language immersion program.
this slide is a snapshot of the enrollment and class sizes for denton creek elementary as Of last thursday, september 19th.
as of that date, a total of 500 students in pre-k through fifth grade were attending the School.
the top section of the chart indicates that there are two dual language immersion classes In kindergarten, first and third grades, and one section of dual
language immersion in second, fourth, and fifth fifth grades.
the class sizes where there are two sections so kinder first and third in general are Smaller than our average class sizes across the district.
remembering that 22 students to one teacher is the tea staffing ratio for pre-kindergarten Through fourth and 25 to 1 is what we use here in
coppell. At fifth grade, the class sizes where there is one section in second, fourth and Fifth are consistent with average class sizes across the
district. The instructional delivery in a dual language immersion program where there are Two teachers partnered together, typically involves one
teacher who is certified in elementary bilingual education, and for this program, and Spanish.
planning, preparing and delivering instruction in spanish and one teacher who is Certified in elementary education and english as a second language.
planning, preparing and delivering instruction in english.
the instructional delivery in a dual language immersion program, where there is only one Teacher at a grade level, requires one teacher who is certified in elementary bilingual
education. Spanish for our program to plan, prepare, and deliver instruction in both English and spanish.
the bottom of the chart indicates that there are two monolingual classes per grade level In k through third grade, and there are three monolingual classes per grade level in
grades four and five, with all classes falling into the average and efficient class sizes As indicated by tea and by cisd.
this slide is a snapshot of the enrollment and class sizes for wilson elementary also as Of last thursday, september 19th.
as of that date, a total of 475 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade were Attending the school.
again, the top section of the chart indicates that there are two dual language inclusion Classes in all grades, kindergarten through fifth.
the class sizes in kindergarten, first, second, and even third in general are smaller than Our average class sizes across the district.
once again, remembering that 22 students to one teacher is the tea staffing ratio for Pre-k through fourth and 25 to 1 at fifth.
the class sizes in fourth and fifth grades are consistent with average class sizes across The district.
also for wilson elementary, the bottom of the chart indicates that there are two Monolingual classes per grade level in k through fifth grade, within general lower than
average class sizes in kindergarten through third grades, and all classes in fourth and Fifth grades falling into the average and efficient class sizes as indicated by
tea and by cisd.
this next slide is a snapshot of the enrollment and class sizes that would have been in Place last thursday, september 19th, had all of the students in the dual
language immersion program been on one campus. As of that date, a total of 366 students in kindergarten through fifth grade were Participating in the dual language immersion program in our
district. As the chart reflects in kinder, first, and third grade, the number of students In the dli program at those grade
levels could be served in three classes instead of four classes with class sizes in Alignment with district class size, averages, and tea
staffing requirements in grades second, fourth, and fifth.
the sections would remain at three per grade level in all grade levels.
three dual language immersion teachers would be working together to plan, prepare, and to Implement instruction per the guidelines and best practices of the program.
in addition, as each of the footprint campuses are designed to comfortably have five Classes per grade level, there would continue to be
two monolingual classes per grade level for the team dynamics or professional learning Communities of five educators per grade level that
would collaborate together for the growth and development of all students.
there were some questions about whether or not the consolidation of dli would cause us to Have a campus that did not have classes that were not part of that program, and that is
not the case. There would be room comfortably to have five teachers per grade level.
we can go up to six. We have gone up to six on the footprint. Campuses with both wilson and denton creek are footprint campuses.
I think it's also important to note that regardless of whether a child is served in a Dual language immersion classroom or a monolingual classroom, all of the grade level
teks or texas essential knowledge and skills and curriculum, as required by the state and Implemented by cisd educators, is the same at
the grade level. The instructional delivery method looks different, but what is required to be taught and Implemented at a grade level is consistent, regardless of whether a student is in dual
language or in a monolingual classroom, or getting their supports through other esl Formats in our district.
we're going to shift the conversation a little bit and some of the questions that came in, Both through the board and the community had to do with students who were attending both
wilson and denton creek. Based on whether or not that was their home campus, or were they zoned somewhere else Based on where their residence is?
and where were they attending? So this slide shares the home or zoned campus for each of the emergent bilingual students In the dual language immersion program who attend denton
creek. As you can see, 62% of the emergent bilingual served in dli at denton creek are Zoned to go to another cisd elementary
school based on where they live. It's important to note that transportation is offered to all of these students, and Provided to many in order to participate in the dual language immersion program.
38% of the emergent bilingual students in this program at denton creek are zoned to Attend denton creek, based on where they live.
the small chart on the right indicates that of all of the students participating in the Dual language immersion program at denton creek, both the emergent bilinguals and the
native english speakers, 31% of the students in the program are zoned to attend denton Creek, and 69% of the students in the program are zoned to attend
other cisd schools.
this slide shares the home or zoned campuses for each of the emergent bilingual students In the dli program who attend wilson elementary.
on this chart, you can see that 56% of the emergent bilingual served in dual language Immersion at wilson are zoned to go to other cisd schools
based on where they live. And once again, transportation is offered to all of these families and many of our Families do take us up on that offer and so transportation is provided to many
families in order to participate in the dual language immersion program.
44% of the emergent bilingual students in the dli program at wilson are zoned to attend Wilson, based on where they live.
again, the small chart on the right indicates that of all of the students participating In the dual language immersion program at wilson, including both emergent bilinguals and
native english speakers, 47% of the students in the program are zoned to attend wilson, And 53% of the students in the program are zoned to attend
other cisd schools.
we've also received a lot of questions and comments about economically disadvantaged Students, and what combining the program could possibly do to percentages on a
particular campus. So based on last year's data, so spring of 2324, 15% of the students at denton creek Elementary school were economically disadvantaged
and 26% of the students at wilson elementary were economically disadvantaged.
based on the initial demographic projections of enrollment at campuses based on the Consolidation of pinkerton elementary school, the consolidation of the dli program to
denton creek elementary, and the leveling of enrollment at town center, lakeside, and Cottonwood creek.
16% of students attending denton creek elementary school would be economically Disadvantaged, and 18% of the students attending wilson elementary
school would be economically disadvantaged.
mid-cycle. There's a question before you step away from the mic.
those percentages are for the entire campus, not just for dli.
is that correct? That is correct for the entire campus. Thank you. Good evening.
my name is diana sircar and I serve as the chief financial officer. There was a question about title one funding and the impact of any moves on the District's title one funding.
title one funding is determined by the number of students enrolled in the district, based Upon the census data.
the district's entire title one funding grant is a little less than $250,000 for the Year.
the district's entire title one funding is distributed based upon the number of students That attend eligible schools to receive the
funding. Title one funding would not be impacted by any campus or program consolidation Because the funding follows the students.
so once again, the word's if I always like to say if consolidation when we're having These conversations.
but if consolidation of the dual language immersion program was to go to denton creek Elementary, I'm thinking about the support through that lens.
how would we support our kids? How would we support our staff? And then also to how will we support our families?
we would continue to provide services through the dual language immersion program, and we Would encourage those families that did have to utilize transportation, possibly for that,
to be able to make sure and understand those pieces as well. Continue our partnership with cobb hill middle school, north advanced spanish program, Being in that close proximity within that for denton creek, any kind of partnership
opportunity that we could be able to have, even more so we would want to do that not only For our learners, but also for our community and for our families and our staff our
language acquisition support positions and as well as our bilingual instructional coaches That currently support our dli campuses, as well as our language acquisition specialists
are across our district for all of our campuses. We would continue partnering with them and they are providing support to our learners, Especially to with any transition or needs that we saw that may arise.
if you did not realize all of our elementary teachers, as well as a lot of our secondary Educators and specific course areas are already esl certified as well.
that is something that's a requirement per the state within that and for our district and Then we would also think about our learners and the supports for tutoring as well as
extracurriculars. That was something that was brought up as well. A question about that.
what could we do? How could we support once again, I can't say state specifically, you know, all the Different things for that.
but one of those things may be transportation, and we may need to look and see how can we Best support, but also to when miss sircar talked about those title funds and thinking
about that, we have done a lot of things in the district before that have had that Support in place for some of our other campuses as well.
so thinking specifically about how we'll support our teachers and staff.
continuing to have those focused resources and training for campus for aligning all those Supports increased opportunities for teacher collaboration.
miss eichel mentioned earlier, talking about our teachers planning together and having That collaboration opportunity.
when you're thinking about having multiple educators, that would be dli educators as well As your monolingual on the campus.
let's see here program support specifically for our dli campuses as well.
we have program support where you will have specialized such as dyslexia, speech therapy, Special education staff that are also bilingual as a part of that, to be able to make sure
that we are providing those services which are also required for state and federal needs That we have, and then once again, to for our teachers, is that language acquisition
support really that training for teachers and being continuing to be very intentional for Our emergent bilingual support and those linguistic accommodations that we would have?
when you're thinking about families really understanding the tradition, not tradition, Sorry, transition, but also understanding how we can make
sure that they understand the importance of how can we make sure that if learners are Having to travel over to a different campus, how can we work with them in understanding
the importance of dli as a whole and wanting to maintain that program of support?
also too, thinking about our community events. We know that right now, our campuses, both of our dli campuses, as well as campuses Throughout the district have a lot of events that we hold that are not only multicultural
events, but also just traditions that we've had at various campuses. How can we really strengthen and build on what has occurred, but also to knowing that is The heart of who we are in cisd, and how can we also continue to build on those
continue our parent training and partnerships? Our team has done an amazing job with our families, not only on kind of transitioning When you're thinking about coming into our country needing emergent bilingual supports,
but also to just with language and those connections across the community and the things That we've done, we would continue working with our families there and then also that
language support. We currently have one of our individuals here, stacey mcgill.
hand up right there in case people don't know you. There you are. Who is our district parent liaison who has been so supportive.
but we would definitely count on stacey and our team members just to make sure that we Are doing everything we can for our families with any type of transition or consolidation.
I'm here to talk about the initial enrollment projections that we just received last week From our demographer.
examining the current 24-25 enrollment. Our demographer took those numbers and created projections for the future.
projected enrollment loss is more dramatic than the spring projection that he provided us Due to lower enrollment in kindergarten.
these trends are not only in coppell isd, but also in other districts in texas.
in fact, it's statewide. I heard commissioner morath say today that the state is experiencing lower enrollment in The lower grades because of
smaller numbers of births that have happened over the last couple of years and so he's Expecting a state wide decline in enrollment.
based upon that coppell isd is experiencing that lower enrollment already in elementary Schools and is projected to
continue to experience a loss of elementary enrollment as more of the students in the Fourth and fifth grade classes graduate out of elementary school and fewer students enroll
in kindergarten, it's expected that elementary enrollment will decline by 550 to 660 Students in the next 3
to 4 years. I'm taking a pause there.
that's a very large number in 3 or 4 years.
it is or it was, you know, really disappointing to receive this friday from our Demographer.
it's still in draft form, so there could be some slight adjustments, but we've worked Really hard to try to do marketing tours,
increased open enrollment. I mean, we've really tried to make those efforts to increase our enrollment, really Focusing on different campaigns.
my home is c-I-s-d. I mean, y'all know we've really tried to do that.
so to see these projections are really disheartening because that only means the issues And
concerns that we're dealing with now are only going to be magnified in the future, Because we're not just talking about today.
we really are trying to plan for the future. We really are trying to have a long range plan to not only deal with some of these Budgetary concerns, but still maintain our destination school district mantra.
so it is really it was very disheartening friday to receive these numbers.
and unfortunately, secondary enrollment is not going to make up for that loss in Elementary as the current classes move through to the secondary grades, we're going to
see that decline in secondary enrollment as well. The financial impact to the district of the loss and enrollment in the next 3 to 4 years Is projected at 4 to $5 million.
so the work that the district and the board is being asked to do will not be over anytime Soon.
we're working on our first step right now. We need to continue to work together, consider ways in which we can address our Elementary enrollment decline and our future secondary enrollment.
we need to consider the total capacity needed for the projected elementary enrollment Zoning students so that they can attend neighborhood schools as much as
possible and yet understanding that students may be rezoned to different neighborhood Schools.
we need to balance the special programs that the district offers to serve students and Place those programs at schools with available capacity.
understanding that those programs could move as enrollment shifts.
we need to recognize that as enrollment declines, there may be a need to make changes More frequently than we have done in
the most recent years. But similar to zoning changes that happened as the district was growing and adding Schools in the 1990s.
these aren't easy conversations. They're difficult conversations for all districts that are facing declining enrollment Since it impacts students.
however, future thinking decisions that provide sustainable solutions need to be made so That the district is able to provide for all of
the students that the district serves, not just today, but for years to come.
recognizing that coppell isd has had a strong financial position that has allowed for Careful consideration of these decisions is important.
many districts have had to take a much quicker, severe action to adjust to their Declining enrollment, excess capacity and their financial
situation, leaving little time for discussion and little time for community input.
we need to recognize the amount of discussion, staff and community involvement and input That has been gathered through this process.
good evening. My name is angela brown and I'm the district's chief communications officer.
as a reminder, these are the options that are still on the table. The options are to consolidate pinkerton with wilson and austin.
this plan includes moving the international baccalaureate program, moving the dual Language immersion and bilingual pre-k program, leveling pre-k numbers across the
district, and adjusting attendance zones including denton creek to town center, Cottonwood creek, and lakeside.
based on enrollment, this has a net cost savings of 2.1 million.
the next option is to consolidate the dual language immersion program to one campus.
this option includes consolidate the dual language immersion program and both and the Bilingual pre-k program, with a net cost savings of $288,000.
the final option is the leveling of the pre-k program across the district, which includes Leveling pre-k numbers for efficiency and class sizes and allowing students to attend
pre-k near their neighborhood schools. This plan has no substantial financial net cost savings, but does bring efficiency Savings.
so we wanted to allow the board to have some conversation and review the information That's been shared and ask any questions or give any
feedback to the presentation so far.
have any questions? Anybody want to go first? No questions. But three points which had come out in previous workshops and the town hall Was
regarding this. One was regarding socioeconomically disadvantaged learners.
so what I hear is initial perception was that we will be consolidating socially, Economically disadvantaged
learners in one campus. Actually, it's the other way around. From the numbers we are getting, we will even that out to more 16 and 18% rather than 15 And 26% with this proposal.
other was second was title one funding, which will not get affected no matter because it Follows the student, doesn't matter which campus they
go to. Title one funding remains the same and third is how are we going to support?
to me, as I said in previous workshop, this is the most important thing we have to keep On moving forward.
how are we going to support the families? How are we going to support the learners as the changes happen?
it's something our district has done before. We are well equipped. There are actually specialized positions, fte and a whole staff With a program to take care of such changes.
which goes to the commitment. You are talking about, doctor hunt, that our first and foremost is that we're going to Take care of our learners and our families.
so we are well equipped. The staff is well equipped.
if the board chooses to proceed with the changes, we are well equipped to take care of Those changes.
those are the three main points which I got. Is that fair? Yes.
and next. Moving on. Miss, this is really troubling.
the demographic numbers and to the community. We are seeing these numbers along with you for the first time.
nothing means I've not seen this before this. So we are in shock along with you guys.
even half of this comes through. We will be here discussing similar changes multiple times in years to come.
even if half is to. If full is true that I don't have words, it's going to look really bad for our finances And for our schools.
these are real problems and as a board, we have always taken more of reactionary approach Because in these cases, taking a
pmt strike of closing a program or closing a school can really backfire and it's an undue Burden on our community and
learners and I believe as the discussion goes, at least my position is we should continue To take a little bit more of a reactive.
that's where our fund balance can help us a little bit.
but if we don't make some major changes starting this year, we're going to run out of That fund balance end of this year.
there will be nothing for next year. So if you don't mind moving to that slide.
this is new information that we received friday, as I said, from our demographer.
our plan is to have the demographer come and go more in depth on this topic at a later Date in the fall.
I think miss sircar or somebody had mentioned that in their presentation.
you know, it's a crystal ball. It could be, you know, worst case, it could be a little bit better.
it could be even worse than what's projected. But we have to be realistic with what we have in front of us and there's so much that is Subjective to this process.
we have a lot of quantitative data. We have a lot of information that we can go by.
there is some subjectivity to that as well, but it is hard to look at these numbers and Not realize that there's going to be more to come.
I think that's a solid point. You know, that we the one thing we can't the unknown in this in this process here and Why, you know, when we look at it over the years, it's
not always precise or accurate is there's things like housing turnover, neighborhood Turnover that we can't predict
but knowing the trends and talking to, you know, trustees at other districts across across The state, it's affecting everybody and I think it does go back
to, you know, as miss sircar said, the lower birth rates that are occurring.
so these things as we've seen can change on a dime. But you know, the information right now that we have that that we're looking at is Something that's
concerning, I guess, for lack of a good word for it that I can say in public.
I would say that trend would continue. The extent that the trend continues, that might change.
but I don't see anything changing. The trend I don't is if we are seeing a statewide decline, and they have done definitely A lot more studies than we as a district would have done.
yeah. The extent of these numbers might change, but I don't think the trend is changing.
I mean, I would agree based on what we're seeing.
I mean, I would like to chime in on that one as well. I mean, you know, the demographer has been telling us for years, right?
I mean, we've been looking at these numbers and the potential for the decline. We also know co-opetition, right?
I mean, we compete against other isds as well as charter schools for enrollment and, you Know, to doctor hunter point of going out there and having the various
campaigns to market and trying to attract students but also retain their enrollment once You attract them.
those trends tend to be intact, as we've seen. Right? I mean, it has not changed dramatically.
we talk to our peers, right? I mean, we sat in on the superintendent of the year.
we have those conversations and we see shifts in enrollment and where student populations Are going.
right. Even within this area in region ten and 11 once again and those things are not Slowing down.
the probability of these trends reversing themselves. Yes, maybe five, ten years down the line.
but that's not in the immediate future. In attracting people to the state is the outside source.
because if your birth rates are not there, you have to get them from somewhere if you Want to increase and grow and once again, that is an unknown.
you can't we don't have a crystal ball in regards to that.
the other thing too, when you look at these trends, you look at the elementary school, But the middle and high school trends as well.
those can change on a dime of ins and outs and the net impact of those and when you see The numbers are very small like they are, and especially with the middle school showing a
decrease as always, that pause for concern as well.
like how long can we continue and hold on to those students and the enrollment patterns?
and we do have to provide choice and I think that's one reason our numbers haven't Declined as fast because you have choice.
but even with that, we still see a decline.
now, listen, I mean, I actually see that this doctor hunt your team
is amazing. We're going to continue to answer this question like, and, you know, the Facts are the facts and I think that as we move forward in this process with enrollment,
we need to ask our pre-k and kindergarten families what they want.
you know, and be able to provide some options. If that's a tech free option or whatever we do, we will solve that problem.
and I'd like to kind of transfer back to the issue at hand, which is dli.
my main concern in coming into this workshop is I really wanted to understand, and I Still seek to understand how the
agenda item that we're looking at is how do our facilities, how do we use our facilities Efficiently and the best way possible for our district, right.
I mean, that's what we're looking at. And so when I look at this with dli, my question is what is best for this program Period.
hard stop. Not I don't want to think about the other options on the table. I want to know what is best for dli to grow this program, what I am seeing and hearing From this and I'd like is that consolidation
is actually improving the program and I don't know if I mean, that's my sense of it, but I'd like to actually have those kind of
outlined how would you guys address that? Because all of the data that I've seen are definitely the features.
I want to know the benefits. What is the benefit to the dli program if we were to choose to consolidate it?
I mean, doctor brooks can come up to the podium and as she's coming up and miss eichel, I'll go back to that one slide.
naveen, I think that it has the combined part. I do think that it is great to have small class sizes, and I know that our educators all Work hard, particularly if you're trying to
help students not only gain skills in spanish, but also in english.
that's a lot. You know, all of our teachers work hard, but certainly that's something to consider.
I do know that if you're at a campus where you're the only one teaching second grade, That can be a challenge and so to not have a partner there with you, you know, if you'd
like to work by yourself, I guess it's perfect. But most people like to have a partner to help share the load and so it's nice to at Least have someone to collaborate with doctor brooks and miss eichel.
I think that a part of it, too, is going to be once again aligning resources, being able To combine together, to be able to talk about that collaboration, that growth, when you're
looking at learners. This is one of those programs as well that, you know, as a district.
it has a choice element to it, but it is not a just a choice program within there.
so I always like to clarify there is a legal obligation for the district to have a Required program for emergent bilingual learners, and specifically our spanish population
is chosen due to our number. Within that, we have actually waivers for our other larger populations too.
within that, I'm not going to get into all the details of that this evening, but just Know how we're following all the federal and state guidelines when it comes to all of
those things in place. If you are looking at growth, you use the word growth of a program and you're trying to Say, how are we going to grow our dli program?
what you're looking at is you're looking at the eligible emergent bilingual spanish Learners that are meeting that eligibility in order to say they're going to be a part of
the program, and then you can have the matching on the other side when you're thinking About your english learner.
so if you're trying to grow the program, you're also having to look currently at your Population within coppell isd.
of those learners who may meet eligibility or similar to what we have done as a district, When you're looking at possible open enrollment opportunities where there may be other
families who may be interested, but just know it's a little different than you're talking About some of our other kind of choice programs.
when you're thinking about that growth model. I always just wanted to state that to me, right now, when you're looking at once again, Your class sizes and you're seeing the specific things across the state of
texas, you know, our minimum for elementary being an elementary background, an elementary Principal for years, you're typically looking at that 22 in a classroom
when you have an inefficiency, it also to yes, it's great to have small class sizes Within there, but also too that can become a concern when you have certain
campuses that have that and you have other campuses that also have 22 or more in a Classroom.
when you're thinking about equity within learning and you're thinking about some of that, And you're thinking about staff members conversations and the things that come into play
with that when we're looking at building the program and we're thinking about how can we Make sure and really focus on this, I do think that vertical piece right now when we're
thinking about how are we really building between if we do a consolidation, how are we Intentionally partnering, partnering our elementary campus with our middle school campus
for events and then our high school campus or campuses within there to talk about what is That trajectory for growth?
we have had more and more learners that are wanting to participate in the advanced Spanish classes and so thinking about that, how are we being so intentional about what
we're doing? How are we bringing in mentors? How are we bringing in people from the community to come and speak also to not only just Our dli program, but just thinking about that particular lens is something that I think
that we could really escalate as a district, as well as one of the things I was visiting With our director doctor anita de la isla the other day
about this, as well as her team. And we were talking about the seal of biliteracy, which is something that we don't Currently have as a district, but that could be other pieces that we're also looking at.
when you're thinking not only elementary, middle and high school, those are just some Things right now kind of thinking about the particular questions asked and then I'll let
you talk. So as doctor hunt already expressed, being able to combine the staff members so That you do have peers not
only that are teaching the same grade level, but teaching in the same language or Languages that you're teaching in creates that support system.
what isn't shown on these slides, and we alluded to a little bit, is it is very difficult To find highly qualified, not only bilingual teachers for the
classroom and when we've had turnover, in many cases, it's been individuals that have had To sustain their the one person model for their grade level year after year and that
becomes difficult when you're planning all of the instruction in both english and spanish And delivering it that way.
but also with support staff. So finding bilingual certified special education teachers that can provide those Supports, accommodations and modifications in both
languages. Finding dyslexia therapists that can provide that support in both languages.
diagnosticians that can do the testing. Speech language therapists and so in an ideal situation where we have been ready, willing And able to staff full time positions on two campuses in recent years,
it's been very difficult to do that. And so we've had to ask educators and specialists to split between campuses, which then Takes minutes away from instruction when they're going between two schools,
traveling back and forth the relationship piece and building that camaraderie not only With staff members, but with students and families.
when you're going back and forth and you have, you know, two community events that that Week or that month, you know, where do you choose to be at any given
time? You know, you do your best, but it tends to be a little more surface and not as Deep as if you are the individual or individuals on a campus.
same thing in collaborating. If we do have the luck and ability that we've had in some years to have one special ed, Bilingual certified teacher on each campus.
again, we're in that situation where you have one in each location where a consolidation Would allow, again, bringing several individuals together in like
positions to be thought partners and peers on a daily basis, not just when there's time Before and after school or on a pd day, you know, every couple of months.
so from a staffing standpoint, we feel like there's a lot of benefit because bottom line, Where the rubber meets the road is those educators in those classrooms with the kids
ready, willing and able to meet the needs where they have them. Same thing at the administrative level, we've been lucky that both of our principals are Fluent in spanish and can communicate with their families.
I wish I could tell you that was 100% across the board with our office staff and support Staff.
that's the goal, but certainly we've not met that goal as of yet. But that's another area where we can again become more efficient and in a highly Competitive field, find individuals to fill those roles singularly
and having that support moving forward.
this kind of leads me to what you said. This cycle leads me to one of my questions.
I don't need it at a granular level, but can somebody just walk me through what are the Items that make up the $288,000
of savings that we feel like we would see by consolidating the programs?
because when I look at the numbers of kids, and I know in my years on the board, we've Had years where we've had difficulty finding teachers for some of the sections at the
beginning of the school year. So just at a high level, could you walk us through how that Savings is realized?
anybody? Thank you. I'll let miss sircar talk more specifically, but most of it is personnel and finding Those efficiencies.
in setting up, you know, the class sizes, appropriate sections.
but there may have been a few more pieces. Thank you. That was my assumption, but I didn't want to see any of it is personnel.
when you're looking at four sections and only needing three sections, and then a little Bit in duplication of curriculum on both
at both campuses, but the majority is staff. The other piece would be bussing, right?
yes. Transportation. When you look at the I think it's the previous slide, naveen.
both at wilson and denton creek and maybe just one more over where you see where we have Children coming from all across the
district that are eligible for emergent bilingual services through the dli program.
we have them coming from as far as canyon ranch and valley ranch.
you know, that's ten I mean, it's not massive number of kids, but we still have to Provide transportation and then same thing on the second slide.
they would be going to one location instead of two still going across the district in Different places, but there could be a reduction in some of our
transportation services, even with sending kids from one of the elementary schools to the Other.
that's so if they qualify for emergent bilingual, then they are.
it's mandatory that you transport them to where it is available if you're doing that.
I was going to ask a question about. So spanish is a second most frequently spoken language then how are the telugu speakers Getting
serviced now when they qualify for emergent bilingual?
so as doctor brooks said, all of our elementary classroom teachers are esl or english as A second language certified, which means they have gone through training and certification
that allows them to provide instruction in a manner that helps students learn english.
so for our other eb learners who do not speak spanish but speak those other languages, Those supports are provided on each campus not only by their classroom
teachers, but through the language acquisition specialist and the instructional coaches That are part of our esl department that
support teachers and the instruction that takes place in the classroom. So if a student even qualifies for the dli program, because we do offer it in spanish, Because although it's hard to find teachers, we can find
teachers and then there is certification. Currently, there's not teacher certification for many of the languages that we have Spoken in our district, so that's not even an option.
so we do go through a waiver process because technically we have enough students that if Teachers were available and certification was available in the state of texas, we should
be providing this type of program for our students that speak those other home languages, But we do not.
so if a spanish speaking student chooses to stay on their home campus and not participate In the dual language immersion program, that does not prevent them from receiving the
supports that they need to continue to become fluent and learn to read, write, speak, and Listen in english through those other resources
that our students that speak languages other than spanish as their native language are Receiving and are very successful.
we will say, you know, dual language is about becoming biliterate in both languages, Continuing the learning and the engagement in that native language.
so I do want to say how important that is, but I also think it's important that families In our community know if in their decision, they decide that their home campus
is the right decision for them, it doesn't mean their child would not get the support They need to be successful in school.
thank you for clarifying that, miss eichel that was my question. Thank you. I was going to ask one question.
we mentioned transport right about having to go. There are other instances in other programs where we have to transport kids throughout The district, right?
we do transport kids all across our district. I know we all chose this district for many reasons.
part of it is the size, you know, end to end, about 15mi². So I know when your child is on the bus, and that can be a long way from one end to Another, but it's actually a relatively short distance from both extremes when you live
and attend school in coppell isd. But yes, our pre-k students, our youngest students we have traveling on busses all Throughout our district to be able to receive the services that they
need. Either due to language or their economic situation at home, we have our most in Need students that are served through intervention services
and our special education department, those specialized programs that require highly Trained and certified individuals to support the needs of those students are
clustered throughout the district, but are not on every campus. And those students are offered transportation and the majority of the cases, those Families take us up on that opportunity to have their sons and daughters taken to and from
school in a safe and effective environment and then we have some other choice programs or Necessary programs.
so yes, we have students going from different schools and different feeder patterns for a Variety of reasons each and every day, from our youngest to our oldest
students. Question on staffing, I think doctor hunt, you kind of touched on it on when we Were looking at the
comparison of class sections at each campus.
but, you know, one of the things I think it was last week's presentation may have been The first one, you know.
there was a slide that showed retention rate or teacher retention rate. But could you just speak on?
and I know this cycle, you guys do not only exit interviews for those that are leaving, But y'all are very proactive in touching our
campuses. You know, just to do what we call stay interviews, you know, find out what's Working, what's not working, but does as we were.
you were talking about doctor hunt does the you know, being a section of one, you know, Does that play into you know, our retention rate and
not having a team or the ability to share the load kind of the class size and the work That goes on a day to day basis.
it absolutely does and particularly in the case of individuals that are what we call a Singleton in the dual language immersion, because, as I said, the
content that's being covered is the same. You know, no matter what type of third grade program you're teaching.
but when you are the one person that's required to plan, prepare, present, assess in two Languages, you're doing everything twice,
essentially in the same amount of time that a teacher next door that is only having to do All of those things in english is doing and our teachers are very dedicated, and
many of them will come in and do that for a couple of years. But year after year, that can really add to burnout and retention rate.
sometimes it's we lose them from the district completely. Sometimes it's we lose them from the dual language immersion program, and they choose to Go into a monolingual class or another class.
it's not unique to the dli program. We see some of that when you look at specials classes at the elementary level.
we're doing a better job of bringing those teachers together for conversations.
but being able to have someone there, you know, hand in hand on your team day in and day Out, celebrating the highs, but also working through the difficulties
in the low really makes a difference for all teachers. Because teaching is a hard job day in and day out with the academic rigor, with the Social, social, emotional pieces, responding to
students, doing what your administrators are asking, what the district is asking, Responding to parents in a timely manner.
it's incredible and kudos, you know, to any and all of our teachers for coming in and Doing what they do day in and day out.
thank you. It was last. It was last week, david. Last week. Yeah. Last week.
if anybody's looking for it, the retention rates. [inaudible]. So quick question in regards to and it may not be yours to answer, but I'll Just put it out there.
can you talk about the last time we had a review of the dlr program for because we're Talking about excellence, right in the program.
have we had any reviews in the past several years? Or when was the last time that may have been done to review it, to just check on it, to Say these are the things touch points where you need to.
these are the excellent areas, and these are areas where we could make some improvements In anything that's been done recently in that regards.
we did have a study to look at you. Doctor brooks, was it right before or right after the pandemic?
yeah. We had 1 in 20 I think 14 or 15 and then we had gibson, an outside agency come and Review
several programs, required programs as well as choice programs.
I think that was like around 22, wasn't it? Because that's when we did the deep dive into ib2.
correct. So, okay.
I don't think anybody is questioning the value of the program.
I hope that's not the message that's coming across. It's just how do we continue to make it efficient, effective to produce the outstanding Students that have come out of the
program also in time of declining numbers as, as doctor brooks showed you, you know, in Recent years we've remained pretty static.
you know, a few more, a few less in recent years. But just like our overall enrollment is declining, you know, you would expect to see Percentages in any and all of our programs declining as well and so,
you know, this is, as doctor hunt has said, not just about today, but it is about the Program and continuing to build on the success and making it better and stronger moving
forward and I do have one other question in regards to that, we talk about the parental Component because dli does have a strong parental
component to it. Can you talk a little bit about how that process would work in terms of the Recommendation that's on the table in terms of bringing the parents together that work on
this process in a part of this journey. Any. Sure and I again look more.
I think a lot of it is, you know, conversations and getting around the table and getting That input and having meetings, face to face meetings, having communication go out
in, you know, in spanish and in english so families can participate and understand that, As we talked about really from the beginning, with any consolidation
of programs or campuses, making sure that we honor over the course of the next year, all The legacy events and the traditions that are in
place, while finding opportunities to bring not only the families, but the students and The staff together to begin to build those relationships and determine what
traditions you know from the two campuses or district wide. We want to continue to move forward.
that's one of the reasons why this has been an extremely tough couple of weeks.
with all of these conversations, we are proud of the work and proud of the conversations That are taking place early in our district.
because as decisions are made, there will be plenty of time throughout the remainder of This year and into next to make sure that we are communicating that we're bringing people
together, that we're helping to build the relationships between, you know, families from One campus and families from another campus.
doing that with the students, as well as doctor brooks alluded to. Bringing the middle school component in even more.
we're seeing, you know, increased need and desire of the students that have been through Dli on either campus to continue that advanced spanish pathway at north, which then
leads to high school credits even before high school and advanced way. Advanced spanish beyond.
so again, it's just once the final decisions are made.
as doctor hunt also alluded to, whether we agree or disagree with where we land, where we Land.
then coming together and building things, honoring the past. But how do we together move forward?
and again, that's getting around the table and having those conversations.
I think we have to recognize that there are a lot of feelings about all of it.
there certainly are. You know, parents that have given us their feedback, both from both schools, but we have Staff members too staff members with concerns, staff members, not sure how it's all going
to play out and so it's really up to us, you know, once a decision is made to help people Get there, talk through some of those issues, what can we do
differently? How can we help support our families, our staff, and most importantly, our Students?
because that, I think is the key. Like miss sircar said, I had mentioned before in the 90s when we were fast growth District and we were opening schools all the time.
there was a lot of movement and kids were being shifted around different schools Repeatedly, but it was the excitement of a new school, and it just was really how we
approached it. This is a totally different it's the reverse of that. You know, as we look at closing schools and making these kinds of adjustments, that's a Harder it's harder to put your, you know, energy out there saying, hey, this is going to
be it's going to be all right, but it is going to be all right, because all of our Schools are great, and we will work hard to make sure that we also have to recognize that
there are some hurt feelings from, you know, having these conversations as well as people Feeling like, you know, nobody wants me or my program or where am I going to fit
into this? I mean, we have to acknowledge that and recognize that and work hard to work Through that.
I really loved what you just said about how we recognize that dli is something special With coppell isd, and we want to
support and continue to have that. I don't know how many and of you guys may not know off the top of your head how many dual Language public schools districts offer dual language, but I know there's not
very many that offer this as a program and so I think it bears repeating that this is Something we want to invest in and support,
you know, and when a long time ago, I actually was a kindergarten teacher at spanish Schoolhouse, the english side.
and so the years that it opened and back then they were opening a spanish schoolhouse, I Think once every semester, once every year in different
places. So I think it is something that is recognized that people want. We know the benefit that biliteracy gives to our kids brains and all of that moving Forward.
so I'm glad that you said that, because I think that's something important that I think That why there's been so much energy around this and why we've wanted to have this
workshop, is to reestablish our commitment to having a really strong dli program.
I want to go back and look at that gibson report I need to and I know some of our newer Trustees may not have seen it, but I think I recall that one of the recommendations that
came out of that was consolidating the program for the out of that outside agency, that Was one of their things that they said to strengthen the program.
I want to go back and look at that. But I also want to just articulate that, you know, we trustee hill, you say it's so well And so often that we're a continuous
improvement district. We're a continuous improvement board. You know, we're a work in progress board and I think you guys are hopefully are seeing That most all of this is evolving in real time.
these are authentic discussions that we're having in real time and then community doctor Hunt, I just would again like to give kudos to you and your staff that
that when we say community engagement, it does not mean that we say a decision and then Just listen to all the things and then move forward with what we were already going to do.
that is not community engagement. This is community engagement that, you know, ten days ago, a week ago, you know, we said, We need to know more about this.
we need to understand this better. We need to understand the implications better. We need to understand the why better and so I would just say out loud, this is a work in Progress.
we have things to chew on and think about. I also really appreciate the timeline.
I need processing time. I need a week to to sit and reflect and go back and research.
so I appreciate the timing and what we're doing and this has helped me understand some of The data and numbers
about who this is affecting and how. So I'll stop talking there.
but those are kind of my thoughts. Can I ask one more kind of data related question, as I'm looking at the numbers of Emergent bilinguals from out of district, are those do we know if those are
ones via the open enrollment program that chose either dc or wilson.
so it's either a combination of students that have come to us through open enrollment or Some of our staff students, which is another form of open enrollment.
we kind of separate the two, but many of our staff members that teach in the dual Language program have students that are in the dual language program on both
sides, as you know, english learners as well as emergent bilinguals themselves.
just to piggyback on that, since we brought up open enrollment, you had helped me answer A question today on that, and thank you so much for that.
but we're not talking about any change to the open enrollment, regardless of what Decisions are made through this process.
correct? That is correct. So students that enter our district through any means living in the district, open Enrollment staff, child, if they qualify for support as an emergent bilingual, and
if it's in the area of spanish, then they would be offered dual language immersion. You know, first, if they're at the elementary level and then, as we said, if that's not The right option for them, the other supports they can get on any campus.
the students that are english speakers you know, the way that open enrollment works, when Students initially come to the district and open enrollment that takes
place after current residents are transferred or placed or part of a program.
so there still would be that order and so if families are english speakers accepted into The district through open enrollment, then they potentially would
have to, you know, go through the process of our seats open on the english side to match The emergent bilingual bilingual side.
so whether the program is consolidated or not, there's not a guarantee for what seats Would be available on that english side, again, because it's driven by the
number of emergent bilinguals. But as far as being considered for it or going through the lottery process or any piece Like that, or open enrollment families would be available to do that as well.
thank you for that clarification and just notification, I guess. Yep and students that are in the program through open enrollment would continue and be Guaranteed their spot through their entire time in coppell isd.
it kind of begs the question, so if we consolidate, is there room for growth in this Program?
could we accommodate growth? We could accommodate growth. But that is all based on how many emergent bilingual students, you know, qualify and Accept the program, because then we have a spot for each emergent
bilingual that qualifies and accepts. Then we have a matching seat that would be able to go to an english language learner and Much like any other program, if that grew beyond the, you know, three sections that we'd
currently be projected at each grade level moving forward, then, you know, we would have Those conversations and move through what that looks like.
again, right now, even with consolidation, there is not the intent to create, you know, a Dual language immersion school.
that is only that program. It would be, you know, at least in the future, most recent years, what we can sort of see Through our crystal ball, there would continue to be monolingual classes there as well to
balance things out and for all the great reasons that we've had both types of classes on Both of our campuses currently.
questions or discussions.
one thing for you all, not necessarily for the seeing those enrollment numbers was like Pretty shocking.
as I even as we're having conversations, I was still like processing how that was and one Thing I had hoped for, especially with the interest
rate is coming or announcement before, is that continued.
but I don't even know. Like what kind of turnover it would require, like to be able to make that up.
right. If you have, you know, bringing in to make up a gap of 500 at the low end.
so I just wanted to voice that concern additional here and that's why it's becomes more Important to make sure
that all our choice programs, because it's choice programs are a big factor.
we are a destination district from all over, from dli, from newtech, from ib program.
all the choices we give in different form of fine arts and athletics, all these programs Is what makes this destination district.
so it becomes important that these are efficient programs so they have longer life and I Know sometimes we look at it just from a
particular program lens. [inaudible]. You are supposed to look at it from the entire district, from every program.
you have to see what makes every choice program stronger in the long run.
of course, we have to serve the current enrolled community, but we have to also be Foresight about the families yet to join the
program, the families who are joining the kindergarten. So most of the planning which you have to do, you have to do it for 13 years, 14 years in Advance to make sure that you will be serving.
the students who are entering pre-k today will get the same quality by the time they're Graduating high school.
so it's a very different task and different lens when we start looking at the entire District,
considering all the programs rather than just one program individually. So I appreciate you guys having that kind of foresight.
so, yeah this slide is pretty tough. Yeah and it's tricky. You know we want to make sure that we're forward thinking.
but it is also hard when you I am specifically always trying not to be, you know gloom And doom and be an alarmist.
you know, I, you know, I have a self reflector too and maybe I could have been a little More aggressive last spring, but I didn't want people to to freak out, because I think
that also impacts people's interest in moving to this community. If they see a lot of negative things, it's like, why am I going to move there?
so I just have to keep going back on. We are a community of smart people.
our parents are great, our staff is great. We will figure it out. It's not going to be easy, but we will figure it out.
but looking at those numbers is very alarming.
you know what you said made me think of something I'd said to a parent during this past Week and I think when you're a parent, you get to just not just, but you
have the pleasure of really focusing on each year that's coming the upcoming year for Your student and I think the hard thing about sitting up here is
we have to hold it's both and we have to hold in our hands what are we going to do next Year, and how are we going to be thriving and great in three years or five years?
and that pushes us into some really difficult conversations and, you know, I keep Reminding families and I said this last
monday, I mean, we are on a journey, right? We all started this board and staff started this journey almost three years ago before The last legislative session.
so this isn't new. It's been a long road, obviously, with these, you know, revised projections.
we are going to continue to be on an even longer road and so, you know, we've done almost Half of the budget work we needed to before we got to these elementary and program
conversations using the rubric and so I know that's hard if families are just tuning in And you're thinking about
next year, and the reality is 556 to 667 students.
I mean, that's an elementary school. I mean, the reality is we are on we're probably halfway down the road of where we need to Be, barring something significant changing in austin
and even if something changes this next legislative session, this has been in process for 6 to 10 legislative sessions.
it's not going to turn around. Even if it goes our way. It's not all going to turn on a dime in one session.
so again, I just I'm proud of the difficult conversations we're having.
I know that they are really hard for the community to hear. They are hard to have.
but I just really encourage everybody to be on the journey with us and know that we're Just partway through the process and we have more things on our timeline, on our budget
timeline as a board and staff team. Like we're not done talking about everything this calendar year yet.
but you know, we still are looking at secondary schedules. So, you know, we're still in for all the work, even if all the pieces aren't apparent to Everybody else.
we started this years ago. We put in strategic planning before we got into these conversations, knowing we wanted to Be as wise and nimble and thoughtful as we possibly can be and so I just
despite how deflating these revised numbers are, I just want to encourage us to stay the Course and encourage our community to
stay on the journey with us well, and remember who we are as a community.
absolutely. What are our core values, our culture, how we support one another and Encourage one another?
I know that neighborhood schools is a physical concept, but it is also a theoretical Concept.
there are families that do not live in a neighborhood but feel like they are at a Neighborhood school, whether that's parkside east, where we don't have schools
down on the other side of 114, or any of our open enrollment families or or any of our Staff that bring their kids or anybody that has selected to, you know,
transfer to another campus. It's how people feel when they enter that building and that's where our principles shine.
every single one of them. Our teachers are great counselors. I mean, that is really what makes the difference and our parents supporting one another.
you know, whatever happens with some of these consolidations, there are schools that are Going to be getting some phenomenal kids and some amazing parents too, that want to be a
part of that family. So I think it's just us really trying to approach it with an open mind, knowing how hard It is.
none of us like these changes. None of us like to have to have our kids go through all of this.
but some of this writing is on the wall. It's not new information.
maybe these details are new, but like you said, nicole, this has been a conversation for A while.
yeah and, you know, we were so lucky to have to be part of a district where every school Is an amazing school.
I mean, if you're following us in this process, just in the last one month, any school Which has been mentioned, you've seen tons of community members of that school
come and speak in favor of it. You can take any school, any of the 11 of the elementary school, and the response will be Same because every school rocks our staff, our principals.
they just are just amazing and that all comes from the district leadership.
so knock on wood, we've been very lucky to have staff and the community, which makes this District great.
means I know we love our programs. We love our schools.
but they're going to find the same support, same love, same community, same family, Maybe newer family, some new faces, no matter which school you go to.
I know some of the other districts are not as lucky as we are, but there is not a single School which is not an envy of the other school.
and it goes both ways. So we are very lucky that way to have all great schools.
but we can certainly come back to dual language immersion. But I have been seeing in several of the emails that we have received and also heard from Some open forum folks that there could be some clarity provided in
our process and so I know that miss brown has shared this previously, but we provided Even more clarity with some of the slides, really talking through how
those recommendations came to be at the request of the board, wanting multiple Recommendations and, you know, multiple options.
menu. If you will. Just like in the menu, you can pick and choose different pieces or you can do the full Meal deal.
but so we just try to provide a variety. But there was a a established process that we went through.
again, some of that was subjective. Some of that was objective. The data, some of it was qualitative.
some of it was quantitative. But miss brown's going to go through that again and also we added some parts for clarity.
as a reminder, 711 is a part of the coppell isd strategic 2030 strategic plan and 7.1.1 Focuses on long term strategies that address the declining
enrollment at the elementary level and bringing more efficiency to our facilities.
one of the key questions that you, the school board, have asked us several times is what Process was used to develop these recommendations.
and so here we're going to describe the process. We've changed the slide just a tiny bit as we are trying to bring clarity to some of the Conversations that we've seen and had.
so here's the process that the district used in implementing 7.1.1. There was a committee of parents, community members and staff members that met to develop The rubric and the decision filter for 7.1.1.
some of the members of that strategic of the original strategic plan team that helped to Develop coppell isd 2030.
who they helped to develop 7.1 and set objective 7.1.1.
those same members stayed on for 7.1.1 and then some other people raised their hand and Said, we would like to be a part of that committee.
we put out an open call and people who did that. We allowed them to join that team.
that committee and that committee met in may and june. We're going to hear more about that in just a minute.
once the rubric and the decision filter were developed by that committee, then you, the School board, set the timeline on may 13th and you approved this timeline that we're
following and then you approved the rubric on june the 10th. So the rubric and the decision filter were approved by you on june the 10th.
the district then compiled large amounts of data. So the 7.1.1 development team set out all the pieces of data that they wanted for each of The pieces in the decision filter
and the rubric. The district then compiled all of that data for that came from the rubric, and they Prepared that for the
evaluation team, which is a separate team. In june, an evaluation team was established to objectively examine the volumes of data And to complete the objective rubric
portion. Once the rubric was scored, the data and the rubric the rubric.
remember there's a rubric and there's a decision filter. Okay. So the evaluation team did the rubric.
the objective rubric portion, once the rubric was scored, the data and the rubric were Given to the cisd cabinet to use the decision filter
and examine the rubric results data and to develop recommendations.
the rubric provided half of the decision for a recommendation, and the decision filter Was the other portion and served as a lens to view all campuses, all
facilities, and all of the recommendations through between june and august of this year.
the cabinet pored over the data, the rubric, and the decision filter.
examining all of those pieces and the recommendations came from those discussions.
more information about the strategic plan process, including 7.1.1, is available on the District's website.
the 7.1.1 and decision filter committee members are listed on the screen.
the committee is made up of parents, community members, and staff members.
the evaluation committee members are listed on the screen. The committee is made up of staff members from departments and campuses across the District.
they were selected because they provide different perspectives and experiences, and daily They use data to objectively to make decisions.
that's why they were chosen. Once the rubric was completed, remember the rubric was the objective part.
once the rubric was completed, the decision filter team. The cabinet made up of our cabinet took the rubric data and developed the recommendations Using that decision filter.
the rubric provided half of the decision, and then the decision filter was the other Portion and served as a lens for us.
as we examined all of the data and looked at every single campus and every single Facility through that lens, our recommendations were developed.
once the recommendations were developed, then we brought in the two principal reps that Serve on our cabinet.
they were not a part of the original discussions because we didn't want because of just Honestly the conversations that needed to
be had and so then we brought in the principal reps at the end of that conversation to Get their input and feedback, and they provided us great input and feedback
throughout the end of the process. That is really how this process happened, from the rubric development team, who developed The rubric and the decision filter to the team that evaluated the rubric to the team,
then that used the decision filter and brought to you the recommendations.
the next slide is questions or comments or feedback from the board.
angela, can you go back to that previous slide? Sorry. So I just want to confirm right.
so we have the rubric development. That was the 7.1.1 factors that we had to list out right.
they developed the rubric and the decision filter. Okay. Then the separate team which is the rubric evaluation team applied that rubric to The current all the current facilities.
correct and then when their work was finished, it was given to the decision filter team, Who then applied the qualitative discussions
about to the objective data. Exactly. Then the principal reps were brought in at the end.
at the end. Okay.
any other questions comments discussion on on this last section.
we just go back. One more slide right here.
you know I think as things get difficult and emotions, we come back and we rely on the Process.
right. That is our foundation where we're coming from. So I would just offer up that I respect all of the time and intentionality that went
into the recommendations that are on the table now, and if there were to be any changes And additional recommendations, I would want the same attention,
time and intentionality devoted to that. So I know that we have had, you know, our september 30th, our deadline and I feel Comfortable working toward that.
but I believe in the recommendations that were brought to us.
that's what I feel comfortable voting on september 30th is what's been presented to us, Because this is what it's gone through.
thank you. Any other?
I think when you look at it, if you go back one slide, just talk about the 2030 strategic Plan.
I think that's the emphasis for everything, right, in terms of looking at this and going Forward.
but I think also beyond the september 30th date, if for future discussions, this would be A baseline to drive that going forward and then if any
modifications needed to be made based on the discussions that have been had, then they Can be applied and that's one of the reasons I just asked for the question about, you
know, evaluations valuations because doctor hunt, your team has gotten outside Evaluations of various programs.
so those kind of things can be leveraged in addition to the internal discussions that Take place in terms of coming up with recommendations as well as the parental component,
right? I mean, I think the intentionality of having parents involved throughout this Process has been important.
you don't want to put that on the back of the parents that are participating in that Saying they made the decision.
but there is other voices at the table saying from different perspectives.
here are some thoughts that you may need to take into consideration in bringing anything Forward.
it doesn't mean that you don't make some additional modifications and changes based on The things that you've heard, but that process is in place to to garner that.
so thank you for that. I think that's a great point. It's important for us the entire time that we were talking About it, even with the 7.1.1 development committee, that this is an ongoing the
rubric and the decisions are an ongoing document, a living, breathing document. As any changes made, it will change the entire rubric and will need to be reevaluated.
so as you if you close a campus, we will need to it will adjust everything and so those As this will be a living, breathing document that we need to kind of go back
to and then as we've gone through this entire process, maybe we need to bring it back to The original development team and say, here may be some possible tweaks that we might want
to consider. You know, mainly to the data pieces. So that's where we've learned a lot is about all of the data that we pulled, because it Was just reams and reams and reams of data and what pieces tell the story and bring us the
information. So I appreciate what you just said, that, you know, this is an ongoing Process that we're that I think into what you said also like, we have to
appreciate the work that was done and this started with a development team of parents, of Community members, of staff members who really poured their heart into developing this.
and I think they did phenomenal work and brought a great piece forward that has that has Allowed us to navigate this where a lot of districts have just kind of
maybe not had that and not had that kind of direction.
I do. I appreciate the development team of 7.1.1 and the hard work that they did on this, Because I was going to say, as we've said previously,
there's the subjective and objective part about that. It's I think, as was said, that 50% was some of those numbers, but the rest of it was the Discussions of what might it actually look like?
and so we had talked before about not creating a school desert in certain areas.
we talked before about, you know, trying to maintain that physical neighborhood school as Well as a philosophical neighborhood school.
we looked at the age of the building. Sometimes that's what it came down to.
as far as, you know, what all would need to be done to that campus or not as well as the Land.
it's on, you know, just all of those things were factors that were talked quite Extensively about.
miss brown, since we're on this 2030 strategic plan and I was one of the trustees, can You just remind us how many
people, community wise, were involved in the strategic plan, but then also those action Teams, because really, us having this rubric
and going down this road was because of where things landed with the strategic plan and What our community said, we need to be evaluating our facilities.
right. So we had more than 64 members that were part of that strategic plan development Team, the original kind of committee and then we
had more than 300, closer to 400 people that were a part of action teams.
remember every single one of the objectives and strategies had an action team that Developed plans and worked and developed lots of plans,
so we had lots of work happening this time last year.
really building this strategic plan. So we had, you know, several hundred of our parents and community members and students Who had voices on that, if you remember, if you were part of that original day, we had a
student panel that came in and they spoke so eloquently and gave us great insight into The work that we're doing and this 7.1.1 came
out of that day. So that very first day, this was just popped immediately to the top of, We've got to have a system to look at all of our facilities and all of our
campuses and it rose to the top immediately and that's and it was because it was parents And community members who were speaking up and who were sharing that information and it
just rose to the top. And that's really where 7.1.1 came from. Thank you. I just think that broader context of how much we have been seeking the Community's input for years now is really important.
so thank you. Any other questions or comments for miss brown or.
if not, thank you so much and again, to our entire staff.
thank you all for that presentation. I know there was a lot of time put into gathering some of that data.
speaking of as we move towards our next meeting, which is next monday.
if there's any additional information that you guys need in order to make a decision, Please.
as we have get that get those questions or requests for information into doctor hunt so That they have time to and staff has time to compile what is needed
and get that back out to you in a timely manner for next week.
wednesday noon, end of day. Is that a good yes timeline?
perfect. So if you guys will do that would be appreciated and then that will finish out Our presentation portion and now take us
into our open forum section.
again, thank you all for the understanding on us going out of order tonight and allowing We were able.
I was looking at the clock to at least get the presentation portion done prior to the Start of curriculum night at chs nine for anyone that had you
know, or has children at both levels, or I know it's an interest to a lot of people Hopefully they were able to see that it is recorded.
and if not, you can always go back and see that. So what I'll do and read my little piece here in just a second and then we will like, we Have been you know, over
the last several weeks. I'll just call you up five at a time and if you could line up kind of behind the podium And along that half wall, that would be great and that would just help us move along as we
have or not move along, but keep things kind of in an orderly fashion, just as we do have An elevated number of speakers again tonight.
that would be appreciative and again, we're always so appreciative of you guys as our Community has always been, you know, very respectful.
you know, and following our norms. It's not the case with all of the districts in our area.
you guys see that? In the media as much as we do and so that's very much appreciative.
as doctor hunt said at the beginning, you know, our kids are watching. We've got some kids here tonight and I think it's very important that we model the Process and model for them.
how we should be acting as adults. So with that, the board encourages comments about the coppell independent school district From citizens of the district, its employees, or from other members of the public.
anyone who has signed up to speak in advance of the meeting in accordance with board Policy and procedures, may do so.
at that time, the board asked that each participant's comments pertain to public Education and be no longer than one minute.
remember that pursuant to the texas open meetings act, during special meetings or board Workshops such as this one.
public comment is limited limited to agenda items only, and the board may not discuss or Act upon any issues that are not posted on our agenda.
in addition, the board has adopted complaint policies that are designed to secure, at the Lowest administrative level, a prompt and equitable resolution of complaints and concerns.
complaints brought by employees may be heard in accordance with policies.
dba legal and dba local by students or their parents in accordance with policies f and g.
legal and f and g local and by citizens in accordance with policies gf legal and gf Local.
each of these processes provides that if a resolution cannot be achieved Administratively, the person may appeal the administrative decision to the board as a
properly posted agenda item.
copies of the of our district policies and procedures on public participation in meetings And filing complaints are available online at the coppell independent school district
website, which is coppellisd.com. Secretary matthew will be our timekeeper.
again, tonight's time limit is one minute per speaker, so he'll have his timer going.
you'll hear it go off and then he'll have the sign that comes up that says time when your Time is up.
and then just because we haven't gone in this order before, if you signed up to speak and Your question was answered or you don't feel like you need to say
anything. Don't feel like because we call your name, you have to just wave your hand at Me and let me know that you don't want to speak any longer, and we can
move on to the next one. But again, that is your right to address us and district Leadership in an open forum such as this.
so don't feel compelled that you can't ever sign up and say anything.
I would like to excuse me. Just remind or notify.
if you are a minor, a child. You don't have to say your physical address.
just say your name, please and your school. But you do not have to say your physical address.
thank you. That was on my list and I knew I'd forget something. So thank you, doctor hunt.
so our first five speakers tonight will be jamie bailey, nisha patel, melinda melnick, Juan rolon,
and then we'll have sherry vance and vance. I think I called you gents last time.
it looked like a j. So I'm. I apologize for that and robert hill. So that'll be our first seven speakers.
how's that? Then your time will start. Once you start, say your name and address.
thank you. Jamie bailey, 108 mockingbird lane. I am blessed to have a second grader in dli at denton creek elementary school.
as doctor hunt mentioned earlier, coppell is a destination school district and for my Family, and I know as many other families, dli was the reason to move
to coppell the consolidation of the program.
we've talked about growth. So with the decline in the emergent bilinguals and the decline in participation that we Saw in the graphs today, the concern with consolidation is that many emergent bilingual
families have said in these forums that they will not continue with the program.
the fewer emergent bilinguals that participate, the fewer english speakers can Participate.
so while I respect that there are anticipated growth numbers, that doesn't necessarily Take into consideration the vast number of families who have
expressed staying at their home campus without continuing the dli program.
so, respectfully, I think that is something to take into consideration because I'm not Sure how much that is considered.
thank you very much. Thank you nia.
hi, I'm nia and [inaudible]. One day when I was in kindergarten, a man was reading a book to us.
he was so strong and nice. I loved his voice. I went home so excited to tell my mom I saw a superhero.
then my mom told me he was doctor hunt. Can you please be that same superhero and save pinkerton doctor hunt?
my teachers would be so sad if you close pinkerton down. My spanish teacher taught me how to say [spanish].
miss graves made me love books and mr. Upchurch teaches about robots and as you know, robots will rule the world one day.
if money is the problem, I can give you some money for my piggy bank. Or you can take my mom.
she has way more. Let's save pinkerton.
thank you, nia. Melinda. I'm melinda melnick, 914 east bethel school.
the district is asking you to gamble with our tax dollars.
betting on hope of parent choice of program over school.
be reminded that wilson is the only hispanic majority campus in cisd.
there is a higher emergent bilingual population at wilson offering more opportunity for Ground-up growth, because dli growth depends on the emergent bilingual
enrollment. By consolidating the program at denton creek, the board is making the future Even more dependent on parent buy in to program over school.
what happens to the english cohort when the emergent bilingual cohort chooses to stay at Wilson?
this is a multi-million dollar roll of the dice with dozens of jobs.
the future of two choice programs and enrollment of hundreds of students at stake Demonstrate that the board has too much respect for the taxpayers to take such a risk and
develop fact based, long term solutions that actually solve our problems, rather than Removing options from the table before you have the new data.
[inaudible]. My name is juan rolon. One second juan. Let me just ask and I probably didn't say this too plainly at the Beginning, if we'll just hold our applause and things till the end, and then I'll give you
guys a second just to minimize disruptions. Sorry, juan. Go ahead. Thank you. Yep. Juan roland, 303 fairview court and I you know, I'm going to second everything that They've been saying and I want to extend an invitation to each of
you, each of you, all the members of the board. Mr. Hunt, doctor hunt, I know you have done this.
go to each of these three campuses. Go from 7:10 a.m., take one day of the week.
this week, visit each and every one of them 7 a.m. To 3 p.m.
see how people get into the campus. Go inside the classroom. Speak with the students.
speak with the teachers. Read a book with one of the child's or the children.
eat lunch with one of them. See what programs are offered in these schools.
be part of the community for one day in each of these three campuses.
then make your decision. You have a week to decide.
but see them. See us for who we are.
yes, these are hard decisions, but I think we deserve that.
you are making those decisions for us. Yeah, it's not easy, but I invite you to just be part of the community, at least for one Day in each of these schools.
thank you juan. Hi.
sherri hill, 724 post oak drive. I'm a wilson dli mom pto board member, and I'm here to ask some information regarding the Ib program, moving to any campus and
what that really means for the students and staff. Many of the wilson parents are under the thinking that they can stay in the monolingual Side of wilson.
if by joins them in my research, I may be wrong, but my research shows that the whole Campus will become an ib
program and pinkerton staff will take over and the staff will stay.
the staff that stays will have to become certified for that program.
what will the cost and the impact be to the budget? And can you please be more transparent on if pinkerton does move to another campus?
what that means for the kids that stay on that campus, because that's not being very Clear to the monolingual parent.
thank you. Gary vance, before you start, I'm going to go ahead and call carol mcguire, kristen Johnson and rhonda dorman.
hi, my name is vance. Hi. I'm a wilson ranger.
I'm a part of the dli program, you're waiting to move.
I really love my school. I have a lot of friends who aren't in the dli program, and I don't want to be separated From them.
we just got a new playground, and it's really fun.
I also love my teachers. Please don't move our school.
we want to stay here with my friends. Thank you, robert and then shane.
hope you can join everybody up here.
hey, robert. Excuse me. Robert hill, 724 post oak. This is going probably all over the place.
I've changed a lot of my questions or answers. But anyway, I'm here again to express my overwhelming opposition to the moving or merging Or merging of the dual immersion programs.
they can do all the studies they want, but the main thing is you're going to have a large Dropout, which is not expected.
I know of people that want to stay with with at wilson principal because the principal, Will you talk to his staff?
many of them. Many of them talk about they are the person they are today because of him And that filters down to the parents, to children and everybody.
you will have a large amount of people that quit the program because of that.
you cannot let that happen. I mean, the dual immersion program, if you have to close pinkerton, they're going to Attack you for that.
I'll let them handle that. But I'm here to talk about strictly about wilson.
nothing else. I think it should be separated because it's segregation moving everybody to One campus.
it's going to put a strain on the people around wilson that are the hispanic families That live right there, that walk and we know y'all have done a study already or asked
teachers to find out how many people are there. Where's that number is at? About the walkers.
[inaudible]. Carol.
hi there. Carol maguire 322 hearthstone. A new address for me as somebody who served on the bond committee on the strategic Committee that developed the objective seven as well as
currently serves on the bond oversight committee. I just wanted to say that those numbers hurt my heart so bad, and I know it did you guys As well.
a $4.5 million deficit in the next 3 to 4 years. Knowing everything you guys have already done is sobering and so my request would be that Just as angela said, that rubric is a living, breathing document.
I would just request that is something that is a regular item on the agenda.
you guys have the community's attention. Everyone is paying attention right now and so I would just say to keep up that Transparency that you guys are doing such a great job at but then also just make sure
that rubric is living and breathing as we are deciding how to deploy bond dollars, as we Are looking at the sobering realization that another elementary school campus could close
in the next 3 to 4 years. I would just say, let's plan ahead. I know a year is a lot of time, and it's not just one year, it's been three years.
so thank you. Thank you. Carol. I'll go ahead and call kristen just a second.
[inaudible] and julie turner.
thank you. Go ahead. I am here on behalf of some of the educators who feel like they cannot speak out.
first, this decision being made by people who have not even set foot in wilson is Heinous.
kristen. Kristen. Second. Sorry. Kristen. I'm kristen johnson, which is first?
yes. I live at 504 halifax lane. I'm sorry. I'm trying to, like, talk as fast as I can.
okay. Second, wilson does not have a teacher retention program. We do not have a shortage of bilingual and spanish teachers.
wilson does not have a dli curriculum preparation problem or a teacher collaboration Problem.
we are the best at these things and it was documented to.
third, wilson has spent decades building up the relationships with families across the Street, and those relationships will not transfer.
there are over 120 families across the street. Those families will not feel warm in a new school across town.
those children will not make it to school when they inevitably miss the bus. Those moms will not bring tamales on fridays, decorate our school on holidays, exercise In the parking lot, and host tables at international night.
they want to walk to this place that has raised their children since pre-k and made them Feel safe and wanted.
finally, this morning, an administrator said something in passing that has stuck with me All day.
happy love teachers lead to happy, loved kids. Making this decision, you are effectively ruining the education of all of our students at Wilson for the rest of this year when they teachers find this out and whatever happens
next week. Thank you.
kristen ranna, please hold your applause.
ron adelman, 208 olympia lane. What will the exact cost be to transport the wilson students to dc?
since the number of zones spanish speaking dli learners is higher there? From what I understand, [inaudible] learners will be provided transport to participate in The services.
I'm concerned that these numbers have not been evaluated exactly since. This will be coming from the m&o budget, which is already in a deficit.
the durham services website states that an average salary of a bus driver in coppell isd Is $45,000, not including the cost of the bus itself.
so I'd like to know specific numbers of cost and transport services for these children Getting from wilson to dc, dc.
I'm doubtful that the margins will make sense, since we are only saving 280 k by Consolidating.
thank you shane and then I'm going to call karishma hussain and shawn hester.
howdy. My name is shane pope. I live at 313 meadow creek road.
we're zoned for pinkerton. I have a first grader at pinkerton, a three year old at spanish schoolhouse and a one Year old.
my old wife went to pinkerton too, some 30 odd years ago with [inaudible].
keep my phone on. With falling enrollment, I've accepted that the building pinkerton will close.
luckily, it's not the building that matters. It's the families, the staff, and the ib program.
the dli communities have shown that the puzzle piece that is pinkerton ib doesn't quite Fit in.
wilson. If we don't want to kill off pinkerton spirit, we need to find a home for the ib Program, a centralized place where two schools can come together to build a better ib
program. I also wrote some random notes like we should bulldoze pinkerton so we don't Make our declining enrollment worse.
if we're going to close another elementary in three years, we should run a retro for this Process so that we can make it better next time and our kids affected by this closure are
going to be affected and we have to close again based on those demographic numbers and Should new tech be back on the table since we saw those demographic numbers.
thanks. Thank you. Shane. Yeah.
hi. My name is aditi and I'm a sixth grader from east, and I spoke last week on how you Should not close pinkerton.
don't close. Pinkerton is the first school of coppell and it's named after your first Superintendent, w.w.
pinkerton. Closing down pinkerton would be like never, ever seeing your mom or dad ever Again.
closing pinkerton would leave to overcrowding, to other schools and safety hazards to the School with the overcrowding, like not being able to, get out of
the school on time in case of a fire. Closing pinkerton isn't fair to all those teachers that spent so many times years teaching Pinkerton.
like mrs. Kling, who taught my fifth grade teacher, miss baker, and taught me and is Still teaching right now.
pinkerton teaches students about the un goals and teaches all students about how the World works and how to make things better.
thank you. Julie turner 409 cosby.
board members. What does it mean to be a global citizen at pinkerton? Have you used the core tenets of the ib ethical principles in evaluating the decisions You have before you?
those principles, being well balanced are the costs to close pinkerton aligned with the Strategic plan to balance the budget, or is it simply a shortsighted and insufficient
band-aid? Open minded and principled? Have you been open minded about seriously considering all schools for closure in an Unbiased manner?
or was the bias always to close pinkerton? Have the past few weeks been simply a charade to fulfill the administration's Predetermined agenda to close pinkerton from the start?
knowledgeable and inquirer, please make public the results of your facilities evaluation Tool and the scores for all schools from elementary to high school.
let us all see for ourselves if, after the review of all the facts come to the same Conclusion that pinkerton was the right choice in school closure.
this will help our community heal and realign us together to make the transition as Smooth as possible.
thank you. After andy, I'll go ahead and call mahesh sahai and ranjita dey.
karishma hussain, 817 howell drive. Thinker and risk taker.
please go back to the drawing board and reevaluate the cost benefit of closing each School.
in light of the significant changes to our your original proposals. Reflective and caring.
are we keeping the best interest of our children in mind? Any plans to choose a closed pinkerton will fundamentally impact two schools.
is disrupting two schools the least impactful method to care for our community?
communicator. The school board needs to create a forum or medium for community dialog With the board and administration that does not limit the community to monologue speeches
and unresponsive emails. These concepts are the core to the ib community and are expectations we have of the board As well.
doctor hunt has reminded us all that our children are watching us closely, learning from How we engage with one another.
we agree our kids are watching the process. Let's make them proud. They are watching whether we fight for them and we, the community, are watching to see if Our board will fight for them.
thank you. Sean and then after ranjini will be apeksha patel.
sean hester, 437 travis street. I remember at this time pinkerton is not a part of the elementary school enrollment Problem.
pinkerton has, to date, accommodated all students applying for the ib program.
pinkerton's current enrollment is above 90% and is projected to be stable even without Consolidation.
pinkerton is not the most expensive elementary school on a cost per pupil basis. Pinkerton has an average daily attendance of 96.41%, which is higher than the district Average.
pinkerton houses a thriving ib program, a choice program that makes coppell destination District.
pinkerton is an efficient school. The base cost per student at pinkerton is 75. 37, which is less than some of the footprint schools in the north and yet somehow, Through a process that remains suspect and unclear, the only option left is pinkerton to
wilson to fill the void and the dli consolidation. The facilities evaluation tool, aka the rubric, is a homemade tool with no benchmarks and It has not been validated.
three out of the four primary options were thrown out even before the town hall meeting. How is it that the best remaining option requires fundamentally changing both elementary Choice programs in our district?
when will you release the scoring?
andy vo 217 east bethel road.
when will you release the scoring of every school in the rubric? How did each school rank?
was pinkerton really the lowest ranked? For the sake of transparency and earning back the trust of the community, you need to Release the weighting and final scoring of each school.
did the rubric deceptively rank pinkerton poorly instead of recognizing pinkerton's Strengths?
age and size of the building is counted twice, which disadvantages pinkerton a rating of Poor.
walkability is a moot point, given that 45% of the school population is choiced into the Program.
must be driven to school anyways. A non neighborhood school is actually a strength for a choice school.
more more neighborhood zoned kids means less available seats for lottery applicants.
why is it that we are still pigeonholing ourselves to a narrow set of options derived From an untested rubric?
if you're still moving pinkerton to another campus, the ramifications have completely Changed.
the administration needs to revisit their.
a picture will be caylee medina and then sirisha bandaru.
mahesh shahi. 6748 palo duro drive. As trustee walker has said, clarity is kindness, but so much clarity is lacking.
the northern elementary schools are the schools facing declining enrollment. Why are we stemming northern northern problem with mid district schools?
how do the new cost and logistics of closing pinkerton, moving the ib program and Displacing another schools principal?
students and teachers compared to simply closing a more expensive low enrollment Elementary school and then leveling students with adjacent neighborhood schools.
if we need to possibly close more than one school, then why was the northern elementary School not being explored rather than involve two mid district north northern choice
program elementary schools if this analysis has already been done. The results of these comparisons need to be made public.
please release the rubric results. Moving pinkerton to another campus puts the ib program at risk of failure or major Setback.
the ib culture we needed to be rebuilt. A culture which has taken over a decade to cultivate.
moving the program will damage years of momentum and hard work, and it will take take a Decade to turn.
thank you. [inaudible] will be jen [inaudible].
[inaudible] 6748 palo duro drive.
it would be naive to think that by moving a portion of the teachers and students to the New school and renaming it ib means that the ib experience will transfer.
your plan asks the program to abruptly double in size. That means potentially half or more than half more of the students and teachers will be New and completely unfamiliar with the ib school of thought.
this will require a massive rebuilding effort. The school board has, to date, not address the following concerns voiced by the Constituents.
what is your backup plan? If you commit to close pinkerton and fail to meet metrics to transfer the ib certificate?
what if we don't have the required teachers? Majority of teachers and students move.
the further away the new campus moves, the higher the rate of attrition. Will cisd lose its elementary ib certification?
and what are the costs of rebuilding and reapplying for a new ib certificate?
how long and what are the ramifications of becoming an ib certified teacher?
will there be enough teachers and could there be hired? Okay. Thank you.
apeksha patel, 232 samuel boulevard.
so how long and what are the ramifications of becoming an ib certified teacher. Will there be enough teachers and could they be hired and or trained within the timeline Of next august?
have you calculated those costs into your projected budget savings? There are unaddressed gaps with moving pinkerton to a footprint school.
students and teachers from a healthy, thriving elementary school will need to be Displaced to accommodate the pinkerton ib learners.
moving the ib program will require double the human impact. Transplanting ib to a neighborhood school means displacing a neighborhood schools, Teachers and students.
you're effectively losing a neighborhood school this way. Pinkerton is an easy and central location to drive to both the southern and northern Campus portions of the district.
navigation through around the city of coppell during traffic hours is not required. Moving the ib program in your proposals will result in attrition of the current student Body, and decrease future recruitment and enrollment from the irving population.
the less accessible the location of the school, the less likely to attract students to a Choice program.
there are detrimental effects of moving choice schools to cottonwood creek or denton Creek, cottonwood creek and denton creek both being
located. Haley medina, 750 east main street.
cottonwood and denton creek, both being located on the edges of coppell, is problematic.
choice programs require parental transportation to and from school.
many of our irving families would face a 40 plus minute round trip twice a day.
moving these campuses guarantees the highest attrition rate of our current students and Teachers.
consequently, cottonwood and denton creek are unsuitable locations for future growth and Recruitment of new students.
how would being zoned to cottonwood or dce affect keeping as many ib and dli students Through middle school?
how would our irving families provide transportation for their child to stay with their Friends in the north?
how will that inhibit our ability to fully develop the ib program as k through 12 Program, as we heard trustee matthew ask a few
times now we ask you, is the juice worth the squeeze?
if your goal in this whole evaluation process is to balance the budget and fix the Declining elementary enrollment in the northern elementary school.
sorry. Time. [inaudible], give me one second. I'm going to call sarah wadlington, leo medina, and [inaudible], and I don't, this is Where I apologize
because I have very bad pronunciation. So yeah [inaudible].
yeah. What is it? At 343 west lake drive.
is that you? There we go. Sorry. Thank you and apologies for that.
[inaudible]. [inaudible], 315 garden grove.
if your goal in this whole evaluation process is to balance the budget and fix the Declining elementary enrollment in the northern elementary schools that are trying to
close pinkerton is not the solution. You will be thriving, perfectly functioning choice program that helps make the city a Destination school district.
you will transplant it to a neighborhood school and effectively move students and Teachers out of that neighborhood school.
moving pinkerton means displacing a choice program. It is not financially viable to move a school with great enrollment, great attendance and Staff and funding and lose the enrollment in the transition, trustee walker said in the
may 13th board workshop. The only thing that is not reversible and that we can't that we can't go back and change, Is consolidating a school.
everything else is on the table. We are a future board could change their mind in a year and reverse it.
so we respectfully ask the board, have you explored everything else that was on the table Before deciding to choose a closed school?
in closing the waiter and elementary school consolidation, the admin has presented at Least 12 million in alternate saving opportunities.
have we exhausted these options before making it an irreversible decision?
thank you. Jennifer [inaudible] for legacy corp, based on your conversations today, your focus is on Consolidating
the dli program and tackling declining enrollment, which is most concentrated in the Northern elementary schools.
so please go back to the drawing board. Focus on options that directly address those issues.
if more than one school needs to consolidate, please revisit your living breathing Document.
have options to that primarily address consolidation of northern elementary schools been Addressed?
would wilson consolidate with the northern elementary school if both must already be Fundamentally changed?
why gamble with destabilizing and efficient campuses choice program?
who has otherwise stable projected enrollment? Please look for the lowest impact solutions.
do not involve more students than is absolutely necessary. School board please revisit your guiding principles.
consider the ib principles. Our children are watching you make your decisions, whether we'll fight for them and Whether we and we as the community are watching.
to see if you are board will fight for them to thank you for your consideration.
thank you. I'm also going to call in [inaudible].
sarah wadlington 425 dillard lane.
I am a pinkerton elementary parent and I stand with pinkerton. If you are trying to spare losing a neighborhood school by closing pinkerton, you are not Accomplishing your goal.
moving the ib program in mass will require displacing neighborhood students and teachers From their school.
closing pinkerton and moving it to a different campus will detrimentally impact two Campuses.
the number of students affected could surpass 1000 when taking into account downstream Rezoning and leveling.
families with multiple children will be profoundly affected as they consider the future Transportation gymnastics needed to transport different aged children to elementary,
middle and high schools. Is this the least impactful method? I stand with pinkerton and oppose its closure.
we need to go back to the drawing board and reevaluate all options for school closure Against those presented to the board today.
thank you. Hello, this is leo medina.
I'm a pinkerton student. My teacher is miss zulick.
I really don't want you to close my school. There's stuff that not only our school does, but other schools don't like pinky palooza And trunk or
treat. Those are really fun stuff and if you close our school, it's going to hurt my Feelings so badly.
I believe that if you close any school, people will start moving to different countries, Different states, maybe different any
houses, so thank you.
thank you. I'm also megan deblieck and julie waters.
you guys can join if you're not at cycle three, four, three west lake drive.
several years ago, I won the lottery, not the texas lottery. The pinkerton lottery, which has led to infinite riches.
I'm now entering my ninth year as a parent of this amazing school. I also volunteer as a full riding coach at both pinkerton and at coppell middle school East.
I chose pinkerton because I wanted my children to attend its excellent ib program.
one measure of a school's success is how well it prepares students for the next step and Beyond.
my oldest child went to pinkerton from kindergarten, kindergarten through fifth grade.
she's now at cms east. Did pinkerton prepare her for middle school? Yes, definitely and I expect it to prepare my current child for middle school as well as A middle schooler.
my child is taking high school level classes and she's involved in student Organizations.
those elementary school years provide the foundation for future schooling.
I am so fortunate to have won the pinkerton lottery, because no other school could have Done a better job preparing my kids for the future.
please keep pinkerton open and consider other money saving options.
thank you. [inaudible] at 756 lexington avenue.
it seems that during recent workshops, alternatives to consolidating pinkerton haven't Been fully explored.
additionally, the board has previously discussed relocating the ib program during the Summer workshop.
hence, it's crucial to acknowledge that the current challenges are primarily primarily Financial rather than related to accessibility to the ib program.
while cisd faces projected budget deficits, previous financial reports have indicated net Gains, and the district has a sizable amount in rainy day fund.
additionally, the upcoming elections could contribute $2.4 million in revenue.
pinkerton consolidation is not a viable option as it offers small school setting vital For many learners.
it is the only neighborhood school serving nearby communities. Fostering accessibility.
consolidation could result in disproportionate, disproportionate class sizes, adversely Affecting the success of the ib program.
it may also disrupt the roles of educators and staff on both campuses.
I urge the board to reconsider this decision and explore alternatives. Thank you.
[inaudible] 756 lexington avenue.
I know you guys see ib as a curriculum, but it's actually an educational framework, and Pinkerton has put that framework so well into
that school that I've seen my kids and many other kids [inaudible].
it doesn't matter the disabilities. We are able to see the progress in the kids.
[inaudible] by moving the ib program. You're disrupting that collaboration that the teacher, the school and the student has Within those doors and ib has a horizontal
and vertical alignment. That means that when a kid or a student is studying that topic or the subject, it's Connecting through each year and across many subjects and
when you move that program, you're definitely going to disrupt that for every student That's moving with the ib program.
so please consider that. Thank you. I'm also going to call vicki wolf rosema [inaudible] megan [inaudible] 752 Marley circle to
ensure the dls success with this. Please keep it at wilson elementary, where we have a larger spanish speaking population That ultimately can support stronger cohorts.
please consider this even if we consider consolidation next. Supporting the future ib enrollment by keeping it independent from our dli programs and Placing it in a location where it truly has room to grow.
you know, there's been other options already thrown out for that. But please consider this even if it's decided on september 30th, that that campus has to Close, it doesn't mean we have to decide on the 30th where that goes.
take an extra week or two to really look at this and consider that. Don't jeopardize two highly sought after and unique for our area programs.
with this one single decision, doing so risks losing more elementary students to other Options which could be permanent.
the district is asking wilson doi to choose between their school and the program that they Love.
as mentioned this evening, the doi cohorts have to have that balanced ratio of those Emerging bilingual to to to english.
julie watters 252 east bethel road never gets any easier to come up and speak before you All, but the
administration has not released the scoring for the facility evaluations tool.
the rubric. Why? Why haven't you released that scoring for each of the schools?
full transparency of the scores is required to appropriately evaluate the consolidation Plans.
how did each school score? Did pinkerton truly score at the bottom, or were there other elementary schools that Scored lower?
is pinkerton being targeted for other reasons? For the sake of transparency, the school of the score of each school must be released to The public and then when it comes to the credit rating and how we will be affected when it
comes to using the fund balance, we were told that our credit rating would take a hit, But we were not told by how much.
if we dropped from aa plus plus to just aa, it would appear that the financial impact Would be very minimal.
for example, it might be just as low as $200,000 of additional annual interest expense on A new $100 million bond.
sorry. Time. The district needs to give us actual numbers. Thank you. I'll call sierra ford and kevin chacon as well.
thank you. [inaudible] wolf. 617 guilford court. You were not given data, and neither were we.
as to why the only option proposed to you for dli is dce.
we can't say we want what's best for dli, but not even ask questions of the option in Front of us.
the data we do have wilson teacher and support staff retention data, the size of the Program at wilson, the neighborhood participation, the number of eb
learners in the neighborhood at wilson. The connection wilson already has to north.
all of it is evidence as to why it's a thriving school for the dei program, and it would Be less disruptive to the program to move it there.
please also check the student retention data for both dli programs because wilson's staff And parents have worked for years to create the learning environment that now
exists, where vulnerable families feel included and empowered.
this does not just happen with good intentions. It takes years to build that and move the program to a place where it can thrive.
let's protect it and expand dli at that campus.
please hold your applause. Rosemead, 729 south coppell road.
so I've had to make adjustments because I was really paying attention, and I think that Doctor hunt's team did a really good job, especially breaking down the numbers for dli and
why you guys are thinking about consolidation. Now, what I'm humbly asking this board is please address what are the scores that the Different schools got and really like do a good
presentation just like you did today because honestly like I more so understand where You're coming from when it comes to consolidation, do I necessarily think it's the best
option? I don't know, but at least it makes me feel like you guys were being transparent.
and that was something that I was feeling really stressed and upset about. So can you guys please be transparent when it comes to these scores?
like tell us why pinkerton is the school that has to close and if it has to close, we Will support you and we will rally behind you.
but we want you guys to be transparent about it. Also, I'm worried because, you know, we say we're going to merge the ib program with Another elementary school, but it's not a merger.
it's a takeover. If you're taking 75% of us and moving us to a different school, you're pushing others Out.
please hold your applause. 144 day drive [inaudible].
the other day, my son, I refused to go to kung fu class and I say some.
but this is your community. You are part of it. It has your teacher.
it he has your friends and then he paused for a second and his eyes light up.
he said, mom, it's just like my class in pinkerton. I have friends, I have teacher there.
I said, yes, son, that's your community now. Our family moved to coppell because pinkerton last year, and we you can tell my son has Built a strong relationship and a sense of belonging.
closing the school may offer a short, term temporary fix, but let's not treat our student And our employee and staff
as numbers. Our students and the staff, they deserve a stable environment for growth and the true Cause of closing
school is far beyond the financial. I urge you to reconsider.
thanks. Thank you.
hi, I'm cierra. I live at 800 howell drive. I'm sorry to say, most of us don't believe we presented all the options to create revenue Or save money in the long term for our district.
my neighbors on howell drive have lived there for over 50 years. They sent their children to pinkerton as I send mine now.
they remember arguing with the board, then over the same concerns as to why the school is A liability.
financially, the building conditions and capacity being capped. How is it in all these cycles?
nothing has been done in 50 years to update the building. We are suspicious of your intentions if our community benefits or whoever is spearheading Closing this school when it is consistently not what the community wants.
this gross misalignment between you and who you represent needs to be addressed Throughout the process.
you've sown division, distrust, and skepticism because we are tired of always having to Protect a long standing, stable and historic school that 100 years of coppell families
have invested in and cherished. This is consistently the board's first option, and it seems your long term plan for the School district is not transparent enough for us to trust you because we have
consistently told you no. With our collective voice. Time. Thanks. Hi, kevin chalk, 830 greenway
drive. So I think the only option left is to vote against the remaining recommendations.
I don't say that to defend pinkerton. I say that because that doesn't come anywhere close to solving the problem.
you will be leaving the next board in a worse position. The demographics are alarming. We don't know the outcome of the vader.
we don't know school choice, government funding. It's an inevitability that school closings, school closures, and rezoning might happen.
it looks like you may have taken some options off the table prematurely and the only one Left is pinkerton to drop in the bucket.
if you heard. If you say yes now, you could be materially hurting three choice programs Simultaneously.
if you can't say in good conscience that we won't be closing at least one more school and Rezoning in the next 2 or 3 years, then you have to say no, and you have to go to the
admin, give them explicit guidance that you need a comprehensive plan to solve the Problem for the long term, even if that's painful.
thank you kevin and that will conclude our open forum
session. I guess before that concludes I just want to make sure did I miss anybody that Had signed up to speak?
I think we kind of kept it in order tonight. So again, thank you all for doing that and that will.
oh, yes. Oh. Thank you. I always have a little help from my friends.
thank you all again for speaking and now, if you want to give yourselves a round of Applause or anything you heard, you're welcome to do that.
so thank you all and can I just say one thing because I think, kristen, you said Something at the
beginning. I just one note and I know as an employee, sometimes it's coming and speaking In an open forum, you know, is difficult, but you
are protected under board policy to address the board, whether it's in public or by Email.
many have and many do. But I just wanted to make that one statement public that it is as an employee of this District, it is your right under board policy to speak up, speak out and address and
address the board. So I just wanted you to mention it, and I wanted to just make that Clear to everybody watching and to the public.
so with that concludes what we have on our agenda for tonight.
I move that. We adjourn. Second by motion and second to adjourn.
any discussion. Hearing none. We'll take a vote. All in favor. The motion passes seven zero.
we are adjourned at 7:19.