Good evening. The Board will now convene an open meeting. Today is Monday, February 15, 2016, and the time is 6.47 p.m.
Katy ISD · Board Work Study Agenda
Katy ISD Board Work Study, February 15, 2016
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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.
Mr. Fraley, will you verify that we're in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meeting Law in regard to the notice for this meeting?
Mr. President, we're in compliance. The first item is the personnel report.
Mr. President.
Mr. Moholsky.
I move that the Board of Trustees approve the personnel report as recommended by the Superintendent in closed meeting.
I have a motion by Brian Moholsky, a second by Ashley Vann,
that the Board of Trustees approve the personnel report as recommended by the Superintendent in closed meeting.
Any discussion?
Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote.
All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
Those opposed?
Motion passes 7-0.
Do we have any scouts in the audience today?
This is one of our best work-study meetings that we've had yet.
No?
Go on.
Oh, there you go.
You can tell us your name, the badge that you're working on, and your troop.
Thank you very much for being here, and congratulations.
All right, that moves us to Section 4, the action items.
Mr. Fraley?
Thank you, Mr. President.
In case you haven't noticed, we're a growing school district, and because we have to open up schools quite frequently, we have three schools we're going to be opening up this fall.
And the board has the authority, based on board policy and state law, to fix the naming of these facilities.
But the board has also a process that allows for a committee to make recommendations, and the board afforded me a chance to work with the committee to do that.
The committee consists of parents from the incoming school zones.
We received dozens of names that were recommended to be looked at.
You have two trustees on the committee to represent the board as well. Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Adolf were there and I think they had fun with that.
And we reviewed all the guidelines along with this policy.
Talk about the legacy in keeping with the board's vision statement.
And they explained to their campuses.
And I would say that the process, although efficient, was not easy.
We had a number of names to be looked at.
And I really want to commend the committee members in the committee members here tonight
They were there. I know the principles are there can members kind of wave your hand or something
Thank you for your work, and I saw you scratching your head quite a bit, and I saw you in deliberation
I saw all kinds of processes put together to get to a point
But you did so you did so and I think you were very pleased with you with your recommendations
It should be the thoroughly reviewed and debated and some hello spirit about a couple of things
about the cause of the candidates keeping in mind their vision hope for
the campus we have the appointed principals there these were parents who
were selected it recommended to be a part of it by folks who knew them and
please to recommend the names that I will be looking at and I action 4.1
4.2 and 4.3 the first will be 4.1 the school number 38 mr. president mr. Adams
I move that the Board of Trustees approves naming of elementary school 38
38 located at 27602 Westridge Creek Lane, Maydale-Jinks Elementary School.
Second.
I have a motion by Joe Adams and second by Rebecca Fox that the Board of Trustees approves
naming Elementary School number 38 located at 27602 Westridge Creek Lane, Maydale-Jinks
Elementary School.
Mr. President, if I could add a few things.
Mano Jink spent 43 years focused on teaching students languages.
She began her career in KDIC in 1985.
That's 85, not 35.
When she was hired to handle ESL bilingual and foreign languages, back then it was just handle.
She did more than handle.
Program was administered and implemented and included a K-5 bilingual program, newcomer centers,
which was the talk of the town with the HEB site committee last week, the district ELL testing center,
Which is okay behind Morton Ridge High School an outstanding program over there and the two-way immersion program in multiple foreign language programs
we have what 95 96 languages in Katy Astia, I believe now and
Miss Jinx, I will say to you that I've worked with you personally and I'm just very pleased to make the recommendation
made of Jinx elementary's Board of Trustees
Thank you very very much. Do we have any discussion?
All right before we vote we'll read this motion one more time. I
I have a motion by Joe Adams, a second by Rebecca Fox, that the Board of Trustees approve naming
Elementary School number 38 located at 27602 West Ridge Creek Lane, Maydale-Jenks Elementary School.
Hearing no further discussion, let's proceed to vote.
All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
Those opposed?
Motion passes 7-0.
Congratulations.
Mr. Shakespeare, do you have any family with you tonight?
This is you will set up can be recognized let people see who you are and would your family please stand as well
Which was at the conclusion I know the boys come down and we'll take individual pictures with each school namesake
Okay, we have two more to go and then we'll get there four point two over school number 39. Mr. President miss Fox
I move that the Board of Trustees approves naming elementary school number 39
located at 4535 East Ventana Parkway, Catherine Bethke Elementary School.
Thank you.
I have a motion by Rebecca Fox, a second by Ashley Vann that the Board of Trustees
approves naming Elementary School number 39 located at 4535 East Ventana Parkway,
Catherine Bethke Elementary School.
Mr. Fraley, for the discussion.
President, I want to point out Ms. Bethke and her family here tonight as well.
Her 31-year career began in KDIC as a kindergarten and first grade teacher
and taught at Williamsburg Settlement.
Met a young man this weekend who was off doing great things
who went to Williamsburg Settlement Elementary School,
which is now Windbourne Elementary School.
He also worked at Alexander Elementary and Creech Elementary Schools.
She was a teacher that worked with students who struggled to read,
and she went above and beyond, provided supplemental instruction and after-school tutoring.
She was a REACH teacher, a PRIDE teacher, an academic support teacher, and even created
and piloted a reading fluency program.
Catherine was honored as the Campus Teacher of the Year and was also selected as district-wide
finalist.
She was very involved in the campus PTA and even awarded a lifetime PTA membership for
continuing dedication to students and as an active supporter.
She can still be seen working part-time for the district as a proctor for GT assessments.
He still substitutes and is regularly seen volunteering at the Santa elementary miss Katherine
Any further discussion from the border
Mr.. President miss Fox well
It's certainly been my privilege being in Katie I Steve for a number of years to work with miss Maydale Jenks
You know at the administration level and when we moved here of course
we were almost immediately rezoned to the new Creech Elementary School where I met Mrs. Bethke
and I was the very first PTA president and just building the community of Creech Elementary
with Mrs. Patty Pato and of course she hires extremely well as you know she stole Miss Bethke
from Alexander and watching Miss Bethke with those children they would run to her they would be so
excited and I know that you're just going to have a continued legacy of children faces
lighting up when they see you.
And I'm so excited to be a part of this process and I know the committee had a very difficult
task didn't they Mrs. Doyle on deciding because there are so many fabulous people's names
who are there and when we called Mrs. Bethke she's like there are so many other people
both so deserving and but how she kept saying how blessed she was and and the
same with mrs. Jenks you know making those phone calls it's it's just the
memory I'll never forget and it's while I don't know the ties you know having
that conversation with them over the phone it's it's it's an exciting thing
and you're also very deserving and it's so exciting to begin to think about what
it's going to be and I'll be a frequent visitor at your schools if that's okay
All right, so let me read the motion one more time.
I had a motion by Rebecca Fox, a second by Ashley Vann,
that the Board of Trustees approves naming elementary school number 39
located at 4535 East Fantana Parkway, Catherine Bethke Elementary School.
I'm sorry, Catherine.
I'm sorry.
It's OK, Mr. President.
We call her Gigi.
So now all those students will have their very own Gigi.
all right those proceed to vote all those in favor raise your right hand and say aye
aye i was opposed motion passes seven to zero ms smith you have any family views tonight
kind of stand up and do a little the wave there and i want to see you family
congratulations thanks for junior high number 14 if you can imagine that i move that the board of
trustees approves naming junior high school number 14 located at two six seven two one
hawks prairie boulevard james and sharon tize junior high school
i have a motion by courtney doyle a second by brian mahalsky that the board of trustees
approves naming junior high school number 14 located at 26721 hawks prairie boulevard
james and sharon tize junior high school mr fraser president unfortunately james and sharon
and ties cannot be here tonight but miss tyson had a great conversation on the phone when i called
her last week but they have in their absence their son mark ties and and uh as a granddaughter cameron
is that right okay and uh sister james sister jane ties are here kind of wave your hand there folks
because you are excellent excellent james here and thais came to katie when there was only one
high school one junior high two elementary schools that's what last week everyone just
James was a vocational academic education teacher and assistant principal and finally took over as principal of West Memorial Junior High where he finished out his career.
He served more than 20 years as a principal, role model, mentor to other principals as well.
Sharon Tiles began her career in 1972 at Katy Elementary as a second grade teacher.
She moved on to teach second grade at Hustle Elementary, went open, and became a second grade team leader.
While at Hustle, she was named the Campus Teacher of the Year, and she later moved to Katy Junior High, where she served as a reading specialist until her retirement.
The Tias were mentors, encouraging and supportive not only their students but other teachers
as well.
So James and Sharon Tias is the recommendation.
Mr. Adams.
I'd just like to bounce off of what Ms. Fox said as knowing James and Sharon personally
and watching them and working with the kids of this district was just outstanding.
James just had a great personality and sometimes somebody would say he was stronger than a
garlic milkshake but uh but uh but he was uh he was very good the kids kids respected him and uh
he and sharon both and what they meant to this community was uh tremendous and uh mr griffin you
may have had some closer encounters with him as far as being a student under him have you
yeah but i can't remember i can't see publicly he was uh he was uh he was a they're great people and
i'm just sorry they couldn't be or not but i'm glad their family is here not pass on our regards
to them for you all right so that brings us right back to the motion I had a
motion by Courtney Doyle a second by Brian Mahalski that the Board of
Trustees approves naming junior high school number 14 located at two six
seven two one Hawkes Prairie Boulevard James and Sharon ties junior high school
let's proceed to vote all those in favor raise your right hand and say aye aye
those opposed motion passes seven to zero
I think by now Celeste meeting mr. president the principal of Medell Jinx
elementary schools mr. Troy Kemp the principal of Catherine Betke elementary
school is Carol Lowry the principal of James and Sharon Tyers junior high
school is dr. Chris Missner so now we'll have some pictures down here with the
family and folks so we'll again with Medell Jinx and we'll move on to Bethke
and then the ties.
And then a group photo.
And then one big group photo.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
nominee for Harris County Appraisal District's Board of Directors.
Mr. Smith?
Good evening, Mr. Griffin, Mr. Fraley, and Board.
It's with sadness that I bring up this subject again.
I know we talked about it at length in October and November, and we voted on it.
And unfortunately, within the last six weeks, our representative on the Harris County Appraisal
District representing school districts passed away, Toni Trumbull.
Yes, she passed away, and we are having to address the vacancy again like we did in October.
Before you have a resolution that has your nomination, I will say that there's been a
few emails and correspondence that I've been privy to that a Mr. Peter Pappi, P-A-P-P-E,
He's actually a CFO for a school district in the Houston area or in Harris County.
He also serves on a board of the Goose Creek Independent School District,
and he's willing and honored to potentially serve on the Harris County Appraisal District Board.
I'm not sure where he finds the time, but I think knowing the importance of school finance,
I don't think it we could be served by a better placement to miss Trumbull than somebody of his experience
and so you have a resolution in front of you and
The rules in order to serve and I won't go through those but it does appear as though he would be able to satisfy that
those rules
Thank you and miss Ashley Vane is going to read us the resolution
resolution resolution the board of trustees of Katy independent school district being convened at its regular meeting place within the boundaries of the Katy independent school district on the 15th day of February 2016 with a quorum present in the persons of Joe Adams Henry Dubrell Courtney Doyle Rebecca Fox Charles Griffin Brian Mahalski and Ashley Vann 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
Waller, Fort Bend, and Harris Counties, Texas as their appraisal districts,
Haiti Independent School District hereby nominates the following named citizen,
duly qualified resident of said district, as a candidate for member of Board of
Directors of the Harris County Appraisal District, Peter Poppe,
for the remainder of the two-year term of office commencing on January 1st, 2016
2016 and extending through December 31st
2017 signed and sealed this day is 15th day of February 2016 Charles Griffin board president Katie ISD school
Mr.. President
Yes, ma'am
I move that the Board of Trustees approves the resolution nominating a candidate for position on the board of directors of the Harris County
County Appraisal District.
I have a motion by Courtney Doyle, a second by Ashley Vann, that the Board of Trustees
approves the resolution nominating a candidate for position on the Board of Directors of
the Harris County Appraisal District.
Any discussion?
Hearing none, we'll proceed to vote.
All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
Those opposed?
Motion passes 7-0.
And this moves us to the report section, overview of Every School Succeeds Act 2015.
Mr. President, please call up Dr. Allison Matney, Executive Director of Research Assessment
Accountability to lay out the general provisions of this bill that has been passed and now
we're working on regulations from the Department of Education for it.
We're very pleased with the intent behind this legislation.
Dr. Matney.
All right.
Good evening, President Griffin, members of the board, Mr. Fraley.
I am here this evening to provide an overview of the recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act, the ESSA.
So we should begin with a history lesson to know what brought us to this point with this
reauthorization. In
1965 President Ben Johnson
was instrumental in passing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and that's what we call ESEA. In
In 2002, ESEA was reauthorized.
So No Child Left Behind was not a new law.
It was a reauthorization of our 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Most of us know that as NICLB, and we have different ideas of what that brought to education.
And in 2007, actually, NCLB expired.
So we have been operating under an expired education bill for many years.
and in 2011 the US Department of Education identified that we had some
holes in how we were operating so they provided some flexibility to states and
in some cases individual districts on meeting the intent and the outlined
goals of No Child Left Behind. On December 10th 2015 we finally had a
reauthorized bill called Every Student Succeeds Act, ESSA. So our ESEA has been
reauthorized again and is now ESSA. So that is what we are currently going to
have an overview about this evening so we know where we are focused. So the
authors of the ESSA Act had several goals in mind when they set out to have
this reauthorization. The number one goal was to repeal adequate yearly progress.
Adequate yearly progress was put into No Child Left Behind in order to have 100%
of students achieve proficiency on reading and math by the year 2013-14. So
all school districts and schools were held under the accountability of having
100% of their students pass the state assessment, whatever state they were in,
whatever the assessment was, passed that by 2013-14. So as we got closer to that,
that's when the waivers came into effect in 2011 because we knew that that was
not necessarily attainable at that time. So that was the number one goal was to
repeal that piece of No Child Left Behind. Another huge goal was to move the
authority from the federal to the state level. The authors realized that there
There had been federal overreach in a lot of education policy and they wanted to bring
a lot of that control back to state and local governments so that states and local education
agencies could determine what was best for their students instead of the federal government.
It also repeals the highly qualified teacher requirements in the same vein of moving things
from the federal to the state level.
they the authors really wanted the states to determine what does make a good effective
teacher for that state and it broadens professional development opportunities for No Child Left Behind
it was a very narrow focus on what constituted professional development activities and for whom
so we'll go through how it broadens professional development activities but that was a goal that
the authors wanted to achieve. And then moving back to a formula grant from
competitive grants so that we can see a well-rounded education in all of our
states and school districts. And again we'll go into some of those details. And
then increasing general flexibility with our federal funds in many federal pots.
So the flexibility is going to be increased at the state level as well as
the local levels. Those were the goals that the authors had. There are seven
themes of ESSA. So we're going to go through each of the themes and the first
three are what's being called the meat and potatoes of this reauthorization.
Standards, assessment, and accountability. So when we talk about standards, ESSA
moved the standards from a federal to a state requirement. So whereas the federal
government had previously defined what standards states and districts had to
comply with, now it's up to the states. And in Texas we're in great shape with
that because we already have our TEKS that are aligned to all of the items that the federal
government wants us to have in there the the challenging curriculum and the alignment to
college and career standards we already have that in the state of Texas for assessments again that
move from federal to state responsibility and looking at still having certain grade levels so
for example math and reading in grades three through eight and once in high school and then
science.
in every level we still have to have that but what type of testing we do as a
state and what types of tests we use we have flexibility as a state now so
states get to determine what tests and how frequently they are given maybe even
within a school year versus the federal government one time one cumulative test
at the end of the year participation is still a requirement however states are
are going to be given the authority to develop opt-out policies at their
discretion. We don't know where Texas stands with this. We do currently have a
state law that does not allow for opt-outs. So this is something that we're
watching to see if that will change in the state of Texas. For accountability,
again moving from federal to state, you see that that theme is prevalent in our
meat and potatoes there, moving from federal to state responsibility. So the
federal government is giving us guidance for what is included in accountability
systems at the state level and not how so it's it's telling us the framework
but not telling us how we have to measure and what targets we have unlike
a YP where they set out the annual targets the states get to determine
those targets the in the school improvement area we're very very
fortunate as y'all heard me present last month very fortunate in Katy ISD to have
highly, highly successful schools, highly successful students, and in the area of
accountability that that is no different. We have not had to live in KDISD, the
federal or the state school improvement model because all of our schools are
meet standard. And so in the area of accountability we won't see a lot of
that effect right now, but in the in the broad paintbrush of accountability they
are in school improvement, pardon me, the federal government no longer is going to
to tell districts or states how to run their school improvement model. States
are going to be able to develop their own to improve their own state
schools. Teacher and leader effectiveness. This is where the broadening
professional development and professional learning opportunities
comes in. It also is where the highly qualified teacher piece lies. So in ESSA
the authors really wanted to broaden instead of just providing professional
learning to core content teachers really moving it out to leaders of campuses and
teacher leaders and so we'll see a broadening of where we spend our
federal funds on providing professional development opportunities as well as
which ones will will lead to more effective opportunities for highly
qualified that is going to be up to the states to determine what is effective
and that is yet to be determined at this point but we do know that the
the prescriptive highly qualified has gone away.
For well-rounded education, this is a huge component that we see kind of a light away
from just the making sure that we're adhering to all the standards and everything that's
important is measured by a state assessment.
There's a real focus in ESSA to bring back that well-rounded education for our students.
So we're going to really look at what district needs assessments and state needs assessments
say that we focused on versus the prescriptive making sure that the the
goals of the grants are being met no matter what our needs are now with the
expansion of being able to use federal funds in different ways and having some
flexibility we'll be able to apply that to a well-rounded education for students
as deemed appropriate through a district and state needs assessment and then the
final final theme is the federal education funding and again that's where
where the flexibility comes into play. There are some of those details that are
yet to be worked out as you can imagine but it's it's an exciting piece that we
will be able to see some flexibility so the states and districts can meet their
needs as they see fit versus kind of the tail wagging the dog as you might say. So
KDISD after we have analyzed those seven themes and after we've read or the bill
and looked at all kinds of analyses of it, we do support that move from federal prescriptions
to state-level decisions. We believe that the state of Texas and, of course, our local governing
board is best fit to identify areas where the students in Texas and Katy need what they need
to be very effective, and so we support that move from federal to state decisions.
We also support the focus on high quality standards. That's nothing that
we've ever shied away from and we certainly support that. We want our
students educated at the at the highest level so high quality standards are
critical for that. And of course we appreciate and support the flexibility
within state assessment systems. That's nothing that we will be able to
determine as a local district. We won't be able to decide how we do it in Katy
as far as state assessment and accountability but we're very optimistic
that our lawmakers in Austin and at the Texas Education Agency will take
advantage of this portion of the law. We also support the maintenance on a focus
of equity that's critical to any strong school system so we were excited that
ESSA maintains that. And then flexibility with professional learning for all staff
instead of just the core the old the NCLB core academic teachers receiving a
a lot of very focused professional learning provided through federal funding.
We're excited to see that broadening so that we can roll out those opportunities
with different funding levels for all staff.
And then the addition of a new formula grant,
that's where the well-rounded balanced education comes in.
There will be a new formula grant that we will be granted from the state
instead of having to apply to the federal government for a grant of this type.
It will be a formula grant.
So we're excited to see that to be able to do our needs assessment and see where that those funds should best be spent
And then of course we support wholeheartedly the increased in flexibility of our federal funding
So our conclusion and next steps
Currently Texas standards assessments accountability and school improvement systems predominantly already aligned to what ESSA says
So Texas is in very good shape
So we don't anticipate seeing major overhauls to these four areas in the state of Texas.
There may be some fine tuning and some smaller decisions made that could affect, but we don't
see large changes to be made.
Another next step is when we look at increasing flexibility with funding, we'll be monitoring
that to see where we can, where we need to merge funds or where we can use them in different
ways.
And then the Title IV formula grant that I mentioned that used to be
competitive and now we will be given a formula grant, it'll provide additional
funds for programs like health and safety, academic needs, wellness for the
whole child. So we're excited that that will come about. So we're monitoring that
to find when the rules come down from the federal government and in the state
how we can apply that. And then the Texas accountability system will be fully
compliant in 2017-18. That accountability system is already in the works and it
does look different. Seems like every year we have a new accountability system.
There's tweaks and changes but that one is already in the works and so we
anticipate it will be fully compliant and already was headed that way. Major
changes will not need to be made to what they were already planning. And then we
are currently monitoring all updates for state and policy changes when it comes
comes to ESSA, so we're keeping our ear to the ground to make sure that we are hearing
things first to make sure we are making sure that our policies are in alignment with what
is coming down from the state and federal government.
So with that, are there any questions about our overview?
Board, any questions?
Just have one.
When you say flexibility of spending, I was sitting next to Mr. Fraley and I heard the
gears turning and I saw his eyes flashing.
So I'm sorry, administration, Mr. Fraley is probably going to attach you all with a
lot more work.
Thank you very much for the awesome presentation.
That moves us to section six, discussion action.
Six point one has been pulled from the agenda at the request of Willow Fork Greenwich District
as they're revising the location of the utility lines.
And that moves us to 6.2, discuss and consider
future board approval of the proposed summer work schedule.
Ms. Edmund.
Hey, good evening, President Griffin,
Ms. Superintendent Feigley and school board.
This is probably the most important item
you're gonna hear tonight.
night. So I'm here to request the Board of Trustees approval for a day work
schedule for all employees in Katy ISD beginning June 6 2016 and ended on August
the 4th 2016 with the workday from 7 to 5 p.m. And I did a little research just
to Mr. Gunnell and I were very curious. We found that this work schedule has
has been in place for over 20 years.
We were interested in finding out
how long we had been doing the summer schedule.
Thank you.
Board, any questions?
Thank you, any objection to moving this item to consent?
So moved, thank you, Ms. Sedna.
That moves us to item 6.3,
discuss and consider future board approval
of the proposal for property insurance.
Mr. Newman.
Good evening, President Griffin, Superintendent Fraley, and the sandwich board. During the February 17, 2015 board meeting, the Keddie Independent School District Board of Trustees approved the proposal for property insurance from Lexington Insurance Company
slash Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc.
for coverage limits of $250 million with a 12-month term.
The policy covers the following.
Buildings, structures, contents, physical damage to both buses and automobiles,
electronic data processing equipment, mobile equipment, musical instruments, boiler and machinery.
The major perils covered include fire, flood, earthquake, windstorm and hail,
and named Windstorm. Currently the total insured value of the district is 1.497
billion. During the recent policy term the district added increased values of
buildings due to completed projects, 45 new portables, and increased values in
both the bus and white fleets. During the policy term ongoing analysis of the
insurance markets were studied and it was determined to obtain quotes in the
market to better understand the current market price for the district's risk.
As a result of the request, a proposal was placed for competing agents to evaluate and
seek pricing for the district.
The RFP was sent directly to six firms with 15 carriers evaluating the risk.
As part of the RFP pricing, terrorism was sought based on certified and non-certified
acts.
The proposals were reviewed with Lexington Insurance Company Wells Fargo Insurance Services providing the best terms and conditions for the district.
The renewal rate of $0.09 per $100 value represents a premium reduction of 10% cents per $100 value.
value. As a result of the marketing effort, KDISD was able to achieve
strategic savings and leverage program design features for the following
reasons. Number one, the consistent review of outside inspectors rate the condition
and maintenance of KDISD buildings as superior. A 10% rate reduction was
accomplished. Risk management through program design with its builders risk
carrier AIG Lexington was able to leverage premium volume for a rate
reduction in the underlying property program. As a result, on low loss record
in the district, it was able to show underwriters its mitigation practices
kept losses under control. And also AIG recognizes the safety bear program as an
effective tool. Additionally, the proposal has a rate guarantee for three years. The
The Lexington Insurance Company slash Wells Fargo proposal was reviewed by Risk Management regarding adequacy of coverage, assessment of risk, availability of services and cost.
We are of the opinion that Lexington Insurance Company Wells Fargo proposal represents the best value and offers, one, coverage limits that exceed the maximum expected loss,
provide continuity of coverage for those locations currently under the current bond project maintains
a renewal date outside of hurricane season limits provided in capacity through one carrier and
affords physical damage for buses and autos at each transportation center that would provide
replacement costs versus actual cash value the proposal is for a 12-month property policy from
March 1, 2016 to February 28, 2017 with a three-year option in which premium rate and
coverage form is guaranteed.
It is recommended to the Board of Trustees that this be approved for the proposal of
property insurance from Lexington Insurance Company, Wells Fargo Insurance Inc. under
the terms and conditions presented.
Mr. DeBrell.
You mentioned certified and non-certified acts of terrorism. Can you please explain the difference?
Briefly, certified acts of terrorism are approved by the Treasury Department.
If you'll recall way back when 9-11 happened for terrorism coverage to be enforced,
the federal government determined that the Treasury Department would determine that.
A non-certified act of terrorism would be something pretty close to a domestic
uprising in which someone would make a political statement or a revenge type
situation. So the two in this policy form, we don't have to have the
Treasury Department to certify the act. It would automatically, if we had a very
large loss under a Terrorism Act would be covered thank you yes sir
president Schmolski mr. Allen obviously you lowered you lowered the rate so it's
always commendable I kind of kind of want to get a feeling for you know why
it might have been lowered you you listed some reasons here and I just kind
of wanted to know that compared with the overall market condition today what do
you think was the most contributing factors I would say it would be a
combination equally. I think we need to really recognize the job that our
maintenance department does day in and day out, the physical appearance and
keeping up our buildings. The market is softening anywhere from five to eight
percent is an expected rate of reduction that we're seeing but that's not always
a guarantee that you will get that in speaking with different districts across
the state there are seeing some upward ticks because of losses in certain areas
of the state primarily in the northern part of the state I was able to reach
out to so I think it's a really a combination of both another question
from like go ahead um in the schedule that's in our materials that also lists
out the the deductibles on the policy are those per occurrence or per facility
or our combination that that is per Helen let me explain it is per occurrence
but we have a deductible program set up on our particularly our wind that's per
building if you take for instance made Creek you would have a significant
deductible so we broke it out and we're able to achieve a lower deductible if
If you lost a portable building, you wouldn't want to be subjected to the whole windstorm
deductible of Maid Creek High School.
So that's a very good strategic design that we've had for quite a while.
Mr. Adams.
Mr. Dallin, thank you for your presentation.
The question I would have would be, in the past we've had a local firm bid on this.
Here in Katy, can you tell me whether or not we had any local firms bid on this one?
No, sir, we did not.
Any other questions?
Any objection to move this item to consent?
So moved.
Thank you, Mr. Nowman.
Thank you.
And that brings us to 6.4, discuss and consider future board approval of design services associated
with the Cinco Ranch High School Fieldhouse expansion and renovation and the science lab
upgrades.
Mr. McElwain.
Good evening, President Griffin, Board Member, Superintendent Fraley.
I have four items for your consideration this evening.
The first item as President Griffin had identified is a related to a 2014 bond authorization project
namely the expansion of the field house at Cinco Ranch High School
as well as some upgrades in the science area at the high school.
Essentially there are four science labs that require fume hood installations
to support the curriculum and the program in those particular classrooms.
With respect to the Fieldhouse expansion, we have been working closely with Coach
Clayton, Debbie Decker and her staff with respect to the scoping of this project.
There's an exhibit attached to this particular item that identifies the
scope that will be involved in this particular project. This project was
initially identified as a 2018 completion project, but in
talking with the campus and with Coach Clayton and Debbie Decker, there's an identified need
to accelerate this project. So this evening what we're bringing to you to the board is approval
for design services associated with this project. Once the design services are approved we would,
our goal would be to bring the construction manager, the construction manager would be
presented to the board in March after which we would complete construction documents
and construct this project to complete. We're tentatively looking at March 2017
to complete this project. Currently this the athletic facilities are undersized
at Cinco Ranch High School. As you know that was the first proto first iteration
of that particular prototype. Since that time the athletic facilities have been
improved around the district and this this will support the program needs mr
unfortunately coach Clayton wasn't able to make it this evening the Debbie
Decker's here should the board have any questions on this particular item any
questions mr. president Fox mr. McEwing you said it's accelerated is it is it
covered in the 2014 bond authorization that's correct it's a 2014 bond
on to authorization to move the timing yes no other questions then any
objection to move in this item to consent so moved thank you sir 6.5 if I
may make a few general comments with respect to the next three items are
somewhat interrelated just to give a little bit of a reminder and a background
on these particular projects or items.
Amendment 1, 2 and 3 to the Dermala contract.
In August, design services were approved by the board for various athletic improvements
and Coach Joseph is here this morning in support of those projects.
We came to the board in August, as I mentioned, for design services
with various needed athletic improvements over at that particular campus.
In September we also brought design services associated with the shell space
for this particular building which was an approved GOF project that's currently
in the approved GOF budget for this particular year and in November we
brought the construction manager for both for all of that work and it was
Dramala Construction was the recommended contractor for that project and one of
the the the reasons for doing that and packaging that was hopefully that we
would gain an economy of scale because of the nature of the project somewhat fragmented not
a huge project we thought that there would hopefully be economy of scale so i'm ex extremely
pleased to report with respect to amendment one to the dramala construction manager risk contract
which is associated with the shell space build out for this particular building that we are
under under the approved gof budget on this particular project
And the goal being that because it's in it's this year's GOF budget that we would our goal is to complete that project
Within this within this fiscal year. So the goal would be to complete the work by the end of substantially completed by the end of August
Thank you any questions
That's present. Mr.
Malski, this is being funded by the general operating fund at what point our funds moved over to capital projects fund
Is that as as needed throughout phases of construction or?
Maybe if you could repeat the question miss from a whole skin, but since this is being funded by the GF correct correct correct
So when are one of those funds actually?
Transferred to capital projects fund or whatever fund they go through to or are they are are they?
Maybe maybe better question this might be the best to answer it, but it's really viewed as general operating fund project
When when from an accounting purpose we code those to a capital outlay or capital expense and we capitalize those regardless of the fund
I'll capture them in our asset system. I got it. And so if it's completed by August 31st, it'll all fall into this fiscal year
Yes, and the general fund. Yes August 31st, okay
Thank you for looking at all options to save us money and get the most bang for our buck
Any objection to move in 6.5 to consent?
so moved and that brings us to six point six yes item and before I go any further
I'd be remiss if I did not identify Robert Curtis is here tonight from
Jermala they have done an excellent job for us as fair Robert is the estimator
for Jermala so that was a to pick up on your comment there president Griffin
with respect to the savings a lot of his efforts have gone into making sure that
we've got the best value for the district on this particular project and
And with respect to Dermot, I encourage the board, I don't know if they if you've seen the progress over at Katy High School with respect to the softball facility over there under a within a very tight time frame.
They've done an excellent job.
With respect to Amendment 2, Amendment 2 and Amendment 3 are associated with the athletic facilities that I that I in improvements, which I mentioned previously.
When we came to you folks earlier in this particular project we had
identified that both all of the work that's included or identified in
amendment 2 and amendment 3 were going to be funded through TERS waterfall
funds. The reason why we split these into two different amendments is through
discussions with the business office it was felt that it was it would be in the
best interest of the district and to not drain the TERS waterfall funds entirely
entirely to break these projects from a front funding perspective into two sources.
So essentially the first, well I guess the first of these two amendments,
Amendment 2 for Katy High School which is for the press box work at Tiger Stadium,
this particular work would be funded by the TURS waterfall funds.
funds and our goal would be to complete complete this project by August August
15th of this year with approval of the board I miss McQueen this project has
been you know I went to Katy high school this project and the concession stand is
taken forever what's been the delays of getting this whole project put together
and move forward? Well I thought the completion that the project completion
just the recent obviously over the last number of months has been primarily the
weather delays that have held us up from the actual completion of the projects
but a lot of things have happened there's some opportunities that have
presented themselves for us recently for instance the tennis court reconstruction
Reconstruction project that project involves a reconstruction of five tennis courts those tennis courts are actually being
Situated on the property which we just bought a year or so ago over it so that presented an opportunity for us to complete these
projects, okay
Or any other questions any objection to move this item of consent
So moved six point seven an amendment three as I mentioned is is the amendment that's associated with the tennis court work track and field
field events as well as reconstruction of the athletic field that's adjacent to Highway 90.
The funding for this project would come from 2010 bond authorization savings.
And once again this project would complete as well by mid-August of this year.
Well by moving these park the tennis courts and that help us to move to more of a footprint like
like we have at high school, eight, seven,
the majority of how we put our baseball
and softball fields all together.
I guess maybe Debbie Decker might be able
to add to that particular comment
with respect to the master planning of the campus.
Good evening.
So currently, Katy High School has three practice fields
and the footprint for our other high schools
is actually four practice fields.
So this would actually get them in line
with what our current standard is district-wide so it gives us a
capability of getting another practice field that's correct yeah it'll
primarily be used as a soccer practice field but currently all of the the the
newer footprint I should say Cinco Ranch Morton Ranch and so on all have four
practice fields so this will actually give them that fourth practice field
very good I know their programs during the summer and all that are just they
They take a lot of kids and they put them through these programs, which provides huge opportunities.
Yes.
Thank you.
Mr. Wachowski?
Did you say that this will be funded by 2010 bonds?
Bond authorization savings.
Authorization.
Have those funds already been moved or allocated?
I'll ask Mr. Smith to respond to that question.
They're in savings, and if we move forward with this, we'll allocate it to this project.
Well, the reason I ask is this has about a $2.5 million project cost, right?
But on our own website, from December 9th, it says the remaining balance of unallocated
2010 bond savings to be used on future capital projects totals $645,000.
Can you help me reconcile that?
I can speak to that.
We meet monthly.
The construction department and financial services meets monthly, and we try to close
projects out.
And we'll try to sometimes get pretty aggressive with them to close them out.
and any contingencies that may remain in a project or
Various funds that are small dollar amounts that have not been spent
We scraped through during those meetings and and then move it from those projects to
Project savings that's one of the reasons for the meeting is to make sure that we're just not late leaving money and tied up in a project
and
Trying to identify it. Okay, so additional savings are basically found from projects that are
recently closed out or whatever. Yes, sir.
So there is sufficient fund savings left to finish this?
Yes, sir. Do we know if there will be anything remaining after that?
No. At this point, no. The comment, if you made it a month from now,
the same like tonight, there may not be. But as a couple, three
months go by, we may be able to identify some, but I think
the majority of it is now identified.
identified okay thank you for the explanation to you any other questions
any objection to move in this item to consent so move thank you very much
thank you and that moves us to item 6.8 discuss and consider future board
approval of closed campuses for inter-district transfers for the 2016-2017
school years mr. corneille good evening Thank You president Griffin board
Board members and Superintendent Fraley,
you should have a copy in front of you
of the closed campuses we're asking to consider
for the 2016-2017 school year.
Any questions?
Mr. DeBrett.
Mr. Are you saying junior high 14 and 38 is going to open up, close based on projections?
Close campus?
Elementary 38 and junior high 14.
Mr. They'll be opening and closing, exactly, based on projections.
Ms. Open and close.
Mr. Open and close.
Mr. Open and meaning brand new and of course it will be closed for transfers for the 16-17
school year.
Mr. Mr. Mohoski.
Can you tell us what changes were this year?
Obviously junior high 14 and elementary 38, adding to the list.
I believe this is the first year that Tompkins will be a closed campus.
I don't believe it was the previous year.
Can you tell me any other changes, either campuses opening up or closing that were different
than the previous year?
We do have some of the schools that have gone up in some of their enrollment and basically
we just look at the actual projected population of the campus, the capacity of the building
campus and then we use a real basic formula of minus 50 or plus 50 based on that projection
and then we make a determination of the closing. Now as far as from last year to this year,
for high schools we'll start, all of them are primarily the same with the exception
of Tompkins, so Taylor will be added to the list of opening campuses and we're closing
and Tompkins and of course the numbers in Tompkins are projected to go up for
16-17. Elementary we went up about four four campuses as well as junior high we
went from four to six so we added two additional campuses for the 16-17 school
year and again it's based on based on projections. Stan? I didn't hear you
clearly you say Taylor will be added to this list? Taylor will be last year take
This current year, Taylor is on the closed campus.
I just didn't understand.
Taylor will be an open campus.
I'm sorry, for 16-17.
Okay.
Thank you.
I'm sorry.
Thank you, Mr. Forney.
Any objection to move in Item 6.8 to consent?
So moved.
6.9, discuss and consider future board approval for the February 2016 budget amendments.
Mrs. Butterfield.
Get a couple.
Good evening, President Griffin,
Trustees, Superintendent Fraley.
Tonight we have eight General Operating Fund budget amendments,
and these are no change to the General Operating Fund fund balance,
normal activity of the district,
moving existing budget into the correct functions and object codes
to reflect expenditures. Any questions? Any objection to move in the side of a
consent? So moved. Ma'am 6.10. Thank you. We have one grant for your ratification
tonight. It's a $5,000. This is from Ecolab Foundation grant to purchase
materials and supplies for the Seven Lakes High School robotics thank you any
questions any objection to move in this item to consent so move Thank You mrs.
Butterfield and that moves us to our discussion 7.1 discuss and review board
policy be local board meetings I had with the suggestion of some board
members to bring this one up so that we can have a discussion on transparency so
So before we get into the discussion, I'll just give you a quick background on what happened.
In January, House Bill 238 passed, and they came up with guidance on transparency.
Before then, we never had any.
And the House Bill says, effective January 1, 2016, requiring school districts with an enrollment of 10,000 or more
to make video and audio recordings of each regularly scheduled open meeting
that is not a work session or a special meeting we as a board have never talked
about transparency or have established a policy or a procedure from this DS we've
talked about in a special meeting but we haven't got to talk about it here as a
As a Board, our job is to write policy.
And I took the opportunity on January on our work study to comply with this law until we
as a Board had the option and the right to write our policy.
I paused the videos to give the Board time to reflect on what we want to do as a Board.
I gave the community a chance to provide input to the Board to help us with our guidance.
Now our students have minimums out there and they exceed it.
This administration has minimums applied to them and they exceed their minimums.
We as a Board can go with what the state minimum says, record these regularly scheduled meetings.
Or we as a Board can say, we listen to the community and we're willing to be transparent.
I have confidence in this Board that we can exceed the state minimum, that we can come
up with a policy that we believe in that we're proud of so i brought this this item to us so
that we can have a very good frank discussion to let the community know what we believe in
in transparency and why what we have the standard practice of doing this but we don't review it
once the standard practice starts it just goes on and on four of us have never understood where
that practice happened but when we put this in policy every year we're going to talk about it
we'll have it written down it will be clear and concise and anybody that shows up at our board
meetings when they want direction on what we do they look at our policies and procedures
and no president can change that unless we as seven speak so with that mrs fox you were the
the first, would you lead us in the discussion on videotaping?
MS.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I want to say thank you for being patient with me with all my emails when I learned
about this.
So just a little history, when I first learned that there were no video recordings, it was
because someone wanted to view the discussion we had about the calendar, our next instructional
calendar.
And at that meeting, Mrs. Vann and I both kind of kept things off of consent agenda
because for that very reason, it's like let's make sure that our community hears our discussion
and then they can give us feedback before we take action.
And that's exactly what happened.
I heard from a couple of people that said, where's the video?
Where's the video?
What did you decide about the calendar?
And I want to hear the discussion.
So I sent in an email saying, well, there must be a technology glitch somewhere because
they can't get to the recordings.
And that's when I learned that the practice had been discontinued.
And I must say I was very disappointed to learn that that practice was discontinued without any input or knowledge of the Board.
And I was a bit surprised by it and disagreed with the decision.
Everybody here is always teasing me, oh, community engagement, there goes Mrs. Fox again, community engagement.
But that's my banner, right?
I love our community and community engagement is my thing.
And every time we do a team building, you know,
y'all get tired of me talking about community engagement.
But maybe if we had a little history about how we got here.
And Mr. DeBrell and Mr. Adams and I were the ones on the board in 2011
when we began to talk about some challenges we felt like we had as a board.
We wanted better communication, and we just had some things about we wanted to be better communicators.
We tried the, remember we did those exchange meetings.
We went into the community to try to open communication, and the thing we heard from our community is we want more communication,
and we talked about more transparency.
We had many nights of team building to talk about that and what that looked like, and we tried things.
Some worked, some didn't.
And one of the things that we talked about as a board was videoing our meetings so that people who can't get here every month and stay for the entire time would be able to watch those video recordings at their leisure.
And we even decided to spend a little extra money on the company who would do it so that the meetings could be indexed
So that our community could go just to the calendar discussion
When they wanted instead of having to sit through some other
Boards had examples of good to kind of try to fast-forward through the whole thing and figure out where it was
So and and that was a great thing. So we chose to have those videos
to hire a company to do that for us.
And I personally believe it's been very successful and well-received
because so many people tell me that they can't come to our board meetings,
but they like to hear our discussions on how we make decisions.
And our work-study meeting is where some of our best work happens, right?
Our people get to hear from our incredible administrators
who night after night, day after day, work so hard.
and just the discussions we've heard tonight and how Mr. Smith knows information off the cuff
and Mr. McElwain can answer questions and so can Mrs. Butterfield and Dr. Matney's presentation.
You know, and we hear about all that incredible success we have.
And it also gives us a chance for our community to see the visioning that we have
and to hear from our administrators of the incredible things happening
and the decisions that we have to face. It gives them an opportunity to see it, hear our discussions, and then give us feedback.
And the work study meeting is where most of that happens. So it took a while for the process to go through and for us to find the company and to get it started.
And if my memory serves me correctly, the very first meeting that we video recorded was the night that you, Mr. Griffin, and Mr. Mihalski were sworn in.
So it's been a part of the practice we've done since you came.
And so we did ask when we were talking about it as our board sat at this dais and discussed
what that looked like and would we do it and we asked our administration if we should put
it into policy and Mr. Fraley was great and said we hear from you and we see what you
want us to do and just trust us to carry that out and they did.
And so that's how that happened.
So we didn't create a policy because we were told it was not necessary to make it happen
And I would just say that I understand that the new law came in but in Katy ISD
I'm so proud of the fact that we don't do the minimum just like you said it's exactly right
We pride ourselves on doing more than the minimum and we already were doing more than the minimum
And I felt like that was a time for us to pat ourselves on the back
puff out our chest and say we've been doing that for years because it's important to our community
and it's important to us to give that level of transparency to our community. And so I'm proud
of KDISD and our excellence and I'm here to say that I completely support reinstating it and,
you know, thank you for hearing from me and responding to me and giving me this opportunity
to put this on the agenda for discussion.
President. Mr. Durrell. I was one of the trustees originally that asked for this to be put in an agenda back in
2011 and I remember well the conversation at this day is about videoing these meetings and the question was asked
directly should we put this into policy and
the words given were
it seems to be the board's will so we'll make it happen and
And I was surprised as well.
I was at a social gathering and someone walked up to me and asked me about it and I'm like,
what are you talking about?
And my thought after that was my will never changed.
No one asked me if my will changed about that.
I was somewhat disappointed that we weren't involved in that decision.
But to the greater point of compliance, I think that
the law that you read says open meeting or work session no correct no open
meeting or it's recording of open meeting not work session it says and
I'll pass it to you video and audio recordings of each regularly scheduled
open meeting that is not a work session or a special meeting okay so the
The question that I ask is what is an open meeting that's different than our work study,
what we call a work study.
In our regular scheduled meeting, we vote on policies that affect our students as well
as the public.
We vote to expand public funds, but yet at our work study meetings, we do the same.
Tonight, we voted on a policy that affects our community.
We named three schools, but yet this is a
Work study we voted on the expenditure of public funds. So I would say we were always in compliance
so
I'm fully in favor in reinstating it not simply for transparency so that there is no question
That we are in full compliance with the state's desire
Not necessarily the letter of the law
but the desire and the intent I believe was transparency mr. Boholsky thank you
mr. Griffin um like mrs. Fox and mr. Dubrow you know I didn't learn about
this until after the work-study meeting which did not show up on the website the
next day in in a similar way then mrs. Fox did and I and yeah to say the least
least I was quite surprised you know and given that that same regular meeting of
our January in January we also made a policy change which moved the open forum
to this meeting you know I don't think it's on the too much of a stretch that a
reasonable person might conclude that there was some sort of conspiracy there
although I know that's not the case and I think that's something we should
discuss here tonight some people in our district don't have much trouble making
anything into a conspiracy quite frankly but you know I've been on the board
almost four years like you and you know every time we have had a goal-setting
session we have I believe we have discussed transparency and community
engagement and we have all expressed a desire to continue to increase the
the transparency that we and it has always been a priority so what I'd like
to take at this up at this opportunity now that we're here discussing it at the
dais is you know I see it as an opportunity I see it as an opportunity
to move forward and go a little bit above and beyond so I do want to see us
make it a policy that we will record every regularly scheduled meeting
whether it be a work-study or a regular meeting I'd also like to go further I'd
like to look into giving a live broadcast of that meeting we know other
districts to do it we know we have the capabilities of doing it we've done live
press conferences in this room before where they were they were and then
third I would actually like to look into the possibility of making actually an
educational experience we have at Miller Career Center a fantastic program that
records or that that takes care of the scoreboard there at Rhodes Stadium and
they do a fantastic job why why can't we have them all in us to to look into
those things and perhaps we can we can turn this into a positive instead of
what we've kind of been reading about for the West. Mr. President. Ms. Phan. Not
redundant with it but what my fellow board members have said I do agree many
many of the points here tonight and regardless of when who knew what about
the video recording and we are a body of seven and I feel like we do a very good
job working together and serving the trust of this district one thing I'd
like to point out about the recordings and you know is that I find it's a tool
that I know mrs. Doyle and I when we talk about something we'll go back to
watch the video we i mean i can take all the copious notes i want but sometimes going back
and hearing and putting a face with the with the name and and and a point uh really helps strengthen
the service that we can do as board members so um after thinking about it with all the obvious
things that have been said here tonight um i think it's a great tool for the board members to have
in their pocket because you can go back there's times where I'm go back gone
back six seven eight months to remember when that decision was made and why
before we're about to talk about and discuss the same thing and if that's
selfish and all about me I don't know but I just think that it's a tool for us
as a body of seven to reflect back to and have you know help us to lead in
this district so i i thank you for for listening to your fellow board members and this topic and
listening to the community because i think that continuing to videotape all of them uh all the
meetings that open i mean sorry whether that's work study or regular will benefit um everybody
involved i thank you i think we're thinking too small i mean first of all do we want to do it in
house do we want to do it to an outside company second of all we sit right out
there in this room and we discussed true north and we did it for five years okay
nobody in the community saw us talk about our district goals there's no
video there's no discussion that the previous boards did we allowed an
opportunity to show where true north came from and our goals that we adopted
for five years we sit out there in that floor right there and we came up with be
the legacy not a single person in the community has any idea of where we came up with our vision
statement but we're talking about transparency i think we need to be transparent if we're going
to talk it i think we need to walk it and yeah we can record work study and we can record regular
board meetings and man that's great but there's so much work that's done when we're sitting in this
room that we as a board i think should go above and beyond in the money aspect we never make
decisions on money but this is an item for three and a half years that we've
been here that we've never talked about and we do a better job than having an
outside company do it do we want this in house mr. Fraley talks about
opportunities if we had the capability in this room to record think of the
avenues that we could have in the three years that we've been doing this and
paying outside a contract we might have been able to have enough money to buy
the equipment to do it ourselves I don't know as we haven't had this discussion
And that's why we're having it. We don't talk on the internet. We can't call each other up and do board business
That's why we do board business right here
So I really want to get this transparency discussion going do we want to go in that direction?
Do we want the community to see how we interact and where we come up with what we do?
mr. President
well, I
Completely agree with with what's been said here
And I'm glad that we're talking about the transparency and I definitely agree with you that I think we could go above and beyond
there are a lot of questions that I think each of us get as board members
which is kind of what really goes on like what what decisions do you really
wouldn't that you're making and y'all have these special meetings and things
like that and so I definitely think that it opens up the community's view to see
that it's not just about us sitting here and in voting on things all the time
that we haven't you know had maybe had a special meeting about like be the legacy
legacy or the true north goals and so it it gives the everybody the opportunity to see that there is quite a bit of discussion that
goes on about some of these things um
that are very important and are relevant to our community i know that i have quite a few like you were saying you had somebody ask you
um
it's it's teachers and administrators as well that have been at work all day long i mean i know we have our administrators that come to
these board meetings i love them because i know they are exhausted i apologize that we talk so
much um but i mean i've had several teachers that they absolutely want to know what's going on and
and they rely on these recordings to keep up with what we're doing because you know they've gone
home to their families or whatever and they can't come here after a long day's work so um i think
it's a great idea to look into miller and give these kids if it's possible to do it in-house
and give those kids an opportunity I mean wow that would be that would be
exceptional so I think we need to push what we can do and how we can make it
better I totally agree with you president mr. de Boer to your point of
going above and beyond I believe how the law defines us that we can act as a body
corporate as alone as independent board members we have very little power but as
a body corporate we can accomplish great things and I believe that when this body
corporate comes together that the public should have an opportunity to see what
we do how we interact and the decisions we make whether that's a board meeting a
word study or anytime we're discussing district business and we come together
as a body corporate I believe the public should have an opportunity to see mr.
Adams in the fund being president I can tell you from past experiences that you
you know back in the day when when
it was in the recordings that we had we had a secretary that was taking notice
fast they couldn't have to
audio recordings only and we still do that of course but we also have the
videos well and
done by an outside farm
there's a reason this done by now some firm because they can they can call it
and put it back together and
and get it back out on the web as quick as they can
uh... i don't know all particulars about that but it's a it's important thing but
more to you mister president i would say that
understand what you were trying to achieve here and I respect that and
sometimes it takes stepping out in an area that you're a little bit eggshells
there but I you know I certainly support the videotaping of all of it I think
it's the best thing to do for us as far as transparency goes you know and
there's there's people that that will take advantage of this as well and we'll
get people that will alter videos and things of that nature and look at it in
a bad way but I think that for the most part the transparency part of it from
our side of it would be exactly what we need to have done and I certainly
concur with what was has been said here
mr. Mahalsky one other thing I want to kind of point out from obviously this
conversation and in the result of not having I guess that the January work
study because we got some statistics I think on views on on the previous
recordings and just looking at a couple of work study meetings many on it looked
like the October 2015 work study had 87 views 70 unique views now December was a
little higher for the work study almost 1600 views a little over a thousand
and unique views that's when we were discussing i think the abm um but um
this awareness now of having of of what has happened and having this conversation i'm
hoping will lead more people to our website to go review especially when there is something
of interest that they want to see so hopefully that's another positive that comes out of this
just wanted to add that in all right so we're going to need some direction do we want the
administration to look at doing this in-house and possibly miller as an option mr fraley my concern
about in-house is twofold one is uh the company we hired this is what they do and with miller we've
got to have a teacher where they stop instructing to work on this the next morning or overnight to
have it ready to go and second uh i'd like to not own it i'd rather uh not be able to be accused of
dropping the ball on something that recorded one night and we own it there's
allegations that we did it on purpose the other company does it you know they
don't get accused like that so uh we can look into it but I think it's just a
little bit much more than what I think we have the capacity to at this point in
time and so maybe we can look at it and that's something you look at
transitioning to we don't have the pressure right now I don't believe to do
it as efficiently as effectively
Mr. Maholsky.
This was my suggestion.
I'll address that.
I mean, yeah, I don't know something you can flip a switch on, but I certainly think we
should look at the feasibility of actually doing that.
Man, it could be an amazing educational experience.
And, you know, I would hope that the administration would look at that and bring us back a report
on the feasibility of it, and then we could determine whether it makes sense from there.
Absolutely.
Mr. President.
Mr. Dubrow.
I would support that.
I mean, I I've been to Rhodes Stadium many times and the young people do a fabulous job
I mean the fall is out for me one of the highlights of the year just watching
them at work and seeing what they're doing and as important as
Friday night lights is to Katie. This is government. This is
is what makes our great country work
at the most local level you can get to.
To have students involved with
governance at this level may inspire them
to do even greater things than simply be
involved with a football game, but to be involved with
what the policies, the laws of this great nation.
So I would support looking into that if Miller could get involved.
Mr. Maholsky.
And the other thing I think you could get out of it is more professional production.
I mean, right now, if you watch our videos, they're coming, I guess, from those cameras in the back of the room.
It's just a wide-angle shot of the entire room.
If you were to bring in actual production of it, I think it would look much more professional.
You could get some close-ups when people are speaking, and you'd see expressions and get more out of it, actually.
Mr. Fraley.
We actually did all that at the beginning, looked in-house, and it was a challenge with that.
But also, again, having the students here on a Monday night until whatever time,
then going back and editing and getting everything indexed the next morning, next day,
is that the best use of our kiddos?
Because they do more than just videotape.
LAMS is part of an overall curriculum where they do things during the day to get ready,
and they come to the game and they just show it.
They don't have to go back and do any production afterwards.
It's live broadcast.
So I'm not opposed to it.
I just know we looked into it before and decided not to do it that way and then the degree of which the cameras zoom
In on you is something that the other firm could do but the decision was keep it at a wide angle
They can zero in on as much as much as you want because that's what they do
But if the board wants us to look at it in-house, we'll do that again
But first time we decided not to it in-house we can look at it again for the course of the cars
Mr. President, Mr. All
Have we is there a way for us to look at the cost?
one versus the other the company that we're currently using or transferring it
over in-house what's our what's the cost difference gonna be just like a funny
thing you hire another staff person because again the equipment use and the
editing index and all that I'm not sure that our current teaching staff can do
that was a member personal unit you may have other equipment that's what the
original term was first time around we looked into it before and we stopped at
at that point because we want to get,
Mrs. Varsity President, we want to get it up as fast as possible.
We kind of tried
with the firm to do it, but we did look in-house.
We talked to the in-house staff, rather.
And they had firm reservations about trying
to do it in-house. We can put them
through that again if you wish.
I think
if you could look at it and at least
give us an idea so we could decide on that.
And I have just one
recommendation for our policy.
Because that's what
we as boards do we've talked about it and we're not obviously going to vote on it today but if
we could put a policy together i would like it to be something similar to this a video and audio
recording shall be made at all meetings of the board of trustees that are held in the boardroom
this shall include work study regular or special meetings a work study or special meeting is exempt
from this requirement if it is held in a place other than the boardroom where proper recording
recording equipment is not available.
The board shall not record any closed meetings of any kind.
It gives us the ability, like Henry said, to do our work in this room.
There are occasions when we're not able to meet in this room and then we would not be
able to be under this or we would not be held under this policy.
But we should probably make as many attempts as we could to do it in this room.
And then that's us as a board when we decide, that's something that we would answer to if
we decided not to handle it.
But it would give us the most transparency that we can have which provides a two-way streak if we're not doing the
If we're not doing the companies or the the community's business then we can get called on it
But yet when we are doing it and hopefully we can get some who knows back for it
Mr. Malski as we kind of move towards putting that policy in and I think the wording there is pretty good. So
So I'd be happy to look at that and discuss that at a future board meeting.
But I guess, question, are we currently videoing this board meeting?
Yes.
So it will be posted tomorrow?
So is that correct?
That is correct.
Okay.
So I'd like to at least discuss or see as a board that, you know, while this policy is pending,
can we continue to practice, because I think the will of the board is pretty evident from this discussion,
Just continue the practice of recording them as as we have been and making sure they're all posted of course
We hit the objective and the objective was
As spoken it just want to make sure
Any other okay that just that closes out discussion seven point one that moves us to section eight open forum at this time the Board
Of Trustees will hear from patrons in open forum as established by board policy a maximum of 30 minutes have been allotted for this forum
The first 20 speakers who signed up will be allowed to speak.
The time will be divided equally among those who have signed up to speak.
However, the maximum amount of time allotted for any one speaker is three minutes.
A time clock is visible on the podium so that each speaker may see how much time they have
remaining.
If speakers wish to share written material with the Board, it should be of a non-confidential
nature.
Then copies of handouts should be provided to the Secretary of Board Services or the
Chief Officer for Communications, Governance Relations and Administrative Support.
Report.
Written material will be given to the Board after the meeting.
Due to the posting requirements of the Open Meetings Act, the Board was able to respond
only to a statement that is related to a posted agenda item.
Speakers shall limit comments to issues that can be presented in a public forum.
Complaints about student discipline, specific student issues, or personnel must be addressed
through appropriate administrative channels.
The presiding officer or designee shall determine whether a person addressing the Board has
has attempted to solve a matter administratively
through resolution channels established by policy.
Persons who wish to participate in open forum
must have signed up at least 15 minutes
before this meeting began.
Speakers who do not provide their first and last names
will not be allowed to speak.
As I announce your name, please come to the podium
and state your first name.
We have one speaker today, George Scott.
Mr. President, thank you for letting me know the video was going.
I was going to endorse Rebecca, but now with the cameras going, I don't think I'm going to do that.
I'm here tonight because my family wants to pay tribute to James Tize.
Didn't know Sharon that much, but we knew Jim Tize.
All three of our kids had graduated from Katy High School, went through West Memorial Junior High.
Your good guy, O.D. Tompkins, spent some time under James.
And the thing about Jim was this.
He was a throwback principal.
He assembled a great teaching staff.
He protected his teaching staff from central intrusion.
He let his teachers teach.
It's not exactly the way it is today.
but when our kids needed to take geometry in the eighth grade over at
Taylor High School Jim found a way to make that happen. He didn't he didn't
look for roadblocks, he didn't let scheduling issues get in the way, he
found a way to make it happen. And I know that when our older children achieved
their their real academic success, especially our son, and he was named a
Marshall Scholar, went to UK to get his masters and own, Ann and I were thinking
thinking that night. How lucky and how fortunate we were to have our kids come through the
non-glitzy schools of Katy, West Memorial Elementary and Jim Tise Junior High School.
You know you're getting old when you know a lot of the people whose names are on the
building and there are a lot of good names on those buildings. We believe that Jim Tise
is an iconic principle for this district right up there with Roosevelt Alexander
OD Tompkins tremendous man tremendous man and I want to thank this board for
that night we're going back a couple of years but y'all rose to the occasion
that night and you know what I'm talking about we're very proud of ties the only
thing that I regret and I'm going to chide you a little bit it was my hope
that I could deliver this with the Ties family here. There's a consequence when
you make arbitrary decisions and you don't think them through. I did not get
to make this tribute with the Ties family sitting there. I got shunted to
the end and I regret that but I am glad there's a video and I will make sure he
sees it because Jim Ties was a very special person in the history of this
district and if anybody deserves their name on the building it's Jim thank you
hey and that brings us to number nine informational items
miss Ashley van you got to visit the superintendent community roundtable it
was held on January 12 last month which if any of y'all can remember that was
kind of a significant day in this district that is the day that and mr.
Mr. Fraley announced his resignation and retirement from KDISD after almost nine years of leading
this district.
So it was a very interesting roundtable because, as you can guess, it was a hot topic.
And there was a couple of things, there was some takeaways that Mr. Fraley had said.
He talked about trust capital and that trust has to be a two-way street and that no one
person can do it all, but leadership can make it happen.
them and then he turned the meeting over to those who are scheduled to speak mr.
Smith talked about growth and home value increase how where the eighth largest
school district in Texas talked about 2014 bond talked about bond savings and
he Carmichael talked as a community bond review committee chair and he spoke
about how the process of that is going and then we broke up into small table
group talk and they talked about the role role of the Board of Trustees and
compared to a representative which is interesting as a board of trustees to sit at a table hear us
be talked about um but it went well and um the community felt like the trustees should listen
more to the heart of the community and um one thing that some people they've everyone in the
room realized this but they felt like a lot of people the community don't is that we're unpaid
paid volunteers with no days off.
And they like the way that some districts, trustees have an area and we represent the
entire district.
We don't have our own area so we have equality for each campus.
We look at the big picture.
Then we talk about the role of the community a little bit and that the community members
need to pay it forward and they need to be fact finders and not rumor starters and need
to be ambassadors and they need to get out and vote which we all know the voting turnout is
sometimes low but the uh the interesting candidates is often high um and i'll end it at that but uh
mr fraley had one more quote that he said it's what we allow what we make our own space our own
your space and have each other's backs again speaking back to the trust capital so it was an
interesting meeting and i think that it was a very busy whirlwind day for mr fraley but it was kind
of a nice way to end it um hearing from the community and and and respectfully so he answered
many of their questions that they were hungry for um since it was kind of a landmark day in our
district so thank you very much and that moves us to item 10 future meetings regular board meeting
is monday february 22nd 2016. having no further business before the board this meeting is adjourned
at 826.
Official documents
Motions and votes
Recorded actions
MOTION 001 · AGENDA 3.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the personnel report as recommended by the Superintendent in Closed Meeting.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| bryan-michalsky | Yes |
| charles-griffin | Yes |
| courtney-doyle | Yes |
| henry-dibrell | Yes |
| joe-adams | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 002 · AGENDA 4.2
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves naming Elementary School #39 located at 4535 East Ventana Parkway Catherine Bethke Elementary School.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| bryan-michalsky | Yes |
| charles-griffin | Yes |
| courtney-doyle | Yes |
| henry-dibrell | Yes |
| joe-adams | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 003 · AGENDA 4.3
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves naming Junior High School #14 located at 26721 Hawks Prairie Boulevard James and Sharon Tays Junior High School.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| bryan-michalsky | Yes |
| charles-griffin | Yes |
| courtney-doyle | Yes |
| henry-dibrell | Yes |
| joe-adams | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 004 · AGENDA 4.4
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the Resolution nominating a candidate for position on the Board of Directors of the Harris County Appraisal District.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| bryan-michalsky | Yes |
| charles-griffin | Yes |
| courtney-doyle | Yes |
| henry-dibrell | Yes |
| joe-adams | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |