The Board will now reconvene in open meeting. Today is Monday, January 14, 2019, and the time is 711 p.m.
Katy ISD · Work Study Meeting
Katy ISD Work Study Meeting, January 14, 2019
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Mr. Grigorski, will you verify that we are in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act regarding the notice for this meeting?
Madam President, I confirm we are in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meeting Act in regard to this meeting tonight.
On behalf of my colleagues, I welcome everyone to this evening's board work study meeting.
To prepare for this meeting, each member received the agenda and documentation for this meeting on Friday, January 11, 2019,
and have had three days to study its contents and to seek clarification from administration.
This evening, the items posted on the agenda will be presented to the board by staff, administration, and the acting superintendent.
The board will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss agenda items during tonight's meeting.
The Board met earlier this evening in closed meeting.
Any action arising from the discussion of this meeting must be taken in a subsequent
open meeting.
Madam President.
Mr. Lacey.
I move that the Board of Trustees approves the personnel report as recommended by Mr.
Gorgorski in closed.
Second.
I have a motion by Mr. Lacey, a second by Ms. Vann, that the Board of Trustees approves
the personnel report as recommended by Mr. Gorgorski in closed meeting.
Is there any discussion?
We will now proceed to vote.
All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
All those opposed?
Motion passes.
Do we have any scouts in the audience?
We'll move on.
We're going to actually move action item 4.1 to the end of the meeting.
We're still in negotiations.
So for the presence of time, we're going to move that to later.
Our first report is 5.1, Mr. Chris Smith, 2019-2020 budget update.
Doyle and Mr. Grigorski and Board of Trustees, I'm here tonight to talk about the budget update.
I promise there's not going to be a lot of numbers in this update.
It's a little too early to come up with a bunch of numbers.
And in fact, I was so committed to not using numbers, you won't even see a date on here.
But it is today's date, January of 2019.
We've been working on this budget now for probably three years.
Those were forecasts until this year, and we started really officially working on this year's,
or next year's, 19-20 budget in October when you had the RAPASA report.
We've moved shifted gears and started working on it and you're going to hear a little bit about where we are tonight
And that's where we are tonight in January
Just a high-level overview of how I'm going to be presenting to you in the next few months in February
We're going to have a long-term debt plan and our financial advisor Jeff Robert from Hilltop Securities
We'll be here next month to talk about our our debt budget and our debt plan
We're going to try to go ahead and get an authorization for a bond sale
our next our second tranche here that we will have over the summer and again
we'll talk about the debt service fund budget at that time in March we'll look
at the results of the staffing that work that's been done and how that kind of is
fitting in the budget and what the bottom line looks like it'll be rough
estimate because in April we'll have the same report and we'll see what's
happened or happening if anything in Austin at that time we'll give you a
legislative update from a financial perspective may we'll take a closer look
we'll know what our estimated property values be hopefully again something
will be happening a little bit more concrete there in Austin in July we'll
do the same thing and then in August we'll wrap it up with the public hearing
to discuss the budget and tax rates. Of course our budget objectives started out to be maintain
a balanced budget. That's becoming more and more difficult. We're going to try to maintain
competitive salaries, maintain our health care program, and again stay avoid TRS active care,
and that's been a great strategic decision by this board, and I applaud y'all for that,
and Mr. Nauman for the management of that plan. It's been very good for our employees.
Opening elementary school. We're going to open elementary 42 and junior high 16,
and of course we're going to finish out the 12th grade level there at Paytoe High School.
And in the 19 budget, we're also going to have to include some startup money in there
for the opening of elementary 43 and high school 9.
nine so our assumptions and I'll talk about this this bullet here in a couple
of slides but of course we're gonna project our property values our taxable
value growth we're gonna project below average growth and I'll talk about that
in a second enrollment projected we're currently using the numbers that dr.
Gusman and and Pasa used to the board the administration is fine-tuning those
with our GIS or technology folks and we hope to have a locked in number that
will develop further fine-tune this budget and do the staffing plan with
those numbers campus staff is what we'll be working on first potential for a
salary increase again we'll have to be watching Austin to see how how much if
anything we're able to do with the salary increases are similar in the past
I think this last year we're working on a 2% and a 1%.
That 1% was very popular.
I received a lot of feedback, and I know you did.
As a recipient of that, I appreciate the board for doing that as well.
Budget overview.
As you know, the largest percentage, and I didn't put a number here,
hadn't seen a number yet, is payroll of our budget.
That's 88%.
The next largest piece is purchases and contracted services.
The largest of that piece of pie is utilities.
And then, of course, we would have our supplies and materials.
That largest piece of pie is fuel for our white fleet and our bus fleet.
And then, of course, other operating, which would be staff development, any type of contracted services, et cetera.
There is no capital I'll mention in there.
There's not enough.
We do have a lot of capital spending going on that's through the construction
fund. There's no real capital expenditures or not that would show up
on a piece of pie in the general fund. This is a history since 2006 of our
property value growth as a percentage and you can see that in 2006 we were
over 10% and we tapped six touched 16% for two years in a row and then we
dropped in the Great Recession in 2009 and we got back up and hit a high water
mark of 18 percent growth then we fell to just over four percent in this last
year just over two percent or two and a half percent we all agree that that was
kind of the Harvey hangover from Harvey and we with all the construction still
going on and that Harvey is getting further and further behind us every day
we hoping we're hoping that we can rebound and we're using six percent in
this as a projection and you can see that there on the very far right that's
still well below that black line which is the average of 9.1% that we've seen over those last
10 years. Tax rates, I went ahead and added a year in 19-20 we're developing this budget just
similar to the way we did the 18-19 budget. That's with the assumption that we are going to continue
to be able to take advantage of section 26.08 of the tax code which allows us to do that
in that tax swap total tax rate stays the same but we are developing the
budget on a 37 cent debt tax rate and a dollar 15 maintenance and operation rate
that takes advantage of those two additional golden pennies that generates
additional revenue to the district
that's one of my favorite pictures it's a beautiful picture there in Austin
I hope beautiful things are happening there inside those walls because the children, the
$5.4 million students in the state of Texas are kind of counting on what's going on in
those walls.
The Texas School Finance Commission started about this time last year.
It was put together with, oh, I don't know, about 12, I guess, key members from different
sectors around the state.
one of them being a colleague of mine from Austin ISD. They presented their findings,
their recommendations and potential legislative chart change targets to the to the legislature
with their final report back in December. I will say that the things I've read and what I was able
to watch from this group is they really rolled their sleeves up and got a lot of work done and
discovered a lot of very impressive things. I am very impressed with the like I said with the work
that was accomplished. I will say that you know without any new state money it
it's not going to be school finance reform if you just rearrange the chair
deck chairs and some of the things that have come up or rearrangement of deck
chairs. Finance reform for public education the state of Texas is going to
is going to take additional monies and I'm real proud to say that our district
operates efficiently. We have if not the lowest point of the lowest administrative
rate of cost ratios in the state and we are a larger district that has economies
of scale on our side and we are an operationally effective district and but
we are very hamstrung when it comes to things that are subject to inflation as
is all is DS in Texas and we need things to be able to so we can plan and do the
things that we need to do to to make sure our teachers have what they need
and are happy with delivering instruction to our students. So our
budget considerations are what our future values are going to do. Are they
going to be organic growth? Are they going to be slow like they were? Are they
going to be robust again? And again we're using six percent and unless I hear
otherwise as we move forward from Mr. Gagorski, we're going to continue using
six percent. Right now that's just a good educated guess because there's no way to
know we'll know in april but until then it's just an educated guess but we have to plan something
and start somewhere no one impacts from the flood we do know those i think the plan no i know the
plan is to present to the board in uh later this year in april i'm sorry in march uh kind of a wrap
up of hurricane harvey where we can talk about how much damages we've actually had what the
the reappraisal amounts cost the district, the reappraisal process, how the state reacted
to the Hurricane Harvey.
All of that we hope to have in about five slides to present to you in March and kind
of put that whole topic to rest.
And then there's unknown impacts, what is going to happen long term, prognosis to the
properties that were affected.
Enrollment growth and special populations growth.
I can't believe this but I was making bets with other members of colleagues of
mine and those were small bets that we would hit 80 this was back in October we
were gonna hit 80,000 students in March we had 80,000 students before
Thanksgiving and I think today it was 80,000 381 so we're 381 more than than
we were in Thanksgiving and and just continue to see new new students come to
the district every week. State funding, again what's state revenue going to do
when it comes to what the legislature does inside the walls of the Capitol
this year. I do know that legislative, you know the three powers, Governor Abbott, I
guess his chairman, chairman, Speaker of the House Bonnen and Dan Patrick are all
committed to fixing, reforming school finance. I know that Mr. Bonnen had a cup
that he had made and said all these are going to be throughout the capital I
provide them and they say school finance reform the time is now and I wish I'd
wouldn't quick and had those made up because I'd be drinking out of one too
but I hope it's got good kool-aid in it October this is kind of a little bit
more granular what we're looking at this is where we started in January we're
fine-tuning the enrollment projections in March we're going to be doing the
passing out the baseline budgets to our campuses and they're gonna you know
start doing all their work and there's a lot of moving targets there March we'll
send back out to the campuses the library rotations overtime competent
comp time any a tutorial budgets etc in March we hope that our time timeline
works where we approve you are approving the staffing plan we'll release our
Our department baseline budgets in April, that's the, that's the, we're like maintenance, we'll get the utility budget, and my department will get a budget that we have to put together.
Those will happen in April.
We'll work on those and review those through May.
We hope that the board is able to do in April or May salary increases.
Again, depending on what the legislature's done, I've seen that done as late as July.
But the sooner we can get that done, the better for our staff.
staff. An April estimate of appraisal comes in by the chief appraisers in our three county
appraisal districts, Waller, Harris, and Fort Bend. We should get it in late April, early
May. And then we'll be working on that ongoing at the cabinet level to present the board
approval of the compensation plan, which includes all the staffing, et cetera, et cetera, in
in June. So that's really all I have. That's kind of where we are. I tried to use as few
numbers as possible. I think the numbers that the main number that's unknown, but is most
is 6% in enrollment, I mean in property value growth. What's happening in Austin? We're
developing the current, the budget under current law. It's all we can do and that's all we will do
until the House and the Senate have bills that are that are that kind of
work together and we'll then crunch the numbers and see how that does to our
bottom line. Thank You Mr. Smith. Board do you have any questions?
Madam President. Mr. Lacey. Mr. Smith on if you'll go to the tax rate slide which I
believe is slide number four. I know that we went we adjusted because of the
the golden pennies a couple of years ago and you show your illustration shows through 2019 through
that 2020 what is what is or is there an expiration on how long we can use those golden pennies
section 26.08 of the tax code and i'm not quoting this verbatim basically says that in the wake of a
an emergency declared by the uh the the president united states and our governor
you can basically ignore your rollback rate that's filled into tax year 2018 so
it started in 2017 because the event happened in the tax year 2017 in 2018 it
rolled over into that and we'll be working on and it's been it rolled over
to where back the years are confusing me since it rolled into 2018 we're in the
tax year 2018 and we think we can set that again at that rate okay based on
what section 26.08 of the tax and as I recall the first time that we used the
Golden Pennies was because of the tax day flood and then we were able to use
it because of the hurricane Harvey and that would be the net and we would have
have one more year of Harvey because it crossed a calendar year or a tax year.
Perfect. Thank you, sir. Sorry, I got confused on that.
Mr. Smith, both the Harris County Appraisal Districts and the Fort Bend
County Appraisal District have significant analysis on sales and a lot
of data that they maintain monthly up through December. Have they given you
any private briefing even if you can't tell what that is have they given you
any private briefing that gives you any confidence on what they're seeing at
this point no sir no sir well god bless them anyone else okay thank you mr. Smith
next we'll move on to 6.1 consider future board approval of the January
2019 budget amendments. Ms. Butterfield.
Thank you President Doyle, Trustees and Mr. Grigorski. Tonight we have seven
general operating fund budget amendments and only one of them to speak to which
which recognizes $8,000 in revenue from Baylor for mentoring program and creates an offsetting
expenditure budget in the same amount.
Approval of these amendments will result in no change to the general fund balance.
Is there any questions?
Okay.
Thank you.
6.2, Future Board Approval of the Annual Financial Audit Report.
Mr. Smith.
Mr. Garcia.
Hello again.
As we're kicking off the 19-20 budget, we're going to wrap up the 17-18 budget with the audit tonight.
Texas Education Code 44.008 requires us to have an annual audit.
One could argue that our audit is ongoing, but it formally started in June with our interim audit.
Whitley Penn came to the district in June and spent about three weeks here during the summer,
and they've spent several weeks here since November performing our 2017-18 audit.
Of course, the glue that holds the thing together for KDISD tonight I wouldn't have recognized.
and Elizabeth Haven Liz please stand up she's our accounting supervisor Liz has
been with the district several years now as a CPA and of course and fighting our
business manager wasn't able to be here tonight she had to leave at Brown 5 to a
family emergency but we have Steven Johnson Sterling Schiller Sally Smith no
relation Kayla Smith no relation and Angela Murphy that's the seven
accounting accountants six of those are certified public accountants that work
for you and do a fantastic job working with these this team and and making sure
that our books are in line as they should be and as you expect them to be
but I'm going to introduce Lupe Garcia he's an engagement partner with
Whitley Penn and I'm going to turn it over to you Lupe thank you mr. Smith
president Doyle members of the board mr. Gorgorzky good evening I'm happy to be
here tonight to present to you the results of the district's fiscal year 2018 financial statement
audit and federal single audit other members of the engagement team in addition to myself included
tom peterson he's a concurring partner he reviewed the report and significant work papers in our file
tom has over 40 years of experience so he brings a level of quality control to the engagement
leading field work was laura lynch in in the field senior alex chaibe and staff raul belbuena
and David Reyes. These next several slides include just required
communications we as your external auditors have to make to you as the
Board of Trustees. One is for you to understand that the financial
statements are the responsibility of management. Our sole responsibility in
this process is to perform an audit and to design audit procedures based on our
understanding of how the district operates in order to opine on the
financial statements as to whether or not they're materially correct. We do review the district's
accounting policies as part of our audit. The district's accounting policies are in line with
industry standards. There was a significant implementation this year, GASB statement number
75. GASB is the governmental accounting standards board. They set all the financial reporting
standards that state and local governments across the country have to follow. So all state and local
governments across the country are implementing GASB statement number 75 in fiscal year 2018.
That has to do with the district's participation in TRS care which is retiree health care.
Four years ago the district implemented GASB statement number 68 which was the pension portion
of this. So this is very similar to GASB statement number 68. This is just having to do with retiree
health care versus retiree pension. So we'll talk a lot about GASB statement number 75 and the impact
that had on the financial statements. And it's also discussed in the comprehensive annual financial report in several places, including notes 1, 16, and 23.
The financial statements do include estimates. There isn't an invoice or bank statement for every amount that management has to record in the general ledger.
Some of the more significant estimates you need to be aware of are state aid. As you know, there's a lot of variables that go into calculating state aid revenue, property tax values and collections and ADA and enrollment.
There's allowances for your property tax receivables that's based on historical collection of what the district ultimately believes will be recorded.
THE USEFUL LIVES OF THE CAPITAL ASSETS IMPACT APPRECIATION EXPENSE, HOW LONG DOES THE DISTRICT
ESTIMATE THAT BUILDINGS AND VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT ARE GOING TO LAST, AND THEN THE FOURTH AND
FIFTH BULLET THERE, THE NET PENSION LIABILITY AND THE NET OPEB LIABILITY AND RELATED INFLOWS
AND OUTFLOWS OF RESOURCES AND PENSION AND OPEB EXPENSE, THOSE ARE TWO VERY LARGE ESTIMATES
THAT ARE RECORDED AND PART OF THE DISTRICT'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
THAT INFORMATION COMES FROM TRS, STATEWIDE PLAN, THEY HAVE THEIR OWN AUDITORS, THEIR
own actuaries that calculate the information that's relevant to kdisd and they provide this
information to kdisd for the district to record in its financial statements so we have reviewed
all these estimates and have deemed that they're recorded appropriately and they are reasonable
i'm happy to report that we didn't have any difficulties in completing and performing the
audit as mr smith mentioned the the audit started back in june so we are on site quite a bit we do
We do ask to meet with a lot of individuals in the district.
Anyone that we asked to meet with was made available to us.
Information that we requested was provided to us in a timely manner.
Any questions we had were answered in a timely manner.
So we do appreciate the district and their cooperation through the audit because it does make it a much smoother process.
We didn't identify any misstatements that we had to propose to management for them to prepare, present the comprehensive annual financial report in accordance with GAAP.
So that's kudos to management for catching and recording everything
appropriately or catching any mistakes themselves before we did in our audit. We
didn't have any disagreements with management when it came to the audit
opinion or any accounting estimates or the application of any accounting
principles. The last piece of audit evidence we obtained is a management
representation letter. In that letter management states that they've provided
us with everything we requested. There's no non-compliance that they're aware of.
There's no laws that are not being followed that would materially affect the financial statements
as far as we're aware the district's not consulting with any other accountants or auditors and
We may provide information to the district during the year. We answer questions provide guidance
But at no time do we feel we have to answer in a certain manner or take a certain position on a certain?
Topic in order to be retained as the district's external auditors
This is a high-level overview what the audit process looks like in June of 2018
we were on site performing risk assessment procedures and tests of internal controls.
Risk assessment procedures are performed because we want to gain an understanding,
update our understanding of how we think the district is operating.
Based on that understanding, we test those internal controls.
We can't just rely on what we're told.
We have to test transactions and see how those transactions were treated,
how they were recorded, what information is retained to support those transactions.
actions in the fall. We return at that point. The fiscal year has been over for a couple of months and now we're testing year in balances. We're verifying information with supporting documentation. We're confirming information with third parties. That's the strongest form of audit evidence we can obtain. We're cooperating the balances with what we know has occurred throughout the year, including reading minutes of the board of trustees to see what decisions you've made during that fiscal year so we can make sure that this financial report tells the accurate story of
of KDISD for this time period. All, and we perform various analytic procedures, all to get to where
we are today in issuing an opinion on the financial statements. There's three types of audit opinions
external auditors can give on a set of financial statements, and an unmodified opinion is the best
opinion that a financial statements can receive. So this unmodified opinion is included in the
comprehensive annual financial report. This is the highest level of assurance. We do include an
an additional paragraph to emphasize the matter that GASB statement number 75 was
implemented in fiscal year 2018. GASB statement number 75 brought onto the
financial statements for the very first time this net OPEB liability. To
implement this standard the district did have to record a prior period
adjustment of $412 million. That liability represents the district's
proportionate share of providing health care retiree health care as you know the district has
a lot of employees it's one of the largest districts in the state so actuaries take
information census data on the district's employees they calculate how long employees
are going to continue to work how long are they going to receive health care in their retirement
years and then they discount that value back to today in order to see does the plan have enough
enough investments to fund this future. This benefit that current employees are being promised in the future. The liability did decrease from August 31st, 2017 to August 31st, 2018. As you can see, it went from 415 million to 235 million. Part of that was due to changes made at the plan level regarding benefits. Changes made. Retirees are having to contribute now for the first time. So that changed the assumptions.
the actuaries used to calculate this number so it did decrease the liability so the district did
record what's called negative opeb expense and negative on behalf of opeb expense in order to
reflect that decrease in the liability during this measurement period our second report so i
just mentioned our unmodified opinion on the financial statements our second report is on
internal control and on compliance. We didn't identify any material weaknesses or significant
deficiencies and internal control over financial reporting, nor did we note any non-compliance
that would be material to the financial statements. Our third report is on the district's
administration of its federal programs. Every year we have to go through a process of identifying
which programs will be tested in the federal single audit as a major program. So for fiscal
year 2018 there was four major programs the special education cluster uh grants for infants
and families with disabilities and then due to her this is where the next uh two grants related
to hurricane harvey funding uh impact aid and then restart were two grants that came from the texas
education agency uh related to hurricane harvey so that was 3.1 and 3.2 million dollars there the
district received that kind of came late in the fiscal year and so those were added as major
programs due to the size and due to due to the fact that the district had never
received this funding before our testing over these major programs I did not
result in any question cost or non-compliance or any internal control
deficiencies over the compliance requirements there are numbers in these
slides so I apologize but I'll try to get through them quickly this condensed
statement in that position is the district's balance sheet this reports
all the assets of the district on a full accrual basis of accounting.
So total assets as of August 31st, 2018 were almost $2.5 billion.
A large part or a large percentage of that balance is your capital assets of $1.9 billion, your buildings, your equipment, vehicle, land, net of depreciation.
Current and other assets, that's going to be cash investments, taxes receivable, $573 million.
Total deferred outflows of resources, there are balances that are reported in this line related to a pension, OPEB, related to refinancing of bonds that occurred in the past,
and so that amount was 122 million. That's a financial reporting item. These amounts are
amortized over a period of time. Moving down to your liabilities, current and other liabilities
are 104 million. That's largely going to be accounts payable, accrued wages payable. You
have your net pension liability of 130 million. You can see compared to last year, that's a
a decrease. There was, this was a favorable period for investments. Investments in the TRS pension
plan did very well, so the liability decreased. You have the net OPEB liability that's appearing
for the very first time, $235 million. This balance was not reported in fiscal year 2017,
this time last year. And then you have your other non-current liabilities, which are largely going
to be your capital leases your bonds payable compensated absences of 1.9 billion overall
total liabilities are 2.4 total deferred inflows of resources just like outflows are balances
related to pension and opeb activity 144 million there net position is the difference between all
these categories as assets plus your deferred outflows less liabilities less deferred inflows
and there's an amount there in parentheses because for the first time and and because of
GASB statement number 75, the district is reporting a negative 7.3 million, not million, yeah, million in total net position.
The TEA, in its analysis, will back out the effects of GASB statement number 75 just like it backs out the effects of GASB statement number 78.
So the district will not be penalized or dinged because of the pension or the OPEB liability.
They know that that's just a financial reporting standard only.
The district will continue to fund TRS the way it always has in the past, so this won't have a budget impact.
And this liability is not something the district will ever pay off.
There's always going to be a liability there because every year the actuary is going to reevaluate the census data and calculate and crunch these numbers again and calculate what's KDISD's proportionate share as a member in these two plans.
Looking at the district's fund financial statements, the general fund is the
district's main operating account. Revenues exceeded expenditures.
Revenues were $704 million, expenditures $694. There were other financing uses of
$14.6 million. That extraordinary item is insurance proceeds because that's
out of the ordinary activity that is reported on its own line. It had a
positive change in fund balance of 10.6 million so ending fund balance is 213
million the debt service fund which is the fund that the district accumulates
funds to pay principal and interest that experienced a positive change in fund
balance at 3.1 million with the ending fund balance at fifty seven point five
million your capital projects fund which were where all the bond funds are
accounted for. There was a bond issue during the year, so that's the reason for the $202.4 million
and total other financing sources. There was a negative change in fund balance, which is what
you expect. The funds in this capital projects funds are meant to be spent on capital projects,
so ending fund balance was $141.8 million there. And then the special revenue funds are all the
federal state and local federal special revenue grants fund balance there was of 17.8 million
looking at the general fund budget to actual total revenues were just under budgeted revenues by
103 000 total expenditures were under budget by 17 million remember i mentioned earlier the district
received impact aid and restart grants from tea so the district was able to reclass some
expenditures out of the general fund to those special revenue funds for those particular grants
the the extraordinary item of 15 million dollars it was budgeted for 25 which it's my understanding
the district has already received the the additional 10 million in insurance recovery after
after August 31st, 2018. So overall, the district did have a favorable variance budget to actual of $7 million.
Significant activity in fiscal year 2018, GASB statement number 75. We've talked a lot about that.
I mentioned the bond issuance and the capital projects fund of $186.2 million.
There was the $15 million in insurance recovery that was recorded in the general fund.
and then as you know there's a very significant capital outlay construction
and progress ongoing during fiscal year 2018 and into 2019 reflected in the
financial statements looking at the general fund total revenues increased
from the prior year by 51.5 million or 8% if we drill down into total revenues
local revenues increased by 28.5 million or 7%.
State program revenues increased by 21.6 million.
This was related to the tax swap, which generated additional state aid.
Federal program revenue of 13.4 million increased from the prior year by 1.4 million.
Total expenditures were under budget, as we just saw on the previous slide.
Fund balance increased by 10 million with an ending fund balance of 213.5.
The debt service fund, because the debt service tax rate did decrease, there was a decrease in revenue of $1.2 million compared to the prior year.
That's because the tax rate portion of the debt service went from $0.37 to $0.35.
Total assessed values did increase.
That helped offset the change in the tax rate.
Total expenditures were under budget.
Overall, fund balance did increase in the debt service fund to $57.4 million.
And looking at the Nutrition and Food Service Fund, revenues here increased from the prior year.
Total expenditures were under budget.
Fund balance did increase by $388,000, with an ending fund balance of $5.6 million.
One aspect of the financial statements that gets a lot of attention is fund balance.
And so fund balance in the general fund and unassigned fund balance,
that's the portion of fund balance that's available for spending, was $143.7 million.
dollars and you can see what unassigned fund balance looked like over the
previous four fiscal years. Fund balance in the general fund does include other
components of fund balance. Non-spendable is inventory and prepaids and in the
district does have five million and sixty two point nine million in
committed and unassigned fund balance. If we put fund balance in terms of days the
district has 76 days in fund balance and operating funds because that is the
district's working capital this is how it makes payroll and pays vendors the
GFOA says fund balance should be two to three months so you can see the district
is well within that range the Texas Education Agency has indicators that
look at fund balance as well but Katie is in a has a healthy fund balance 76
days is a good fund balance for it to have and I know that's something that
mr. Smith monitors very closely you make sure that fund balance maintains and is
that at adequate level that's the conclusion of my presentation if there
are any questions about the report or our audit I'd be happy to take those
questions at this time thank you mr. Garcia are there any questions miss
Gasol first of all Thank You mr. Garcia for that explanation I thought you
presented it really very clearly and especially the Gatsby 75 because I had a
lot of questions and you answered them all and secondly i just wanted to i'm not usually one to
gush but i just want to congratulate mr smith and his staff because anybody that's ever been through
an audit it's like someone checking your math homework that you've been working on for an entire
year seven people sitting in a room going over your math homework that you've done for a year
and you got an a plus so thank you for your hard work and everyone else's hard work in
in spending the money wisely and looking after the taxpayers'
dollars.
One thing that I want to say real quick is,
in addition to that, and I appreciate that, Ms. Guessow,
the budget managers, the principals, grant managers,
financial clerks throughout the district do a fantastic job.
And they sometimes don't get the notoriety,
but they do a great yeoman's effort led by, again, Liz over there.
She cracks the whip pretty hard on them and keeps everybody in line,
and her team does a great job again.
We're not done tonight.
Once you approve this, this is going to run in the newspaper.
One of the schedules from here, Schedule C3, will run in the newspaper.
We're going to spit-sign this report.
We're going to submit it to TEA.
We have to submit it by the 28th of this month to the Texas Education Agency.
We're going to put it on our website.
We're going to update all the transparency data on our website so we can maintain transparency with our taxpayers.
We're going to submit this information to the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas, the Federal Clearinghouse,
and, of course, we're going to submit both of these, both the GFO and this report to GFOA and ASBO.
And then all of it goes through PEIMS, Public Education Information Management System,
system so the folks in Austin can kind of track our expenditures and all that business.
We'll do that and then you'll hear from this report one more time next year in October
or November when we present the Schools First information and we think that this information
will transpose, translate to Schools First even though it's changing and getting tougher
we do think that we'll do well in Schools First next year with the results of this data.
this data.
Thank you, Mr. Smith.
Madam President, I have a question, please, for Mr. Garcia and Mr. Smith.
And again, I want to echo what Ms. Gassoff said.
Ms. Champagne, pull your microphone.
Sorry.
I want to echo what she said, and I think you did a great job.
I'm just wondering about page 11 or slide 11, when you show that the net OPEB liability
has gone down and I figured it's over about 40% lower and I think that you
said that that was because the retirees are paying more for their for their
pens or for their health or for their insurance is that right so they're
paying more and so I'm just always concerned about the teachers that are
retired and the amount of money you know because they have a fixed income so how
How has this affected them?
I mean, has their pay increased or they're just getting less money?
Well, for the retiree health care plan, those decisions are made at the state level.
So anything related to benefits or to contributions that come from the state,
the district, current active employees or retirees, those decisions are all made at the state level.
So if retirees for the first time are having to pay deductibles and co-pays.
That's nothing to do with you, I understand that, but I just wanted to make the point.
I don't know if there's a corresponding increase in their pension. I would think not.
I just think that that's interesting because that's a lot of money.
Also on, thank you, on slide 13, I'm just going to see.
I'm just curious, how do these numbers compare to last year?
year or the year before? Because sometimes you have comparisons. I'm just curious if
the special education cluster, for example, 9.8 million is relatively the same or more?
You can look at page 122 of the report.
Okay.
We'll show you all the various funds that make that up,
and you can see the title of those funds across the top.
So, for example, if you want to get into the big special ed grant,
that 225 on page 123 of the document shows what that was this year.
last year, you would need to look at that same document.
We've got that on our website.
So it would be on the same section, same schedule, but last year's report.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
It's going to be comparable to the 9.8.
There wasn't a drastic change up or down with special ed federal funding.
Okay, good.
Thank you.
Are there any other questions?
Thank you both very much.
Moving on, 6.3.
consider future board adoption of the order calling for a regular election of school board
trustees to be held May 4th, 2019, and authorization of the administration to provide official notice
of the election as required by the Texas election code. Mr. Graham, welcome. Madam President,
members of the board, Acting Superintendent Krakorski, it's not often that I get to come
down from the die and present to you as council but i do so here today as the
elections administrator for this school district i will um i got to jump on the kudos bandwagon
to chris smith and his group for the positive change in fund balance and the fiscal health
and responsibility for this district because i do remember that the last time that i presented to
this board was right after our audit last year and if you will remember we were in the miller career
tech center because this facility took on 18 inches to two foot of water and so if we recall
where we were last year and compare that to the fiscal report you just got i don't think you can
give enough pats on the back to that group and what they've done that's not why i'm here to talk
to you today i'm here to talk to you as the elections administrator for this district if
you'll notice in item 6.3 we're going to order an election as we do every year in january for the
may ballot and we have two positions that will be open at that time i'm just going to hit a couple
of high point dates for you if you'll notice there was no order attached therein in your executive
content and that's because we literally work with our counties and polling areas until the last
minute to see what we can do and so we will have a document on your consent
agenda next week for you to review important dates we've already posted for
members we've already posted publicly the deadline of the candidate filing
notice the first day for someone to place their name on the ballot the first
the first date for someone to say hey I officially want to run for school board
is this Wednesday the 16th the last day to place your name on the ballot is
February 15th and that's a Friday that's also the last day to order this election
but we're gonna do so I anticipate this board will do so by action at the next
meeting again we're gonna go ahead and order the election on the uniform May
election date as as suggested by the Secretary of State and those returns
will be canvassed in within the next 11 days May 15th and as miss guess often in
Ms. Champaign will know, it will be at our May, likely our regular May meeting that we will
swear in the candidate, swear in the elected officials. A question that has come to my office
from several trustees, members of the public, and also the election staff that we have on board is
during early voting, you can, we have five sites that are open for anybody to go cast their vote.
and irrespective of whether you live in Waller County or Fort Bend County or
Harris County you can go to any one of those sites for example that this
building is a site for voting now I live in Harris County but I can come over
here to Fort Bend County and cast my vote what we have been asked to do is
look at whether or not on Election Day where we have 13 precincts here locally
and so we have 13 different school sites that we use so if you're gonna cast your
vote on election day you can't just go to the esc you have to go to the school building that's
designated as the precinct for your day and sometimes that that's a little confusing on
election day um you know that that saturday and so sometimes we'll have folks show up at taylor and
we'll have to say hey you know you need to go down the rose road to hayes and cast your vote there
um so we've been tasked to look at that and if you look at the the texas election code uh chapter 43
three, it provides counties with an avenue to adapt countywide polling places, which would be
to say, okay, we'll just keep our, the thought being we could just keep our five early voting
locations and open them up for anyone to come vote in any precinct on election day. My staff,
we have spoken directly with the Secretary of State. We've been working with Fort Bend County,
who's just a little easier to work with than Harris County on these matters. That is not an
an option that's available to a local electorate like us.
It's only for counties.
So that's not something that we're
going to be able to avail ourselves of.
So what I anticipate is you will see the same early voting
locations as you did last year with the same 13 election day
sites, with the exception of one, I think.
Like I said, we might have moved Hayes back to the junior high.
That's right there.
That information will be presented to this board
in full and will be posted everywhere
so that everyone knows it gets posted in the paper, etc.
I feel like I may have gone too far in depth here,
but that is a question that has been presented to me,
and I wanted everybody to understand,
and I wanted our community to understand,
why is it that I can vote anywhere I want to early voting,
but on election day I have to go to my site?
And that's just one of those quirky rules that we deal with
with our Texas Elections Code.
I'm happy to take any questions any member of this board
may have. Are there any questions? Madam President. Ms. Fox. Thank you Mr. Graham for the presentation.
I know Fort Bend County does the vote anywhere on elect all early voting and election day. It's
it's quite nice to have that so maybe the Secretary of State will consider that in the future for
smaller look smaller elections. You said this would be on consent agenda next month?
I mean next week? Yes, I'm presenting it here today for any questions. I don't have the actual document for you
So if you want the document attached and if you want to pull it to an action item to vote it on a separate action
item, I don't see that being an issue. We just we normally have this on a consent agenda because it is fairly standard.
But we don't have the attachment. I don't know if well, but you'll send it when you'll send it to us before Monday. That's correct. Okay, and
And I have election judges who have asked me this over and over and over so I will ask it of you.
We normally do 7 to 7 because it's easy to say, easy to remember, easy to publicize 7 to 7.
But they say that it's just those are long days for how many days of early voting? 8 or 10?
The early voting starts I believe on the 22nd. 8 or 10 days. I don't have that information.
I'll just round. I think it's eight days or so. And they say they just aren't busy. Those early mornings, could they do, so they've asked, and really it's probably for us to think about, they've asked if they could do maybe the kinds of times that they do in a county early voting where they have some extended evenings, but not seven to seven.
It's 12 hours they sit there and for 5,000 votes across eight days plus an election day,
that's a long time to sit with no one coming.
So maybe we could do early for a couple of days and we could do extended late days for
a few days, but maybe not seven to seven.
It would save us a little bit of money.
We pay about the hour for those election judges, but mostly they just think that for efficiency
and...
Certainly, this has been an ongoing topic of discussion since my office took over elections
a few years ago.
We are required by law during early voting to keep our polls open for a certain period
of time.
We've actually, in anticipation of this question coming, have actually looked at the data per
hour on how many people vote per hour.
And what we have found is that while you do, if so, if we do seven to seven, what we do find is that we do have a lot of votes from five to seven, obviously.
You know, people are picking up their kids or coming home from work, wherever they may be, and that's their time to vote.
What we don't have is a lot of voting from the 7 a.m. to the 9 a.m., very small numbers in that box.
However, I would say, you know, if we're going to change those hours, we can do so.
I will present that information to your presiding officer and your acting superintendent so that they can get you that information
But if we're going to change those hours
I would suggest that we still have a couple of days where maybe we do
Seven to five and then a couple of days where we do nine to seven so that we can so that we can encompass
Everybody that wants to go over early or and the folks that need to vote later in the day
that's what i heard from election judges but i'm i i realize it's just really easy to say
seven to seven that makes it consistency is key makes it really easy anybody else
have any questions for mr graham
i'll tell him i asked
next 6.4 consider future board approval of the contract for the partial re-roofing of
of Katy Junior High School.
Mr. Teague.
Good evening, President Doyle,
Acting Superintendent Gagorski and board members.
I'm bringing a recommendation that the Board of Trustees
awards the contract for the partial re-roofing
at Katy Junior High School to D7 Roofing and Metal, LLC,
LLC in the amount of $484,770, utilizing the Choice Partners
Contract 17-038CG-06.
The partial reroofing at Katie Junior High School
is part of the 2017 Bond Component Replacements Program.
The district staff worked with BEAM professionals
to develop the project scope and contract documents.
D7 Roofing and Metal LLC has successfully completed previous re-roofing projects in
the district.
Work will commence immediately with the award of the contract and is scheduled for the completion
by August 1, 2019.
The phased work will be performed around campus activities and scheduled use.
A copy of the proposals from Beam Professionals and D7 Roofing and Metal LLC are attached
for your review. The project funding source is the 2017 bond component replacements.
The Katie Jr. High project cost is $484,770,000. The Beam Engineering project cost is $29,086.
The total not to exceed project cost $513,856. Are there any questions?
Okay. You're with us for 6.5 as well.
Yes, ma'am.
This recommendation that the Board of Trustees awards the contract for the partial re-roofing at West Memorial Junior High School
to Reliable Commercial Roofing Services, Inc. in the amount of $264,130,
utilizing the Choice Partners Contract 18-060-JN-14.
The partial re-roofing at West Memorial Junior High is also part of the 2017 bond component replacements program.
The district staff worked with BEAM professionals to develop the project scope and contract documents.
Reliable Commercial Roofing Services, Inc. has successfully completed previous re-roofing projects in the district.
Work will commence also immediately with the award of the contract and is scheduled also for completion by August 1, 2019.
The phased work will be performed around campus activities and scheduled use.
A copy of the proposals from BEAM professionals and Reliable Commercial Roofing Services,
Inc. are attached for your review.
Again, the project funding source is the 2017 bond component replacements.
West Memorial Junior High project cost is $264,130.
The beam engineering project cost is $15,847.
For a total not to exceed project cost, $279,977.
Are there any questions?
Thank you.
Agenda item 6.6, consider future board approval of the amendment 6 to the Anzal O'Brien
construction contract related to the additions and renovations to Katy High School career
and technical education area. Ms. Cassman. Good evening President Doyle, board
members, Mr. Gagorski. Tonight I have two items for your consideration. The first
item is to consider future board approval for amendment 6 to Ansel O'Brien
construction related to the additions and renovations at Katy High School for
the CTE program. In October I presented a partial price that included costs to
commence with portable relocations site prep including infrastructure in advance of the total
guaranteed maximum price the costs are now complete and the total project class cost including that
from the previous amendments amounts to 12 million 209 thousand three hundred and twenty two dollars
the portable relocations have started and estimated completion is december 2019. i have
this evening uh recall the principal and our design and construction team
Are there any questions? All right. 6.7.
The second item is to consider future board approval for the retention of Stantec Architects for design services associated with the renovation of the outdoor learning center.
The $609 million bond authorization provides funding for renovations to the outdoor learning center, including site infrastructure.
The center opened in 1982 and has not undergone any type of renovation or major upgrades other than routine maintenance.
We have representatives from the Outdoor Learning Center and Design Team in attendance.
Construction could start as early as this summer and complete in 2020.
Are there any questions?
Madam President.
Mr. Lacey.
I had the chance to go and tour the Outdoor Learning Center some months ago and was shown a lot of the things that needed to be done.
This is long overdue. I'm very glad that we're finally getting around to it. It's a wonderful asset for our district
So I appreciate all of those that put every that has been keeping it together with the old chewing gum and bailing wire
Any other questions and I'm president miss Fox this is Catherine what kind of renovations just a sprucing up something or like
significant a lot of the
mechanical electrical plumbing upgrades life safety devices
infrastructure like road work getting in there.
Not redoing the buildings and that kind of thing?
There will be some building, but once we get into design with the architects, I'll be bringing
back a design development for you guys to see.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Gassman. Thank you. 6.8, consider future
board approval of naming Junior High number 16 as recommended
amended by the Naming Advisory Committee, Joe M. Adams, Jr. High.
Mr. Grugorski.
Madam President, if you'll allow, I'd like to read Mr. Adams' biography and share some
information about him.
Joe M. Adams served on the KDISD Board of Trustees from 1989 to 2016.
He held every position on the board at least once, including four terms as president.
Adams also served as the director on the Gulf Coast Area Association of School Boards and on the board of directors for the Texas
Association of School Boards TASB. During his time on the board, he earned the distinguished honor of being a graduate
of leadership TASB and was named a master trustee. Adams was a keep
encouraging youth toward success, keys mentor and volunteer at Taylor High
School where he is named mentor of the year in 2013. He actively participated as
a promise to read and junior achievement volunteer. Adams was also a member of
various PTA PTO organizations and a Taylor High School band booster over the
years. He also served on the bond and attendance boundary modification
and he was a founding director of the Katy ISD Education Foundation.
Adams' dedication to these initiatives showcased and reflected his character, vision, and values.
His commitment to Katy went beyond his involvement in the district as he served as a member, deacon,
an adult Sunday school director at Kingsland Baptist Church, Katy Christian Ministries volunteer,
and a member of the Katy A&M Club, Houston A&M Club, 12th Man Association, and Impact.
Adams was also a former soccer coach for local leagues.
During his 27-year tenure on the KDISD Board of Trustees,
Adams experienced the district's exponential growth and was instrumental in ensuring that KDISD's reputation
for educational excellence continued despite the rapid changes.
He brought a wealth of knowledge to his position and, along with his genuine passion for public schools,
made decisions based on what is in the best interest of the district's students and employees.
His contributions impacted thousands of students and their families.
In addition to his steadfast devotion to the students of Katy ISD, Adams' professional
career consisted of 30 years in the oil and gas industry and working for several service
drilling companies in New Orleans, Dallas, London, and Cairo, Egypt.
He is also a small business owner in Katy.
Adams holds a BBA in marketing from Texas A&M University.
He and his wife Donna have two children and six grandchildren.
Congratulations Mr. Adams.
You can stand up, Mr. Adams.
I'd also like to point out that the principal of junior high 16, Ms. Elizabeth Braat, is
here with us as well.
Welcome.
You want to do a photo?
Yes, we can.
Mr. Adams, would you come up for a photo?
Okay.
Okay.
Just squeeze it a little bit.
A little bit more.
Yeah.
A little bit more.
Thank you.
Thank you.
a committee for the purpose of proposing a name for elementary school number 42 per board policy
cw local um mr gregorski i would like for you to please convene that committee as we did with the
previous school and we'll get moving on scheduling that certainly madam president we will continue
using our same process uh outlining cw local and uh andrea grooms and her team will put us together
their timeline we'll start moving forward on that task Madam President miss
Fox please forgive me if this has been said and I was writing something down
did we announce about the open forum for the naming of the school the date for
that we have not announced that no with it okay just to let people know that for
the love it has been announced publicly yes but we didn't know if you're talking
about in the meeting I haven't said that yet okay we do have a open forum on
Wednesday with regards to the naming of junior high 16. Agenda item 6.10 consider
future board approval of a proclamation for school bus driver appreciation week.
School bus driver appreciation week whereas school bus drivers consistently
put the safety of our children first maintaining an awareness of student
needs school bus routes mechanical issues traffic and weather conditions
and whereas school bus drivers face many driving perils both natural and
unnatural while conducting their daily duties and whereas school bus drivers
consistently exhibit patience and kindness towards students parents and
school staff in the faithful and dedicated performance of their
responsibilities and whereas school bus drivers have collectively built a
remarkable and exemplary record of safety by driving for hundreds of
thousands of miles year after year therefore the Katy Independent School
District Board of Trustees do hereby proclaim February 11th through the 15th
of 2019 as school bus driver appreciation week in Katy Independent School District.
Agenda item 611 consider future board approval of the proclamation for career and technical
education month. Career and technical education month whereas the month of February has been
designated career and technical education CTE month by the association for career and technical
education and whereas career and technical education offers students the
opportunity to gain the academic technical employability skills necessary
for true career readiness and whereas students in career and technical
education programs participate in authentic meaningful experiences that
improve the quality of their education and increase student engagement and
achievement and whereas career and technical education provides students
with career exploration opportunities earlier in their educational experience
which enables them to make informed and beneficial decisions about their academic coursework as well as pursuit of established programs of study and career pathways.
And whereas leaders from business and industry nationwide report increasing challenges related to the skills gap and connecting qualified professionals with available careers in critical and growing CTE-related fields,
including healthcare, energy, advanced manufacturing, and information technology.
And whereas career and technical education prepares students for these and other fulfilling careers by offering integrated programs of study that link secondary and post-secondary education and lead to the attainment of industry-recognized credentials.
And whereas ensuring that employers have access to a qualified workforce is a crucial step in ensuring productivity among the business and industry communities, as well as continued American economic growth and global competitiveness.
and whereas the Smith Hughes National Vocational Education Act was signed by Congress in February of 1917
to provide funding for career and technical education,
which allows us to celebrate how far CTE has come to become a powerhouse of America's economy.
Therefore, the Katy ISD Board of Trustees do hereby proclaim that February 2019
as Career and Technical Education Month in Katy Independent School District
and urge all citizens to become familiar with the services and benefits offered by the career and technical education programs in this community
and to support and participate in these programs to enhance their individual skills and productivity.
Agenda item 6.12, consider future board approval of a proclamation for National School Counseling Week.
National School Counseling Week.
Whereas school counselors are employed in public and private schools to help students reach their full potential,
And whereas school counselors are actively committed to helping students explore their abilities, strengths, interests, and talent as these traits relate to career awareness and development.
And whereas school counselors help parents focus on ways to further the educational, personal, and social growth of their children.
And whereas school counselors work with teachers and other educators to help students explore their potential and set realistic goals for themselves.
And whereas school counselors seek to identify and utilize community resources that can enhance and complement comprehensive school counseling programs and help students become protective members of society.
And whereas comprehensive developmental school counseling programs are considered an integral part of the educational process that enables all students to achieve success in school.
and therefore the KDISD Board of Trustees do hereby proclaim February
4th through the 8th of 2019 as National School Counseling Week. At this time the
Board of Trustees will give members of the public an opportunity to speak. A
meeting that is open to the public under the Texas Open Meetings Act is one that
the public is permitted to attend. The Act does not entitle the public to choose the items to
be discussed or to speak about items on the agenda. A governmental body may, however, give members of
the public an opportunity to speak at a public meeting, which KDIC Board Policy BED Local does
allow. As defined by this Board Policy, the first 20 speakers who signed up at least 15 minutes
before this meeting began and have provided their first and last name will be allowed to speak.
A maximum of 30 minutes has been allocated, with the time divided equally among those
who have signed up.
However, the maximum amount of time for any one speaker is three minutes.
If you are not finished speaking at the end of your three minutes, your microphone will
turn off.
If speakers wish to share written material with the Board, 10 copies must be provided
to the Secretary for Board Services for Board Members, the Superintendent, the Chief Communications
Officer and Permanent Record.
Due to posting requirements of the Open Meetings Act, the Board is able to respond only to statement related to a posted agenda item with a statement of specific factual information given or a recitation of existing policy in response to the inquiry.
If the Speaker has not attempted to solve a matter administratively through proper channels as stated in Board Policy, the Presiding Officer shall advise the Speaker to seek resolution through the appropriate policy.
Board Policy BED Legal states that it is a criminal offense for a person with intent to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting to substantially obstruct or interfere with the ordinary conduct of a meeting by physical action or verbal utterance and thereby curtail the exercise of others' First Amendment rights.
Board Policy BED Local provides for removal of any member of the audience after at least one warning who disrupts the meeting by his or her words or actions.
Finally, pursuant to Texas Government Code Sections 551.074 and 551.0821, the Board will
not permit the presentation of personally identifiable information regarding a student
and will not discuss the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline,
or dismissal of a public officer or employee or to hear a complaint or charge against an
officer or employee.
Should a speaker wish to address one of these issues, they must do so through the appropriate
appropriate local grievance policies, FNG local, DGBA local, or GF local.
As I announce your name, please come forward and state your first and last name for the record.
Our first speaker this evening is Sean Dolan.
Good evening.
A few months ago, I had a parent reach out to me whose daughter was being bullied at Arcadia
ADISD Elementary School. The school investigated and bullying investigation was determined to be
unfounded because they could not find any witnesses. Through tears, the mother explained
the many challenges the family was already enduring and how her daughter was having suicidal
thoughts as a result. I posted on Facebook the school she attended and asked if there were any
fellow students willing to stand up for this girl. Many parents came forward. They all met for a play
date with this girl and her mom outside of school. Over the next few weeks I checked in with the
mother and the daughter now has friends and looks forward to attending school each day.
With that and many other examples I've experienced, I wish the board would consider enacting a policy
for opt-in mutual parent contact when issues arise between students. Teachers and faculty
have enough work to do without playing the role of referee between parents. If there's a problem
between two students particularly in cases of bullying parents could opt in
giving permission to the school to share their contact information with the other
parent involved. For parents who are capable and willing the opportunity to
resolve issues between students can be handled outside of the school. At minimum
alleviating the burden on our very busy staff and at best lowering the repeat
rate of these offenses. Currently it's come to my attention from many sources
that the current method of lowering the reported rate of bullying is to ignore
ignore it or excuse me or misclassify it. I would also encourage the board to implement
an anonymous whistleblower system and I encourage teachers to independently document any instances
of retaliation they receive for doing what is in the best interest of their safety and
the safety of their students. As for parents and students, it is perfectly legal in the
state of Texas to record a conversation that you are a party to without the party knowing.
It's better to record and not need it than to not record and realize later that it makes
the difference for the safety of your child or their future. Over the past 10
months I've had members of departments all across the district reaching out to
me, many anonymously but not all. The most disturbing account came to me from a
former Katy ISD police administrator. I want to handle this information
properly. I would prefer not to go public with it so I asked if there's anybody
sitting at this dais who would agree to sit down with me and discuss this issue.
Mr. Gregorski, would you like to discuss this issue privately instead of publicly?
Adam President, I will remind the board that this is not a question and answer session.
Justin, would you like to sit down and discuss this?
So you guys want it to be dealt with publicly?
That's.
Thank you, Mr. Dolan.
Our next speaker is Nick Funditas.
I would like to start by expressing my appreciation for the courage displayed by three board members
that stood up for the people of this community and demanded a nationwide and transparent
search for the next superintendent.
Thank you for that.
Mr. Scott, in part, you justified limiting the search to internal candidates only by
by stating that KDISD has a robust succession plan
and KDISD has many qualified candidates
that would be capable of filling the superintendent role.
If that were true, such a robust pipeline of talent
would have yielded multiple internal applicants.
Instead, we ended up with a lone applicant,
thus confirming that the succession planning
is either not as robust as Mr. Scott portrayed it to be,
or qualified candidates simply didn't apply for some reason.
Perhaps some feared retribution
as the last few meetings appear to confirm that the loan finalist was decided long before a vote ever occurred.
Everyone in this community should be alarmed if even an entry-level position at Katy ISD is filled with a loan applicant.
Having a loan applicant for the top job is a mockery of due process and a total failure by this board to fulfill one
of your most important duties.
It may be a fact that Mr. Grigorski is the best candidate that applied for the job,
but with all due respect it is equally a fact that he was the worst candidate
that applied for the job and that is as a result of the failure of this board to
attract and accept applications from the most qualified candidates available the
fact that there was only a lone applicant for the most prestigious
position and Katie ISD says everything this community needs to know about how
much for members of this board believe in the greatness and potential of this
district your words may say that you feel this district is among the best
in the nation but your actions conclusively demonstrate the untruthfulness of your words
by not allowing mr grigorski to fairly compete for the top job in this district the board has
created division in the community the very thing the board president has spent time accusing
members of the public of doing instead of allowing mr grigorski to earn the public the position
and start with a clean slate and the full support of the community you have forced mr gregorski to
to start with the baggage of corruption, dishonesty,
and lack of transparency that has plagued
the Katy ISD superintendent role for nearly a year now.
Mr. Grigorski, I implore you to demonstrate your integrity
to this community by rejecting the contract
this board will certainly approve later today,
and instead withdraw your application
and demand an open and fair competition
for the superintendent role that you,
the employees and students of Katy ISD
and this community deserve.
I was pretty optimistic on Friday as well
when I seen that the public discussion,
the open comments was going to happen
after the discussion on the superintendent contract
to perhaps allow for some openness and transparency
and immediate feedback from the public.
So it's quite disappointing to see that at the last second
that was reversed to filter that discussion.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Fenditis.
Our next speaker is Dr. Lisa Babin.
I'm going to go fast because I have a lot to say.
Good evening, community members, taxpayers, parents, patrons of the district, students,
former board members whom I like to call not has-beens, but forget-me-nots, and any new
hires.
Welcome, teachers, staff members of administration, BOT members, President Doyle, and last but
but certainly not least, our new superintendent, Mr. Almost, Dr. Gregorski.
Happy New Year to you all.
My name is Dr. Lisa Babin.
I have a few things I'd like to talk about.
I would first like to thank all of you board members.
I want you to know I value and appreciate you all as independent individuals.
Thank you for serving.
I'd like to thank the board members who stood for their principles and the process.
I appreciate the spirited and lively discussions of the pros and cons of the search process.
It was very enlightening.
We'd like to see more of that.
To me, it was never made personal, but came strictly from a professional standpoint.
We, members of the community, do not know you very well, Mr. Gorgorski.
We don't know your vision, your goals, your 1-3-5-7-9-11 plan, your 2-4-6-8-10-12 plan.
People tend to fear the unknown when the process seems rushed.
The initial optic is that maybe something may be amiss.
My professional and personal observations of Mr. Gagorski is that he is quiet, studious, serious, and seldom smiles.
He is contemplative, courteous-mannered, and a gentleman, and has always offered to answer my questions.
I love giving people chances, and I believe in championing people and causes.
I like being the cheerleader and wishing people well.
I like to pray for them.
I am choosing to champion you, sir.
I'm going to give you the opportunity to prove me wrong, which I hope you do not.
My pause for cause is that you have very little experience running a district of this size, scope, and magnitude.
I regret that you have had to withstand a very quick crash course in the last few months.
The upside to this is that you have been patient and gracious while you waited and did not appear to rush your on-the-job training you were forced to undergo.
Luckily for us and you, we were blessed to have had a superintendent who trained you and guided you,
and I believe we will see this as you take this mantle and guide us to the next level.
I'm choosing to believe in you and support you without reservation or hesitation until proven otherwise.
I said that, sorry.
I believe in forgiveness as we are all human beings in this wild, crazy, wonderful ride of life.
We all bleed red.
We all make mistakes.
I believe in hope and healing, and it is my hope that you are the superintendent that helps all of us from the past
experience our entire community underwent.
We want to get to know you more and we want to see your vision and goals.
What will your story and your legacy be for us?
I have more but I'm obviously out of time.
I wish you the best of luck.
Infinite prayers for you personally, professionally and for your family as well.
Thank you.
Thank you, Dr. Vavin.
Our next speaker is Jennifer Isola.
I think she's left.
Our next speaker is Susan Wallace.
us i had a lot to say but i didn't prepare anything but one thing that has bothered me
and the smirks and the the looks that i get when i'm up here
just don't help. But to know that taxes were used to hire an investigation firm
to investigate your detractors. You weren't a part of this, but you all were. You used taxpayer money
to hire a firm that used that money to investigate your detractors.
Does that remind anyone of something from maybe the 50s, McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover?
Does that not scare anybody, even just a little bit?
You get on their bad side, and what are they going to do to you?
And you?
No, you suck up enough.
It's not going to happen.
Right, I know, I know.
Ms. Wallace, please continue to address the board instead of the audience.
So that bothers me, that you would use taxpayer money dedicated to the education of our community's children
to spend it on something else, not educating the community's children, but to going after people.
So what if you find out something about me that you're going to try and use against me?
What would you do with that information?
If you find that I have a child that's working in the district, is that person going to be targeted?
If I have some horrible skeleton in my closet,
are you going to bring that out and try to get me to be quiet?
Why would you search for this information?
What would you possibly use it for?
Nothing good.
Nothing good.
Yeah, they used taxpayer dollars to investigate me.
What did you find out?
That I was a Cub Scout den mother?
I mean, is that going to be something that you can use against me?
Is this something that's going to make you feel better about yourself?
What do you use that for?
What do you two think about the rest of them doing something like that?
Do you think that's a good use of funds?
Do you think that is a smart thing to do?
Do you think that is healthy for your community?
This is how you treat your taxpayers.
You represent me.
You're my representatives.
And you do that to me.
And I want everyone to understand that they are just as capable of doing that to you.
That's disturbing.
There's something wrong with you guys.
Thank you, Ms. Wallace.
Our next speaker is Brenda Martin.
I'm Brenda Martin. I'm going to change the tone just a little bit. I am a long-time resident
of Katy. Moved here in 1985 with a little first grade daughter who now is 41. We've
lived in Katy proper that entire time, so she's gone all the way through Katy. Katy
elementary junior high high school 96 graduate of Katy high school I'm lucky
enough to have my grandkids right here I had a 30-year career in the medical
field my mom was an elementary school teacher I had no interest in education
but I started being able to volunteer for my grandkids at Katy elementary I
love it I taught junior achievement my mom said you're really good and I'm like
I'm now a substitute teacher for the last two years.
Strictly at Cady Elementary until last week when I dived into Miller Career.
I have lived here since 1985 and never set foot on that property, and I need to be kicked.
That place is incredible.
I love it.
It's amazing.
I appreciate all the work y'all do.
I have never come up here and spoken.
I've been attending the meetings.
I'm amazed at the amount of work you do.
I want to thank you with a big bag of Girl Scout cookies because along with substitute
teaching I'm a Girl Scout leader for my granddaughter's troop.
So I have the cookies back here.
You can fight over them.
There's no thin mints, sorry.
I love Katie and I love our school district.
district. I have a troop of 10 girls that are in fifth and sixth grade that represent
Katy Elementary Junior High, Wood Creek Junior High, Morton Ranch, and I guess that's it.
They know I'm involved. They know I'm a substitute teacher. They know that I'm interested in
our education in Katy. And we've talked. And I'd like to bring them to a meeting and talk
about some of the badge work we do but we we talk about what goes on at school
and I've asked them you know what problems do you have what do you you
know is there something we can do different what can I take to the board
and and and you know speak for you they're happy they're happy they love
their schools they love their teachers they have problems we all have problems
but there's been nothing really huge that they've brought to my attention so
So I just want to thank you and thank my mom, who taught at Katy Elementary for years and convinced me that I could do it.
And I wouldn't take any money for it.
I love it so much.
I mean, I'll take it and spend it on my grandkids and my Girl Scout troop.
But that's how much I treasure it.
It's wonderful.
So I'm going to dive into Katy Junior High next.
They've strong-armed me.
But, again, thank you.
I'll leave these cookies, and you can fight over them.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Martin.
Next on our agenda is 8.1, regular board meeting Monday, January 21st, 2019.
The board will now convene in closed meeting as authorized under section 551.001 of the Texas Government Code for the following purposes.
Texas Government Code 551.071, 551.129, 551.074, and the time is 8.40 p.m.
the board when I'll reconvene an open meeting today is Monday January 14th
2019 and the time is 942 p.m. we will move to agenda item 4.1 consider and
take possible action regarding the employment of superintendent and
superintendent contract madam president miss van I move that the board of
trustees employs mr. Kenneth Gregor ski as the superintendent of schools and
and authorizes the appropriate Board officers to execute the contract as discussed in closed meeting on behalf of the district.
Second.
I have a motion by Ms. Vann, a second by Mr. Lacey,
that the Board of Trustees employs Mr. Kenneth Gregorcy as the superintendent of schools
and authorizes the appropriate Board officers to execute the contract as discussed in closed meeting of the district.
Are there any discussions?
Hearing none, we'll move to vote.
All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye.
All those opposed, motion passes 7-0.
Congratulations Mr. Vigil.
I'm now going to turn it over.
Well, go ahead.
I'll turn the mic over to Mr. Grigorski to give us a few words.
Thank you, Madam President.
I appreciate that.
And it is an honor and a privilege to serve the Katy community as superintendent of schools.
and I'm committed to working with this board and doing the great work that
happens in this district every day a few things I'd like to share you know I mean
about this is as superintendent it is my mission to provide the leadership and
direction for this district and that is to ensure our educational excellence and
I want to say a few things about that I do understand our KD ISD values my
My wife's a teacher in the district.
My kids attend Katy ISD schools.
And as a dad, I want what every parent wants.
And all of you that are out there are parents.
I'm right along with you about that.
And our mission talks about unparalleled learning experiences.
And, you know, what does that mean?
What is that mission?
People might ask me what that means to me.
And that means focusing upon the good work that's happening in our classrooms every day.
And it means supporting our teachers with meaningful professional development.
It means providing safe schools for our kids.
It means supporting those kids with their well-being.
But it also means supporting our teachers as well and ensuring they have the tools and the resources to help them instructionally and with classroom management every day.
Because I know those are challenges our teachers face.
And as we continue to grow, I think we become more diverse and we need to make
sure we're taking care of all of our students, every student in KDISD. And what
does that look like? It means providing choices for our students and it means
giving them some personalized learning experiences, things that are
outlined in our strategic plan. And it means looking at our assessments. We
spend a lot of time on our assessments and it means looking at that data to
to make sure those assessments and that data add value to the teaching and learning process.
And I would say last but not least with that, it's a goal and a priority to ensure we have
a quality teacher in every classroom.
And to do that, we need to look at our pay structures and we need to look at our recruitment
efforts.
And we do those things in a way to make sure that we are attracting and retaining and rewarding
our great employees.
And that's what we want to do.
And these points of focus all represent the principles and those shared values that I mentioned earlier.
And I'm committed to work with our community, our families, our schools to do what's best for this district.
And I'm confident working together in partnership, we're going to be able to accomplish those goals and vision together.
Thank you.
Thank you again, Mr. Gorski.
There being no further business before the board, this meeting is adjourned.
The time is 946 p.m.
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.