Good evening. The board will now convene an open meeting. Today is September 23rd, 2013, and the time is 7.06 p.m.
Katy ISD · Regular Board Meeting
Katy ISD Regular Board Meeting, September 23, 2013
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The board met earlier this evening in closed meeting. Any action arising from discussions in a closed meeting must be taken in a subsequent open meeting.
This is a meeting open to the public, not a meeting of the public. There are
students and other guests present. To maintain decorum, respectful behavior is
expected. Disruptive behavior and or comments will not be allowed. The KDSD
Board of Trustees meets monthly in a regular meeting, generally to receive
reports from the staff and to take action on recommendations from the
superintendent. Whereas there may not be lengthy discussions or a litany of
questions tonight please know that we've had the agenda for over a week as a
board we have reviewed each agenda item in a public work-study session with the
administrative team we were able to ask and receive answers to our questions
thus as a board we should have appropriate knowledge and should be
prepared for our responses regarding the content of the meeting tonight
mr. Fraley will you verify that we are in compliance with the provisions of the
the Texas Open Meetings Law in regard to the notice for this meeting.
Madam President, we're on compliance. First item is the personnel report.
Madam President. Mr. Adams. I move the Board of Trustees approve the personnel report
as recommended by the Superintendent. Second.
I have a motion by Mr. Adams, a second by Mr. DeBrell
that the Board approves the personnel report as recommended by the Superintendent.
Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote. All in favor, raise your right hand and say
Say aye. Aye. Motion carries 7-0.
The first pledge relates tonight by Mr. Ethan Beejee. So Ethan, go under your direction.
Microphone and everyone please stand.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all honor the
Texas flag I pledge allegiance to thee Texas one state under God one and
indivisible
thank you very much sir this is mr. Ethan BG he's a fifth grader at
Cimarron Elementary where Miss Cindy Bell is the principal and Ethan's parents are
Nathan and Amy Beejee. Brothers and sisters Abigail, Marissa and Daniel.
Ethan likes all types of sports especially football and
basketball and baseball. He likes drawing cars. His favorite subjects include math,
social studies and writing. And a quote about Ethan from one of his teachers is
Ethan is an outstanding student who comes to school every day ready to learn
and who is always willing to help others. His manners when dealing with adults and
and fellow students are impeccable.
So I'm glad to have you, sir.
Anything you want to say to us tonight?
What was yours?
Friendship and respect is what makes Cimarron a great school.
Students are friendly.
You will find the perfect friend.
The teachers are helpful and make learning fun.
That is why I think Cimarron Elementary
is the best school ever.
Thank you, sir.
Glad to have you here.
A presentation for you.
Ethan, thank you for coming down.
Look at all these people that you got to talk in front of, and you did a phenomenal job.
The only people in the district that get these are the brave people.
They get to come up here and give the pledge for us and have some nice words.
So that's yours, a lunchbox.
And then here's a plaque for you, honoring you for this.
Well, thank you very much.
Let's give a hand.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Griffin.
It's great to have you here.
Good evening, Mr. Stanford.
You have our recognitions for this evening.
Before you start, do we have any scouts here tonight?
Do we have any scouts to stand and let us recognize you if you're here tonight?
Stand a little away.
I guess here we go we have one here all right so if you give us your name and
your shoot number and what badge are working on you know Scout
count
let it happen sir congratulations on that
okay mr. Stanford let's begin with our recognitions we're glad you're all here
good evening madam president board members and superintendent Fraley for
For our first recognition this evening, I would like to welcome Dr. Pam Wells,
Executive Director for the Region 4 Education Service Center,
along with Greg Spencer, TCP and Strategic Program Manager at TRAIN,
and Brooke Fisher, Vertical Market Manager at Office Depot.
President Fox, board members, Mr. Fraley, and guests,
We want to thank you for allowing us to join you today.
Every fall, the Texas Association of School Administrators facilitates the Texas Teacher
of the Year program, which recognizes and rewards 40 regional teachers of the year for
their outstanding leadership and excellence in teaching.
From these regional honorees, a group of six finalists are chosen, and two of these teachers,
one in elementary education and one in secondary education, are afforded the highest honor
the state of Texas can bestow upon a teacher, Texas Teacher of the Year. Region
4 is very excited that KDISD actually had a regional finalist in both the
elementary and secondary divisions. This is very significant because we have 50
independent school districts in Region 4 and two of the finalists were from
KDISD. I think this reflects very well on the quality of teaching in your fine
school district. And at this time I would like to take the opportunity to
congratulate Christy Sides who was a finalist for the Region 4 Elementary
Teacher of the Year. I don't know if Christy's here tonight because we have
an even a special award for you too but I would like to mention that Ms. Sides
is a third grade teacher at Stan C. Stanley Elementary and as she stated in
her application she believes in putting children first and the rest will fall in
place obviously is it is obvious why miss sides was selected as one of the
finalists I am especially pleased to have this opportunity to join in your
celebration of this year's winner the region for secondary teacher of the year
Janie speeds Janie can should Janie come on up you think so we can be looking at
her while we're talking about her come on up Jamie and mrs. sides is here to
join us oh good evening besides I'm so sorry you have such a crowd tonight I
didn't see her so I'm so glad that she is here as well please come here and
stand in the front thanks because not only are they smart and wonderful
teachers but they're beautiful as well so you need to stand there as I said
Miss sides obviously was quite a significant winner to have been one of
the finalists and in her application was most impressive and I also want to have
this opportunity as I said before to join in recognizing the winner for the
region for secondary teacher of the year Jamie speeds she is a sixth grade
teacher at Katy junior high school and I am very pleased to be here to honor this
dedicated and outstanding educator I'd like to say just a few things about her
not only does she work very hard and diligently preparing and teaching her
students but she also serves the community in many other ways as well she
was awarded the 2012 president's volunteer service award from the
Corporation for National Community Service a federal agency that engages
Americans in service she was certainly an inspiration those who had the
opportunity to hear her comments after being recognized at the teacher award ceremony.
She didn't know she was going to win, but she had the most eloquent comments after that.
They were elegant as well, sorry.
But the most eloquent comments after that, and she was very inspirational to all of us.
Reflecting on her profession, Janie Humbly says, I don't know that I'm an outstanding
teacher, but you are, but I love working hard to produce something.
that is when I can lay my head down on the pillow and get a good night's sleep
and Janie I know that you get a good night's sleep every night because you
truly are an exceptional teacher we want to congratulate both miss speeds and
speeds and miss sides who both exemplify excellence in teaching and I want to
share with the board and also with the audience that we would not be able to
have such a wonderful teacher of the year event were it not for our business
partners and I have two of our wonderful business partners here with me tonight
to to recognize our winner as well actually we have we ended up having a
wonderful replacement for Greg Spencer who was having to catch a plane so he
had to leave so we have Joe Miller who is a system cell engineer for train and
then we also have Brooke Fisher who is the vertical market manager for Office
Depot as I said two of our very important important partners in this and
actually I'm going to turn this over to Brooke who has a surprise thank you so
much miss Wells thank you both for being such an inspiration we enjoy it thoroughly
to be a part of region 4 and to be a part of this event so with that being
said on behalf of Office Depot and train we would like to present you with an
iPad
I've had them up.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And once again, we want to thank you very much for giving us the time to come
and honor these exceptional educators.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for being here very much.
these teachers are mr. Adams and I served on the committee to choose the
district teachers of the year and hearing the stories of our finalists and
spending time in a room with you all you represent all of our teachers and every
single finalist said oh that's not me I don't do anything special I just love
children and love to watch them learn and every single one thought they were
were undeserving and I agree with you Mrs. Spees didn't know she was going to
be chosen because that morning she rode her bicycle to school when we surprised
her and took lots of pictures so and Mrs. Seitz it was so nice to see you at
Stanley Elementary that day congratulations to you all thank you
Mr. Stanford next we will recognize May Creek Junior High School's Brandon Dam
for being selected as a 2013 National Ambassador for Houston Harris County as
part of the Do the Right Thing essay challenge. Brandon you here this evening?
Brandon was chosen for more than 16,000 student writers from the Houston Harris
County area. He attended the national campaign to stop violence ceremony in
Washington DC in July where he met with other national ambassadors and had the
opportunity to present his views on youth violence to the Attorney General
of the United States, the Secretary of Education, members of Congress, and the
Secretary of Interior. Once again congratulations.
Science Olympiad is one of the premier science competitions in the nation
providing rigorous standards-based challenges to more than 6,000 teams in
50 states. Science Olympiad's ever-changing events in all science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM disciplines, expose students to
practicing scientists and career choices. This year the Beckendorf Junior High and
Seven Lakes High School Science Olympiad teams took first and second place in the
state competition and advanced to the national competition at Wright
University. Students please come forward as I call your name. The Beckendorf Junior
high science Olympiad team members are Sharia Agarwal, Ashish Chakraborty,
Naveen Shokar
Nathan Dias
Sarah Dohadala
Anusha Gandhi Shreya Gupta
Kelsey Hu
Kenneth Killinger
Lisa Lee
Aditya Shah
Ravi Shikhar
Cleo Sun
Heather Sweeney
Karen Tai
Freeney Tamaniah
Xin Tan
Thomas Xiong
Eric Yu
and David Yon and that's your Bekendorf junior high science Olympiad team
all right next for our seven lakes high school team members
First we have Kian Amirpani.
Thank you, Monty.
Guillermo Angiras.
Santiago Avila.
Tausef Azad.
Deekshap Adair.
Rohan Chakraborty.
Linan Shen.
Nishant Deshmukh.
Edward Gao.
Ohas Pontes.
Siddharth Sethapalli.
Sumya Shikhar, Tamiya Chirvastava, and Felix Wu.
Thank you.
Once again, congratulations to our Science Olympiad winners.
Next, we will recognize our Destination Imagination Global Tournament winners.
Destination Imagination is a non-profit organization that provides opportunities for students from
more than 30 countries to experience critical and creative thinking, collaboration, and
problem solving.
This year, the global tournament was held at the University of Tennessee and brought
together more than 1,200 teams from 47 states and 14 countries to showcase their creative
thinking skills.
KDISD had two Destination Imagine teams win first place in their respective categories,
the KD Elementary Tide Dyers and Cinco Ranch High School Die Harder.
Students please come forward when I call your name.
First from Katy Elementary, Maverick Anderson,
Cameron Cooper, Kyle McCary,
Kaylin the jelly
Reese Neal
Kirk pretty
and Jackson Robertson
And from Cinco Ranch High School, Matthew Burch. Alexandra Du.
Matthew Gakema, Joey Gu, Ross Miglin,
Katherine Wu
and Jessica Yee
Congratulations to all these talented students.
Next, we will recognize the Texas State Solo and Ensemble 2013 State Champion, Outstanding
Soloist Students.
Students qualify for the State UIL Solo Ensemble Competition by earning a Division I Superior
Exemplary Rating at the Region UIL Solo and Ensemble Competition.
Soloists earning an exemplary rating earn a UIL State Gold Medal and are eligible for
Outstanding Soloist.
According to the UIL, students that have earned this distinction are designated as State Champions.
Students please come forward when I call your name.
name first we have Paul Heath band Katie high school Jonathan pan Orchestra Seven
Lakes high school Michael pan Orchestra Seven Lakes high school
Shantanu Santalia, Band, Taylor High School
Spencer Taylor, Orchestra, Senko Ranch High School
James Thibodeau, Band, Seven Lakes High School
congratulations to these students
now I'd like to recognize the maid Creek High School FBLA chapter
the main Creek High School chapter receive the Hollis and Kitty guy
Gold Seal Chapter Award of Merit for the state of Texas at the 2013 National FBLA
competition last May. Only two schools from each state received this
award for their overall campus involvement and community service
projects throughout the school year. This chapter's community service projects
help bring awareness to the public's needs and raise money for the National
Pancreatic Cancer Foundation. Students please come forward when I call your
name. Amir Amini.
Brittany Avila, Brianna Bedoya, Chloe Benning, Brittany Carson, Kayla Kreitz,
Maria Diaz
Nicholas Diaz
Monica Duarte
Yazi Figueroa
Isabel Flores
Paola Flores
Alexis Flores
Andres Garza
Giselle Gomez
Claudia Hall
Brittany Hernandez
Olivia Johnson
Shannon Lowry
Stephanie Meyer Rebecca Molina Melissa Perez Alicia porras Tanya Rodriguez
Sanjuana Serrano, Emily Tebow, and Michelle Tran.
Congratulations to these students.
Thank you.
These individuals worked tirelessly to rally parents for everything from campus fundraisers,
teacher appreciation events, and countless activities for schools across the district.
Last year alone, more than 780,000 volunteer hours were donated to KDISD campuses,
a large amount of those due to the efforts of our parent support groups.
Therefore, it is my pleasure to introduce to you our 2013-14 parent support group leaders.
Leaders, when I call your name, please come forward.
I'll start with elementary and then go to our secondary. First we have from
Alexander Elementary, Shawnee Matheson.
From Bear Creek Elementary, Jennifer Valencia. From Cimarron Elementary,
Sean Matano Montana Creech Elementary Sarah Jackson from Exley Elementary
Linda Ames from Filder Elementary Allison Adam Ali France Elementary
injury.
Katrina Williams.
From Gobel Elementary, Tiffany Nguyen.
Griffin Elementary, Juliana Carr.
Hayes Elementary, Jeannie Griffith.
Holland Elementary, Lori Needham.
Hudson Elementary, Carrie Roundry.
Katie Elementary, Julie Dautrich.
From Kilpatrick Elementary, Becky Morris.
Morris. King Elementary, Kathy Boyd.
From May Creek Elementary, Amber Dick.
McRoberts Elementary, Tiffany Barnett.
Memorial Parkway Elementary, Crystal Olson
Moren Ranch Elementary, Jeanette Lease
Nottingham Country Elementary, Lisa Arkenaw
Patterson Elementary, Shannon Hopkins
Hopkins.
Rhodes Elementary, Shelly Taylor.
Rylander Elementary, Ty Roberts.
Schmalz Elementary, Mandy Fisher.
Schaefer Elementary, Jessica Birch.
Stanley Elementary Amber Stanford
Stevens Elementary Roy Robertson
West Memorial Elementary Michelle Donaldson
Williams Elementary Paige Bowick
Wilson Elementary, Kimberly Powell
Windbourne Elementary, Michelle McDaniel
Wolf Elementary, Natalie Knorr
Woolman Elementary, Susie Matthews
and Wood Creek Elementary Kelly system
get a picture of our elementary
Thank you ladies.
And our 2013-14 secondary parent support group leaders are, from Beck Junior High, Maggie
Boyle.
From Beckendorf Junior High, Ashley Vann.
Carth Junior High Angelique Burnside
Cinque Ranch Junior High Laura Petticord
K junior high Karen Calland
May Creek Junior High Peter Carroll
McMeans Junior High Cynthia Darden Memorial Parkway Junior High Carolyn
Smith
more ranch junior high Laura Freeman
seven lakes junior high courtney doyle
west memorial junior high denise ragsdale
and reward create junior high debbie
Conaway and from our high schools Cinco Ranch High School Marla Ward
Katie High School and a bear
May Creek High School Teresa Hartzell
Moore Ranch High School, Lori Bode.
Seven Lakes High School, Tina Wood.
Taylor High School, Joni Andrew.
And from Tompkins High School, Matt Franks.
and finally lisa johns who is serving as a katie council of pta's president
Thank you.
one more recognition that it's not on our formal sheet but we have some high
school students here tonight from a world history class is that correct from
Morton Ranch High School we are so happy to have you here we're here every month
and you are welcome to come back we're glad you're here okay this time it's
time for our open forum at this time the Board of Trustees will hear from patrons
who wish to speak by board policy a maximum of 30 minutes have been allotted
for this forum the time allotted will be divided equally among those requesting
to speak. The maximum amount of time allowed for any one speaker is five
minutes. Individuals who have written comments to present to the board are
encouraged to provide those statements to the Director of Media and Community
Relations, Mr. Steve Stanford. These written statements will be shared with
the board. Due to posting requirements of the Open Meetings Act, the board is only
able to respond to a presentation that is directly related to a posted agenda
item for clarification purposes the open public forum is not a dispute resolution
forum the board is not trying to prevent any person from speaking the intent is
to redirect patrons to the proper grievance process so that action can be
taken as appropriate employees or members of the public who wish to
express complaints about a student matter or district personnel are
reminded they must follow and exhaust all administrative remedies prior to
presenting complaints to the board. As I announce your name please come to the
mic, state your name, tell the board whether or not you reside in KDISD or
whether or not you have children presently enrolled in KDISD. This
evening we have ten speakers. Each speaker will have three minutes. There is
a timer at the base of the podium. When you have one minute remaining our
sergeant at arms, Mr. Griffin, will tell you one minute and the timer will go off
and let you know when your time has ended and the microphone turns off our
first speaker this evening is Laurie McFarling good evening mrs. McFarling
it's good to see you I can turn this on once again I'm Laurie you need to learn
what law you have I don't represent my family I represent myself you have three
stooges on this board that you guys need to know about Larry or Lucy Moe and
curly who like to call the city council defame people and try to sway a vote you have a problem
with me you take it up with me you don't go and try to sway a vote with the city i had an issue
with them they had a misunderstanding those gentlemen properly researched an issue found
out there was a mistake made and corrected and did not have to have a vote fortunately for you
The DA has been contacted.
Second, you have an instructional material review.
This should be open to all taxpayers, not just parents.
I have a copy of my son's homework from last year,
and I think it would be beneficial to any parent to know what to watch out for.
This is their 1984 where they had to wear a red stripe.
They had to turn each other in full name, last name on the internet.
They had to tattle on each other, and they had to be secret police.
This is Nazism, and they were treated like Jews.
When I called the principal, he told me they were laughing about it,
laughing about 6 million alleged deaths.
That's the lesson that they were teaching our children last year.
That's the reason why all taxpayers should be on this, not parents.
It needs to be changed immediately and another email needs to go out so that everyone in this community
That pays for this school has an opportunity
You also has a TASB
direct our director that you're voting on tonight I
Have a report here from c-scope review is Katie is D miss using tax funds
We spend a TASB over eleven thousand two hundred and seventy five dollars a year one minute to TASA
$6,263 a year.
Probably against what we the parents, mothers and fathers of this district want.
Please get us out of these associations so we have local control
and associations don't have things happening like CSCOPE
because in their initiatives they directly ask for things like CSCOPE
and it is in Katy schools.
That's why I would like to be on this board to sit and look at the instructional materials.
materials. Don't go behind my back trying to defame me. Don't try to influence other
people's governmental associations that they have voted for. You are not on the city council.
Those men are responsible and honorable. They looked at issues which this board does not
do. There are parents that have been up here for four and five years trying to get issues
addressed it took two months of research and their meetings are to every other
week two months thank you mrs. McFarland mr. Griffin yes the question of
clarification yes do we in the school district you see scope no so we do not
thank you
our next speaker is Doug white
hi mr. white thanks for being here thank you president Fox school board members
mr. Fraley my name is Doug white my wife and I have lived in the Katy district
for 26 years. We have two daughters that have graduated from Katy High School. I'm
here tonight to speak in support of the Ag Science Center included in the bond
package to be voted on in November. As you all know the Ag program is one of
the oldest programs in Katy ISD. A lot of people think that the Ag program is just
about raising animals but it's a lot more. These students in the course of
four years in the AG program learn confidence, they learn leadership skills, time management
skills, they develop new friendships with students from other schools in the district
and across the state, and they also learn the value of community service.
Tonight I want to concentrate on the Ag Science Center and primarily why it's needed because
of the livestock show.
show. As we all know, the livestock show is held across the street in the L.D. Robinson
Pavilion. It's been overcrowded for many years. Last year there were seven or eight goats
and lambs put into one pen because there's just no more room for pens in that facility.
There's not enough seating for spectators. During the livestock show, there's not enough
seating for the students their parents buyers and the public who want to come
and see the livestock show itself also the AG mechanics portion of the
livestock show and rodeo those projects are brought in on Friday set up in the
parking lot next to the LD Robinson pavilion judged and then they have to be
immediately removed because that place that space is needed for parking for the
rodeo and the livestock show so the public really never gets a chance to see
that part of the livestock show one minute finally the potential for this
facility is limitless some of the things that could be improved on and then
prove the program perhaps gardens could be planted by the ag students out at the
new facility seasonal produce raised harvested and potentially used for the
the KD Bistro. Ponds could be built out there and an aqua agricultural program could be
developed in KDISD. Also with those ponds, academic science classes could go out there
and study ecosystems and have a hands-on lab. I want to thank you very much for taking the
time to listen to me tonight and thank you for supporting this bond package with all
all these things that are included for all of our students.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. White.
Our next speaker is Randy Krause.
Good evening, Mr. Krause.
Welcome.
Good evening, Madam President, Mr. Fraley,
Superintendent Fraley, and the remaining board members.
Thank you for your time this evening.
My name is Randy Krause. I am the parent as well as the first vice president of the Booster Club here in Katy.
I have a student of Nicholas Krause at Katy High School and he is the current president of the KDFFA program.
I also have a sixth grader, West Memorial Cameron.
I'm here to represent the KDFFA chapter this evening.
In that being that, I'd like to discuss a few of the key points that support for the bond proposal that's in front of us.
KD is the third largest FFA chapter in the state of Texas. That is huge. It's a huge program. It's
been here for years. It's a tradition in KD, Texas. It is not just about showing animals.
People see this as it's one time a year we get to see the kids. They get glorified by having a few
animals. It is more than that. These ladies and gentlemen here that are sitting over to my left
represent the future of not only agriculture, the future of us in this community. It is
about leadership, public speaking, chapter conducting, livestock judging, community
decision-making, horticulture, media, marketing, I could go on and on. It is the
program that we need to embrace. Agriculture is our community. We should
embrace it and also welcome the growth and the change coming our way. We are the
model. Katy is the model for other programs around the state of Texas. They
look at Katy for support and enthusiasm of what you've been able to accomplish
here in this community is want something that we could do for our community as
well across the state of Texas in talking tonight I'd like to speak about
safety one of the big things that I like you ponder upon yourself not only safety
for our students animals or and the visitors students with mr. mr. white
represent himself while ago and saying that we're overcrowded it's been
overcrowded for past few years we're having animals especially the pigs or in
one cage of a three by five two of them in a three by five cage one minute
They've been representing by 8 to 16 feet of space before and now we're trying to get these animals to compete at a level and they just can't do that. They're stressed, they end up dying at the actual show and we could prevent that with a larger program. I'm going to run out of time so I'm going to go really fast.
Reducing animals to stress and harm to them is another safety issue. Visitors
that are going by them, we've had to reduce the amount of walkway space for
them currently now so allow more space. It allows it, it doesn't allow the kids
to bring, excuse me, the students to bring their equipment, their feed, their
buckets that they need. Everything is held out in their trucks. They go back
and forth and bring those in or they find a little space on the side.
Hopefully it'll be enough and it'll be there the next day when they go there.
there. Animal selections could all be done in one place, i.e. mean that they would also
reduce the amount of harm to these animals and the stress level with them there. In conclusion,
growth is here. Let's plan ahead. I'm glad you're doing that so our students, animals
and visitors, have a safe place to learn about the FFA program and the commitment our community
has on FFA programs.
Thank you for being here, Mr. Krause.
Our next speaker is Diana Elder.
Diana Elder.
Good evening Mrs. Elder, it's so nice to see you.
Good evening.
Superintendent Fraley, President Rebecca Cox, fellow board members and guests, my name is
Diana Robinson Elder and it is an honor for me to be here this evening supporting the
upcoming KDISD bond election and three state of the art facilities.
The multi-purpose stadium, the STEM building involving science, technology, engineering
and math and the amazing agricultural science facility will open doors to new
horizons in education that we never dreamed possible benefiting students
throughout the district without raising taxes my husband Jay and I are both
graduates of Katy high school as well as our two daughters and our three brothers
my mother Ruby Robinson was a fourth grade teacher and journalist and my
father LD Robinson I'm proud to say was the ag science teacher for 29 years and
and founder of the KDFFA Livestock Show and Rodeo and Agricultural Science Farm in 1943
and a Texas educator for 44 years.
The 70-year history of the program was recently recognized
on the Texas House floor of the state capitol in Austin.
There is no one that has a deeper tie and love for the FFA Ag Science Program than probably myself,
and I want to do what is best for the future for our students.
Although we celebrate and want to preserve the history,
we must embrace the future and support this initiative to help eliminate
scheduling conflicts, stress on our students and faculty, ensure student
safety, and to expand educational opportunities. The L.D. Robinson
Scholarship was established in 1970 by leaders within this community and has
awarded close to 124 year scholarships to outstanding seniors active in the FFA
and Ag Science program that have attended major colleges and universities all across
this nation. All of the applicants and students involved in this program and all the chapters
are totally amazing. The Katie Rodeo contributes anywhere from $40,000 to $50,000 annually
to supporting the students in this program, along with hundreds of individuals and buyer
groups, businesses and booster clubs spanning seven decades. Katie ISD's Model FFA Ag
Ag Science Program has been replicated by schools across the nation since its inception,
and our FFA advisors and Ag Science teachers continue to prepare young lives for the future
and train leadership and judging teams, excelling and setting standards that are among the best
in this nation.
We couldn't be any prouder of the program and those involved.
It was the FFA Ag Science Program that first brought state and national recognition to
KDISD and if you haven't had a chance to see the outstanding students being
produced through this program and seen them in action you don't know what you're
missing. The new Ag Science facility will open doors to ecological studies, aquatic
studies, microbiology, study of native grasses and soil science and can be used
for the
of the
thank you
speakers lori shu sterman
hi missus shu sterman welcome
Good evening. Thank you, Madam President, Mr. Fraley, KDISD Board and guests.
Thank you very much for your consideration this evening. My name is
Laurie Schusterman and I'm a 15-year KDISD resident and an FFA graduate
parent. It is with deep pleasure and honor and purpose I speak this evening
in support of the Agricultural Science Facility and the upcoming November bond.
You know, the United States and Brazil are our leaders when it comes to beef producers here in the world.
And Texas leads the nation in this beef production.
So we stand tall and proud in this responsibility.
And that's not talking about the pork, the poultry, the crops, etc.
If you had lunch today and plan on having dinner sometime before you hit the bed tonight, this matters to you.
With this in mind, planning for future is paramount and necessary.
And this is where our FFA high school students enter center stage.
This new facility will help forge them strong into the future and will offer them that competitive edge benefit as this global market continues.
continues, whether or not they choose agricultural science majors in college or not, it makes
a difference. Giving them that opportunity, having high school experience, and there's
no better place than here in Katy ISD. So I thank you very much for this joy. Good evening.
Thank you, Mrs. Schusterman. Our next speaker is Olivia Gillet.
no I'm Olivia sorry Olivia yeah I'm not from here as you can hear already good
evening evening board members superintendent Madam President now I
would like to talk to you tonight about TWI program I have two daughter that
have that are attending the Murrow Park Elementary School within TWA program and
have a son that will follow in about two years from now and they were enjoying a
program but while they are doing this knowing second grade and kindergarten we
came here a year ago from Minnesota I know it doesn't sound like you see
either I'll come into that after don't worry and my my oldest one my two year
my seven years old was in fact attending in ninety percent I'm immersion program
in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. And I want to talk to you about what they had to offer
there because I think the idea was extremely good and didn't cost too much
to the school district over there. They had a program where they're inviting
people from Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. not to be a teacher but to be as
helpers within the classroom. And I was bringing additional knowledge about the
language, Spanish in this case of course, and was helping the student to
to understand also diversity and understand different cultures.
Students were learning not only the language but also dancing, the local dances, et cetera.
And my daughter came here last year, was tested for TWI and scored, I think it was,
within the highest level on both sides, English and Spanish,
though she never learned English at school.
And her mother tongue is Polish.
No, I'm not from Poland either.
We're going to come to that.
So, now I'm coming from Belgium, in fact,
and this is another idea I can bring to you,
although it's completely different.
In Belgium, we have three different languages,
and it's a mandate at school to learn at least two of them.
The official languages are French,
that's where the accent is coming from,
Flemish, which is a Dutch dialect,
dialect and German. Very few people know we speak German in Belgium. So basically I think
it's a good idea to push kids to learn different language. Myself, I speak five or six different
languages and that's simply because I've been immersed in different language from young
age. I know you're working on the next stage of TWI and I'm really pleased to hear that
we have a meeting next week and I really hope we're going to get good news and move into
to TWA 2.0 with extended facilities for our kids and more grades than just K-2
fifth grade. Appreciate your time, thank you and have a great evening.
Thank you Mr. Olivier for being here. Our next speaker is Jack DeRoach. Good
Good evening, Mr. DeRoach.
How are you?
Ladies and gentlemen, it must be a real joy to serve on the board of the greatest school district in the state, probably the country.
I myself did not attend Katy.
I moved here in 1968.
All of my kids and their mother graduated from Katy High School.
So I've been around and seen a lot of changes.
So has Charlie.
first of all I want to make a comment and I'm sure everybody already knows this the bond
referendum is going to pass I don't know anybody anywhere in this school district that could
possibly believe we don't need it as far as the new stadium I would recommend that you consider
consider increasing the seating capacity from 14,000 to 16,000.
I cite growth in this area as the main reason, and anybody can see that.
Within seven or eight years, 14,000 won't be adequate.
It'll be outgrown.
I can assure you of that.
But it's going to be a beautiful stadium.
I can tell that already.
Lastly, I would like to recommend that you consider naming the new stadium after the
one man who deserves it the most, Coach Mike Johnston.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. DeRoach, for being here.
Our next speaker is Tom Aktor.
Good evening, Mr. Actor.
It's good to see you.
Good evening.
Madam President, superint-
and the board.
Just like to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you.
I'm a parent of two alumni from James E. Taylor FFA.
Both of them are in college, one with already an animal science
degree at Oklahoma State, working
on her second degree of economics
and her master's degree starting in January.
And the other one will be in animal science at A&M.
I'd like to speak a little bit on the ag facility.
I'm all for it.
I think it's something that is very well needed.
As we have traveled over the countryside showing our heifers and steers,
everybody that's asked us where we're from, we say Katy,
and the first thing out of their mouth is,
oh, you're the guys that had that really good livestock show.
And we do.
We have a tremendous community support of that livestock show.
show. It's very apparent in the amount of money that's given to them. I think the ag
facilities is a way of the school district saying back to those people, we are committed
to this show, we are committed to our kids and the growth of this ag community. We have
a rich history of agriculture in Katy and we need to continue that as the school district
grows. So I totally support that and I thank you guys for putting that bond issue into
play. Thank you.
Thank you Mr. Acker. Our next speaker is Greg Murray.
Hi Mr. Murray, welcome. Good evening. My name is Greg Murray. I do live in the Katy School
District. In fact, I have lived here for well over 60 years, which leads you to know that
I graduated from one of the schools. Guess which one? But during that time I've never gone in front
of the Board of Trustees. I've been in front of the principal a couple of times, but never the
trustees. I just want to talk a minute about the bond issue. It's a great opportunity for all three
of these projects. They're all needed. I am also focused on the Ag Science Center simply because
I've been involved with Friends of the FFA
for many years
we have
as this program has
progressed we have progressed
we now work year round
doing anything and everything we can
and I just want to thank
you for your
belief in the people that
presented this to you to get this
on the agenda to have
it passed it's needed
and I appreciate the time that you spend out of your personal life.
I've volunteered for things before.
I know how that is.
So I just want to thank all of you for what you have done
and what you've done for the kids.
Since I don't have any children, I adopt these students.
And I show up at every school's Booster Club meeting
to talk to them about what they need to do to help their students.
and what you have done is really going to help the students thank you
thank you mr murray our final speaker this evening is brianna adamali
you don't look like a brianna there she is behind the sunglasses
glasses. Good evening, Mr. Domley. It's good to see you. Did I say your last name correctly?
You did, actually. That's correct. Actually, you mentioned her and her as a parent of the
support. Okay. I'm Paul Domley. My daughter's Brianna. She goes to Fielder, and we're here
to talk to y'all about TWI tonight. Hi, I'm Brianna Domley, and you probably know why
I'm here but I'm going to tell you anyways. I'm here to promote the program TWI or two-way immersion
through junior high to high school. Five years ago me and a dozen more students were asked to make a
commitment to this program. We accepted and have been the better for it ever since. We are not only
learning how to speak Spanish but we're also learning how to read and write
Spanish. This will give us several advantages in the future. I will have
more opportunities for college and jobs. We'll be able to travel around the US
Central and South America and be able to communicate with people. We're learning
Learning something that most people in the U.S. don't have the opportunity to, learn
a second language.
I truly believe that we've excelled and opened our worlds to a better future because of our
community, I mean commitment to U2G.
cheap well now you please commit to helping us succeed in the future and expand TWI thank you
thank you Adam Elise for being here this concludes our open forum portion of the
evening we will move into our agenda I would also like to say hello to our FFA
students it's great to have you here love having you there in your jackets
thanks
okay board members I'll direct you to the consent agenda mr. Griffin I move
that the Board of Trustees approves the consent agenda as recommended in items
one through ten sir have a motion by Charles Griffin a second by Joe Adams
that the Board of Trustees approves the consent agenda as recommended than items
one through ten all in favor raise your right hand and say aye motion passes 7
to 0 our first action item is the appointment of school health advisory
Council Executive Council. Madam President. Mr. DeBrell. I move that the board
approves the KDISD School Health Advisory Executive Council members as
presented. Second. I have a motion by Mr. DeBrell, a second by Mr. Huckabee that the
board approves the KDISD School Health Advisory Executive Council members as
presented. Any discussion? Hearing none we will proceed to vote. All in favor raise
your right hand and say aye aye motion passes seven to zero
okay we have a nomination nominating waller fort bend and harris county
appraisal district president mr mahalsky i move that the board
approves the resolutions nominating candidates for positions on
the board of directors of the fort bend county appraisal district harris county
appraisal district and waller county appraisal district as
as on the resolutions which you were about to read
Mr. Moore.
Mr. Moore.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District being convened in regular
session at its regular meeting place within the boundaries of the Katy Independent School
District on the 23rd day of September 2013 with the quorum present in the persons of
all trustees whereas trustee Brian Mahalski introduced the following
resolution moved its adoption and the motion happened having been seconded by
trustee Terry Huckabee was duly put and carried said resolution reading as
follows it is hereby resolved and directed that in accordance with Senate
bill 621 the 66 legislature for the state of Texas which provides for a
state property tax board and further provides for a local appraisal district
Board to be appointed by taxing authorities within that appraisal
district according to the procedures outlined in the Senate bill 621 to
assess and appraise all taxable property for all taxing units within said
appraisal district whereas the Katy Independent School District has selected
designated constituted and appointed Waller County Texas as its appraisal
district Katy Independent School District hereby nominated the following
named citizens duly qualified residents of said district as members of the Board
of Directors of the Waller County Appraisal District, Roosevelt Alexander.
The Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District being
convened in regular session at its regular meeting place within the
boundaries of the Katy Independent School District on the 23rd day of
September 2013 with a quorum present in the persons of all trustees whereas
as Trustee Brian Mahalski introduced the following resolution, moved its adoption, and the motion,
having been seconded by Trustee Terry Huckabee, was duly put and carried, said resolution
reading as follows. It is hereby resolved and directed that in accordance with Senate
Bill 621-66 legislature for the state of Texas, which provides for a state property tax board
and further provides for a local appraisal district board, to be appointed by taxing
authorities within that appraisal district, according to the procedures outlined in Senate
Bill 621, to assess and appraise all taxable property for all taxing units within said
appraisal district.
Whereas the Katy Independent School District has selected, designated, constituted, and
appointed Harris County, Texas as its appraisal district, Katy Independent School District
hereby nominated the following named citizens, duly qualified residents of said district
as members of the Board of Directors of the Harris County Appraisal District,
Tony Trumbull.
We have a motion and a second.
Any discussion?
Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote.
All in favor?
We don't have a Fort Bend County nominee.
We will...
Okay.
So all in favor, raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
Commission passes 7-0.
Thank you for your patience during that.
We will move to the budget amendments.
Item 3, the Chair will entertain a motion.
There's a presentation first.
Presentation is not the motion.
Go right ahead, Mr. Smith. How are you?
Ms. Fox, Mr. Fraley, Board, we've added a couple of amendments since we met last week.
There are two items.
One is an increase of $200,000 for the Parent Link.
As a reminder, the Parent Link is a communications tool between the district and parents.
It can also be used to look at student schedules, grades, activities, and events that their children may have.
The second is really there for accounting purposes.
We budgeted in 2012-13 fiscal year to buy a couple of items that didn't come in.
Those were some cellos at Maidens Creek High School. I'm sorry, at Morton Ranch High School.
And dance uniforms for Seven Lakes High School.
Again, those did not come in before fiscal year closed, so we're putting them in the 2013-14 budget
because those will be expensed during that budget.
the other amendments are changes from one function to another and these
amendments increase expenditures $277,910.
Mr. Griffin?
Sir, the parent link, is that the program that we currently use when the school
year started or is this a new program that we're going to transition to?
This is a new service that we're looking at, that we're going to be deploying to work to
help our parents be connected more with mobile devices.
We'll have an additional app so they can access anything from a mobile device and also will
allow us to have more call outs, voice messages, call out to our parents as well.
We have school messenger right now, but ParentLink offers a lot more product and options than our current social provider does.
But it's just to improve communication with our parents.
Good.
Madam President.
Excellent.
Mr. Mahalski.
With that, I move that the board approves the district's September 2013 budget amendments as presented.
Second.
I have a motion by Mr. Mahalski, a second by Bill Proctor,
that the board approves the district's September 2013 budget amendments as presented.
Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote. All in favor, raise your right hand
and say aye. Aye. Motion carries 7-0.
Tab 4 is our debt service tax rate.
Madam President. Mr. DeBrow. I move that the board approves
the order adopting the debt service tax rate of $0.40 per
$100 valuation for the tax year 2013.
I have a motion by Mr. DeBrell, a second by Mr. Adams, that the Board approves the order
adopting a debt service tax rate of 40 cents per $100 valuation for the tax year 2013.
Any discussion?
I have a question.
Mr. Moore, is it correct that this is the seventh year without an increase to this debt?
This will be the seventh year.
This will be the seventh year without an increase.
Thank you.
OK.
I'm reading this.
I'm reading.
Be it ordained and ordered by the Board of Trustees
of the Katy Independent School District that we,
the Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School
District, do hereby levy and adopt the tax rate on $100
valuation for this school district for the tax year 2013
of $0.40 for the payment of principal and interest
on the debt of this school district.
The tax assessor collectors are hereby authorized to assess and collect the taxes of the Katy Independent School District on this 23rd day of September 2013.
Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote. All in favor, raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
Motion passes 7-0.
And following that, the Maintenance and Operations Tax Rate.
Madam President.
Mr. Huckabee.
I recommend that the board approve the order adopting the M&O tax rate of $1.1266 per $100
valuation for tax year 2013.
Second.
I have a motion by Mr. Huckabee, a second by Mr. Dubrow that the board approves the
order adopting a maintenance and operations tax rate of $1.1266 per $100 valuation for
the tax year 2013.
2013. Any discussion? Also Mr. Moore, this tax rate remains unchanged. This is the seventh
year with this one as well? Yes. Okay. Thank you very much. Be it ordained and ordered
by the Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District that we, the Board of Trustees
of Katy Independent School District, do hereby levy and adopt the tax rate on $100 valuation
for this school district for the tax year 2013 of $1.1266 for the purposes of
maintenance and operations. This tax rate will raise more taxes for maintenance
and operations than last year's tax rate. The tax assessor collectors are hereby
authorized to assess and collect the taxes of the Katy Independent School
District on this 23rd day of September 2013. Any discussion?
Mr. President, I just want to point out that statement about this tax rate will raise more taxes.
That is only tied to the property valuation increase, not a higher tax rate.
All in favor, raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
Motion carries 7-0.
Number six, delegate and alternate delegate to the...
Madam President.
Mr. DeBrow.
I like to nominate Terry Huckabee to be our delegate to TASB for this year.
Second.
That's all.
Do we need an alternate?
Or a nomination for alternate?
Does that put in the form of a motion?
I'll get the nomination first.
The board approves.
It's a nomination.
Do you accept the nomination, Mr. Huckabee?
Is that for this weekend?
Uh-huh.
Yeah, I guess I'll do it.
I think I can take a 10-minute the other day
that we all have something good
I'm big but can you never have to leave or
about it's kinda solitary come from a president I'm
it's in Dallas not Austin
are it is in down seven that system
editorial correct okay
on the motion sheet the sentence is very much please
please correct that to read down
alternate
doctor proctor would you service alternate
sir if mister huckabee get the cold
should begin
mister huckabee with the motion playing mister to grow with them for motion
please
i move that board approved their huckabee as delegate and
dr bill poppers alternate delegate to two thousand thirteen
TASB Delegate Assembly to be held on September 28, 2013.
Second.
I have a motion by Mr. Dubrell, a second by Mr. Mahalski,
that the board approves Terry Huckabee as a delegate
and Bill Proctor as an alternate delegate for the 2013 TASB Delegate Assembly
to be held on September 28, 2013.
All in favor? Raise your right.
Oh, any discussion?
Madam President.
I apologize. Mr. Adams.
We need to get this on the August agenda next year as opposed to having it on September
because most of the time the paperwork is sent out and these people are named
and they get their badges and everything ahead of time.
So if we can get this on the calendar for August of next year,
it will allow our delegate and our alternate to have the information ahead of time
and also to look at the resolutions and everything ahead of time in the study.
That's a very good point. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Adams.
Okay, so noted.
Okay, any other discussion?
All in favor, raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
Motion passes 7-0.
Congratulations, Mr. Huckabee.
Have a great time.
I think it's...
Our information items,
draw your attention to the donation report
and our future meetings,
Monday, October 21st.
21st our board work study and October 28th our regular board meeting
Having no further business. This meeting is adjourned at 832
Thank you.
Official documents
Motions and votes
Recorded actions
The motions and votes for this meeting have not been recorded here yet. Whether any were taken is not stated either way. The agenda and the recording above are the primary sources.