Noting that a quorum is present, I hereby call this regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of Katy Independent School District to order. Today is Wednesday, November 18, 2020, and the time is 5.30 p.m. Dr. Gorgorski, will you verify that we are in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act with regard to the notice for this meeting?
What happened
Watch the meeting →Nobody has written an account of this meeting yet. What follows is the recording, the district’s own division of the sitting, and every word the automated transcript captured.
Watch the meeting
Important moments
No moments have been curated for this meeting. Curating one means a person watching a passage and writing down what it contains, and that has not been done here yet.
Find something in this meeting
Search every word of the automated transcript. A result moves the recording to the moment the words were spoken.
In this meeting
- 0:00 to 1:02:46 Full recording
Full transcript
Automated transcript, not human verified. It is a way to find a passage, not a quotation.
Full recording
Madam President, I do confirm we're in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meeting Act for this meeting this evening.
At this time, the Board of Trustees will give members of the public an opportunity to speak in accordance with KDISD Board Policy BED Local. As defined by this policy, the first 10 speakers who signed up by 2 p.m. on Wednesday, November 18, 2020, and have provided their first and last name will be allowed to address the Board. 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, you must email a copy to the Secretary for Board Services for Board Members, the Superintendent, the Chief Communications Officer, and Permanent Record. If a speaker has not attempted to solve a matter administratively through proper channels as stated in Board policy, the presiding officer's designee shall advise the speaker to seek resolution through the appropriate policy. 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 local grievance policies FNG local DGB a local CKE local or GF local our speakers will be called forward in the order they signed up to speak our first speaker tonight is miss Angie McClellan Justin do we have anybody waiting in the lobby I'm not aware of anybody outside side okay okay miss McClellan is not here our next speaker is mr. Eric San Miguel
thank you to the board for letting me speak today it's been it's been a little while since we've all or since I've been here a little bit different circumstances congratulations to Leah and Greg on on their appointments as board of trustees I know you'll do a fantastic job to Bill Lacey you're a friend you're a great man we've done some awesome things together and we're still going to do some awesome things together in this district I couldn't thank you more for your friendship your mentorship and you know for me this isn't goodbyes is I'll talk to you a little bit later all right so thank you so much for everything you've done for this district um a couple of positive things uh my kids have had a great experience with with katie virtual academy they're still in katie virtual academy uh we've made the decision to keep them there through the holidays we'll see and we'll reevaluate afterwards and see if they're going to go back but um my third grade my son's third grade teacher mrs price she's new to the district she's fantastic i don't know if i'm supposed to say names but she's fantastic she deserves to be recognized so she's doing a great job um so are my younger son's teachers as well but i i see my older son a little bit more regularly and uh and i see his experience and he's enjoying enjoying it just so much uh the kyf turf bowl was this past weekend uh went off uh without a hitch it was amazing uh thank you to everyone who was a part of this uh the staff the security everybody there as a head coach it was it was awesome to to be a part of it and to experience the whole thing so thank you so much for everyone for allowing that to happen and we look forward to another appearance next year the last thing I want to say is is a little bit more personal for me because there's a student in this district that I that I really really I really like the young man and I feel like he was uh I felt like he was wrongly singled out about a year ago and I feel like even still today he's being treated in a way that's not fair and not protective of our students in this district and as kind of a exit to what I'm about to say please reinstate Bronson McClellan immediately he has been cleared he deserves to play this isn't about football this is about protecting our students and doing the right thing
please do the right thing thank you mr. San Miguel our next speaker is Jasmine Fu
dear members of the board I'm Jasmine Fu and I'm a senior at single-entry high school as a student in KDIC I have some concerns about the safety of my teachers my classmates and their families many of the teachers have have talked to are elderly or have small infants at home that are at risk for a COVID-19 infection. These teachers are forced to teach at school where students may infect them and spread to their relatives. This makes teachers have to choose between their career and the safety of their families. I think this is a choice that no respect professional should be forced to pick. A good compromise will be let the teacher teach at home if they are in a difficult circumstance. The other concern I have is the environment at the classroom. The drive COVID-19 is compounded because we have a closed AC unit that recycle the air throughout the building. Because COVID-19 is an airborne virus, it has the potential to spread extremely fast in a school setting, even with the use of a mask. Ask the board to consider providing the air diffuser for each classroom to help release the air that might carry the virus. In conclusion, as the case in Fort Bend County and individuals at Campus Rise, I want to make sure that safety of student and staff remains the top priority. After that, if the safety standard cannot be upheld, then we switch to online only program. Thank you for your time and I wish you the best of luck in working out the best and the safest solution for all the student staff and their families thank you thank you miss foo our next speaker is brenda
martin my name is brenda martin and i've been here a time or two but i'm here as a grandmother and a substitute teacher. I've lived in Katy for almost 40 years. I recently started back subbing and I wanted to give a huge shout out. I sub at Katy Junior High and mostly Katy Elementary. Katy Elementary you know had the most kids going back face to face. Miss Grimmett and her staff have been phenomenal with I feel completely safe there and you know those kids are all over mamaw it's wonderful and and dr. LeBlanc at Katy junior high things are fantastic there so I wanted to give a shout out to them and I specifically wanted to say thank you to Bill Lacey incredible man incredible board member he's become a good friend of mine but he has really helped me with some passion programs I've had in the district I first came to speak and I was terrified and he said just look at me you'll be okay and he really really helped me with milk for many a fantastic program that hopefully we can get back to doing um but you're going to be greatly a lot a big loss but i know you're going to still have a passion for our kids and the district and our community and i thank you for all your hard work thank you so much
Ms. Martin. Our next speaker is Peter Kolb.
Okay.
Madam President, that's the end of the speakers tonight. Yes. No, he asked me to
speak on his behalf. I'm sorry, we can't do that. Okay, well, thank you though. We all signed up also. Mr. Graham. Your legal counsel and I told me. Madam President. Go ahead, Mr. Graham. Madam President. You have the mic, Mr. Graham. Madam President,
This is an issue. This family has availed itself of the grievance process, which we encourage when you have issues related to your independent children at KDISD. You have addressed this board in our previous meeting. We've heard your concerns there, and it is inappropriate now for you to speak to this board as we are in the middle of a grievance process. As such, as such, I'm going to indicate that this is in the administrative grievance process which you've availed yourself of, which we encourage you to do. Yes, ma'am, you filed your grievance on behalf of your children and so, Madam President, that's the end of speakers tonight. Thank you so
much, Mr. Graham. We're gonna move on with our meeting tonight. Ma'am, could you you please take a seat. I'm sorry, ma'am. I really don't want to have to have you removed with your children here. That's fine. But as Mr. Graham has stated, you have filed an administrative grievance policy. And so we will proceed with that. Officers, thank you so much, ma'am. We will give it just a few minutes and then we will proceed with our oaths of office. My apologies for that. Let's proceed to agenda item 3.1. Administer the oath of office to the newly elected members of the Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees. Ms. Michelle Ross, Secretary for Board Services and Notary Public, will administer the oath of office to the newly elected board members. Ashley Vann, Leah Wilson, and Greg Schulte.
Ready?
Okay. You'll raise your right hand and repeat after me. I. Do solemnly swear. That I will faithfully. Execute the duties of the Office of School Board Trustee for the Katy Independent School District of the State of Texas and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States. states and of this state and of this state so help me god so help me god congratulations
congratulations again mr schulte and miss wilson at this time before we close i'm going to turn the mic over to mr bill lacy with some final remarks
In my time on the board, we have endured so many hardships while we have also accomplished so many different things. Harvey, the turmoil that surrounded our former superintendent, and then also naming Dr. Gagorski as our new superintendent, and COVID. We have dealt with a lot, but we have also accomplished quite a bit. top local state and national awards for our FFA fine arts athletic and academic programs all of these things come from superior leadership all these accomplishments are because we never forget that we are here to provide an educational opportunity for all of our children for all of you in this room and to the people that are across the state of Texas watching they're watching every decision you make. As trustees of one of the top districts in Texas, you must boldly advocate for the funding of public education and for the integrity of our public education system. You're called to lead the way. There are others that want to see you fail, but the responsibility is on your shoulders. Our children are the future of our community, our state, and our country, and the The decisions will be incredibly difficult and will impact our community for years to come. With the leadership of Dr. Bogorski and his incredible team, I am sure that you will make the right decisions for KDISD. You must never forget that this board is oversight. Stay above the line and don't forget where that line is. To all the staff and teachers of KDISD, I admire you all. I have been continually impressed by your dedication to the education of our children. You make a difference. The impact that you have on our children may or may not be realized in the classroom. It may take years or even generations to see what seeds you have planted. I can't look at you, Patty. Thank you all for taking care of our future. You are all my heroes, each and every one of you, and you always will be. I will be your advocate to the day that I die. I want to thank my family and especially my wife. You have been understanding and so supportive. and I appreciate the sacrifices and the support that you have given me. To all the people who have supported me and to the people of KDISD community, you've received my all. I feel that I'm leaving this board and KDISD in a better place than when I was elected. My love for KDISD and our children will never falter. Thank you for allowing me to be a trustee and putting your faith in my decisions it has truly been an honor to serve on this board thank you
thank you bill I couldn't look at Patty during that either thank you for all you've done I don't think the community knows just how many hours of service you've put into this not just this school district but across the state in your service of not only to kxd but your tasby role and um i've loved serving with you you will be missed i'll miss your socks most of all um but thank you for everything you've done and we know that you'll always be there to champion us and have our backs so thank you so much bill i uh
mr lacey i won't call you mr lacey ever again i'll just be bill from now on um i just want to to say thank you i appreciate you uh for everything you've done for me and for this district um in matthew 25 the master tells a servant well done a good faithful servant i hope and pray that you feel that same thankfulness and appreciation uh absolutely have it for me but i hope you know that from the district as well thank you madam president this uh guess so i'm gonna i'm gonna
to miss your viewpoint from the Louisiana Public Education. It always cracks me up. I wanted to thank you too and I agree with Ashley, countless countless hours especially as you've taken on the role of TASB Director and I know that that has really fed your soul and you've really enjoyed being a part of that and trying to spread our influence across the entire state. So thank you for your time for your service wait i made notes where's my other note i had a really good point and and i i truly know that you have a heart for ktisd and so does patty i don't think any school board has ever had a cheerleader but we have one and we're going to miss having you out there cheering so you have to keep coming sorry anyway thank you so much
Mr. Adam President. Mr. I have to call you Mr. Lacey now and call you Bill. I appreciate having served with you, Bill, and I didn't know you very well before I came on the board, but I've been amazed at your energy. And everywhere I go, it seems you're there. And I want to echo what Susan said. I know you got down in the weeds in the TASB service, and I think KDISD benefited from that, and I appreciate all your hard work, and we've become friends, which I appreciate, and I know you'll be around, and I know you'll continue to support our district, and I'm sure we'll be hearing from you in other things, and I wish you well, you and Patty as well, and I won't bring up LSU football.
Madam President. Ms. Champagne. I would like to tell you I really appreciate the service that you've given all these last years and also especially with what you've done with TASB because I know that that was a big part of what you've done in the last year and I know that that took a lot of time and um and I know that the people there really like you a lot and so I think that that is very beneficial to be on the good side of people there and I know that they're going to miss you too.
Thank you, Ms. Champagne. Mr. Lacey, it's been a pleasure. I know we're going to walk out tonight together and I know that we will remain friends for a lifetime. You have been strength and calm. We have faced some pretty interesting things as you've served this past three years and I agree with everything that all the board members have said. Thank you for your time, your dedication. Thank you to our cheerleader and for bringing her along. She always brings a little spark with that red hair. And so thank you for your service. It's been very much appreciated.
And if I may.
Absolutely.
Bill, I appreciate it. And you talked a little bit about what a board member does and there's nothing more important than that board member-superintendent relationship. and the thing i would share with that there are many things a board member does and they do it for no pay and and they put in a lot of work and hard hours and everything you've done but i would say the most important thing a board member can do if they want to serve this district is to have that passion for those kids and you heard it tonight from a couple of the folks who spoke about that there's there's no doubt in my mind and i think anyone in this community about your passion for the kids in kdisd and what you've put forth of your time and efforts to help all these these kids and I appreciate that so thank you thank you dr. Gorgorzky and
thank you again bill in closing first and foremost I would like to thank God for giving me the opportunity to serve in this capacity I have learned so much about leadership service sacrifice a little too much about school finance no No offense, Chris. And grace under pressure. But I cannot walk away tonight without thanking just a few more people. First and foremost, Stan and Patsy Stanley. Stan believed in me when I didn't believe in myself and taught me when all else fails, being kind is easiest and best. Robert Willoughby, who contrary to rumor, has never told me how to vote as I sat at this dais on any issue. first and foremost because simply that's not who he is and second he always has known that I am just stubborn enough I would have never listened to him anyway thank you Robert for always protecting me like a father would protect a daughter past and current board members and superintendents I have served with you have pushed me challenged me supported me and for that I am grateful for what I have learned from each of you. My dad, who taught me to think before you speak. My mom, who showed me that it may not be the popular opinion, but if it's the right one, always go and do the right thing. Scott and our six children, you have loaned me to this school district for quite some time now and supported me and I'm so thankful to have all of you as my rock and my support. In closing, I leave this administration with this Matthew 514 says you are the light of the world as stewards of this school district we have been entrusted to leave Katie I see better than we found it I hope I am doing just that and I encourage each of you to continue to be lights in this community the 85,000 plus students are looking at you to light their path it has been my honor and privilege to serve each of you and with that 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 and 551.074 the time is 5 53 pm
the board will now reconvene in open meeting today is Wednesday November 18 2020 and the time is 6 55 55 PM. On behalf of my colleagues, I welcome everyone to this evening's regular board meeting. Each board member received the agenda and documentation for this meeting on Friday, November 13th, 2020. The board will receive information and recommendations from staff, administration, and the superintendent on these agenda items at tonight's meeting. Board members will be able to ask questions, receive answers, and should be prepared to take action this evening. In accordance with Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, any action arising from discussions in a closed meeting must be taken in an open meeting. We'll begin with Agenda Item Number 6, Organization of the Board of Trustees. We will consider and elect the officers for the 2020-2021 Board of Trustees.
Madam President, Madam Secretary, I nominate Ashley Vann for the position of President.
Do we have a second? Second. A nomination was made by Lance Redmond to elect Ashley Vann as president. Are there any other nominations? I will entertain a motion to close nominations.
Madam President, I motion that we close nominations. Where are we? Sorry. Sorry.
Do we have a second?
Yeah.
Second.
A motion to close nominations was made by Susan Gassoff, a second by Lance Redman. All of those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. Any opposed say nay. Motion passes 7-0. zero um all right all right now we have um oh sorry nomination is proof seven to zero vote now we have um office of vice president nominations are open for the position of vice president
madam president i nominate lance redmond for the position of vice president
A nomination was made by Susan Gassoff to elect Lance Redman as vice president. Are there any other nominations?
Okay.
I will entertain a motion to close nominations.
Second.
A motion to close nominations was made by Duke Keller, seconded by Lance Redman. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye. Those opposed, nay. Aye. Nominations shall be voted on in order which... The nomination was made by Duke Keller that the board elect Lance Redmond for the office of vice president of the board of trustees for the 2020-2021 school year. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion is approved 7-0. Nominations are now open for the position of secretary.
Madam president.
Champagne.
I nominate Susan Gassoff for the position of secretary.
Second. The nomination was made by Ms. Champagne to elect Susan Gassoff as secretary. Are there any other nominations? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion to close nominations.
Madam President.
Ms. Champagne.
I move that the board close nominations for the office of secretary.
Second. A motion to close nominations was made by Ms. Champagne and second by Mr. Redmond. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
Any opposed? Nomination, shall we vote it? Oh, I didn't read that again. A nomination was made by Dawn Champagne that the board elect Susan Gesoff for the office of secretary of the board of trustees for the 2020-2021 school year. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. nomination is approved by a seven to zero vote this concludes the election of officers we will now move to our Pledge of Allegiance dr. Gagorski would you please introduce our Pledge Leader thank you madam
president yes we have a special guest today Jacob Clark fifth grader at Franz Elementary principals dr. Yvette Sylvan and parents are Christopher and Wendy Clark so Jacob will invite you up here I'm going to say a few things then I'm I'm going to turn it right back over to you. But Jacob's special interests, enjoys baseball, soccer, football, fishing, YouTube, who doesn't like YouTube, and playing video games. Favorite subjects are math, science, and social studies. Mr. Freeman, science teacher, shares, Jacob shines in the classroom. He is always willing to help and focuses on getting the job done. He is a joy to have in class. and from Mrs. Porter, the student council sponsor, Jacob is a natural born leader, strives for excellence in everything that he does, no matter the task, Jacob will always make sure that he completes it with accuracy. So without further ado, I turn it over to you Jacob to go ahead and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state, under God, one and indivisible.
Go ahead, Jacob, all yours. Cheers.
Good evening, President of the Board, Board members, and Superintendent Gagorski. My name is Jacob Clark. I have attended Franz Elementary since kindergarten. This is my fifth year at Franz Elementary. This year, my homeroom teacher is Mr. Smith. My two switch teachers are Mr. Freeman and Ms. Lee. I like the staff at Franz Elementary because they are respectful, lead by example, and take pride in guiding and teaching. I like having technology in the classroom for learning. The entire staff has been working hard to maintain a safe learning environment for everyone during these times. Last year I was on student council. While I was on student council we prepared t-shirt designs to represent friends. We also made signs for our food drive and cancer research programs. The programs are two to three weeks long. I am grateful to have attended. I did all five years at a great school. A special thanks to the school board members for all they do. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Jacob. Mrs. Champagne has a gift for you. Hi, I'm Mrs. Champagne, and I have a very special gift for you. Thank you. Not very many kids get to come and do the pledge for us. There's only, well, this year probably even less than nine, but usually nine a year. By the way, I know you have an awesome principal over here, and I'm so proud of you, and you give a very special gift that I hope that you will find useful and I really really tell about yourself into the pledge thank you very much you're
welcome
I'm going to give Ms. Ross just a minute to make changes.
I know. I did the best I could. Yeah. Was that it, too? Okay.
While she's doing that, Board, I had a misstep. It won't be my first or my last, but we never actually voted on president. we only voted to close the motion to close the nominations so we need to go back um to actually i'll vote for an office of the president um and so we're going back to page 5 of 20 and a nomination was made by lance redmond that the board elect ashley van for the office of president of the board of trustees for the 2020 2021 school year all those in favor please raise your right hand and say aye aye opposed all right motion passes seven to zero all right now move on to the action items all right item 8.1 consider board approval of naming an executive director for secondary
curriculum and instruction dr gregor thank you madam president uh yes as discussed in closed session bring forward a recommendation to the board for Dr. Sonia Bell.
Madam President, I move that the Board of Trustees names Dr. Sonia Bell as the Executive Director for Secondary Curriculum Instruction as recommended by the Superintendent in closed meeting. Second.
Second.
A motion was made by Ms. Champagne that the Board of Trustees, and seconded by Lance Redmond, that the Board of Trustees names Dr. Bell as the Executive Director of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction as recommended by the superintendent in closed meeting. All those opposed, raise your right hand and say aye. See, second mistake. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye. I opposed. Vote passes seven to zero.
And if I may, Madam President, Dr. Bell's here in the audience today, and I'd like her to stand and be recognized. And Dr. Bell, it looks like you have some guests with you today. If you'd please introduce who you brought with you.
I did. I have a better friend, Dr. Bell. I have a fellow on my team. And you can watch us on the silver page.
Awesome. Thank you.
Item 8.2, consider Board approval of the naming of the former L.D. Robinson Pavilion as recommended by the Naming Advisory Committee. Dr. Gagorski.
Thank you, Madam President. So last month we came forward with a recommendation from the committee to name the former L.D. Robinson and at that time we had presented that name as Martha Aki, ECI Project Tyke. Since that meeting, Martha had reached out to me and asked if we would please include her full name on that building and so I just want to bring that it to the board's attention that we would be bringing forward Martha Lopez Aki ECI project hike and that's the name we bring forward for action tonight
madam president I move that the Board of Trustees names the former LD Robinson pavilion located at 6301 South Stadium Lane Martha Lopez Aki ECI project hike as recommended by the naming advisory committee motion has been made by mr.
Redmond seconded by mr. Keller the Board of Trustees names the former LD Robinson pavilion located at 6301 South Stadium Lane Martha Lopez a key ECI project hike as recommended by the naming advisory committee we will now proceed to vote all those in favor please raise your right hand and say aye Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion passes seven to zero. Move on to the discussion part of our agenda. Item 9.1, discuss and consider future board approval of the naming of the Agricultural Sciences Project Center as recommended by the Naming Advisory Committee. Dr. Gagorski.
Yeah, thank you, Madam President. If I could, I get so excited when we start naming things that I jump ahead and then we recognize Dr. Bell in there. One thing I had forgotten to do that I had here in my notes, I see Dr. Steele's out there, and she is retiring here, and that's whose Dr. Bell is going to fill her big shoes. But I didn't want to forget to mention all the years of service Dr. Steele has been here as a principal and as a central office administrator. And we have great respect for what she has done for this district for many years, appreciate her years of service, and envy her retirement in many ways. But thank you, Dr. Steele. all right so now 9.1 is the naming of the agricultural sciences project center so last month we talked a little bit about this we had talked about putting a committee together to name the project center that the three buildings that are on that property to have names the project center did not so we put a committee together and that committee has come come back with a recommendation to name the project center after Mr. Gary Voss. And let me tell you a little bit about Gary. Mr. Voss began his teaching career with Katy ISD in 1981. He taught at both Taylor and Maid Creek High Schools before spending his remaining 20 years as an agricultural sciences teacher at Katy High School, instrumental part of the continued success of the FFA chapters in Katy ISD. He instilled the importance of responsibility, determination, leadership, and accountability in all of his students, spent countless weekends shuttling students around on buses to conventions and contests, laid the foundation that has contributed to making KDISD one of the premier FFA programs in the state. Under his leadership, the district saw state wins among their leadership and career development teams and numerous champions in the show ring. After 25 years of service to KDISD, Mr. Voss retired from teaching in 2006. He and his wife Angela continue to support the students of KDISD agricultural sciences programs. Mr. Voss received his bachelor of science degree in 1973 from Sam Houston State University, master's of vocational education from Sam Houston in 1978. So I'm proud to bring forward that recommendation to the board, open for discussion at this time. And you know, our regular process as we go through this, that we will have a future meeting, a public meeting, and then bring it back for final action in the future, should that name hold up through all the process so that is what we bring forward tonight or do you have any questions or comments okay
we'll move on to 9.2 discuss and consider future board approval of the nomination of a kd independent school district board member to the texas association of schools school boards otherwise known as tasby board of directors for region 4 position e
oh i'm so sorry are you breathing are you still reading I have three. Thanks, Mark. Okay.
The TASB Board of Directors Region 4, Position E seat held by a KDISD Board member will be available for nominations in December. The TASB Board of Directors is charged with carrying out directives established by the delegates at the delegate assembly. The individual director is expected to attend four board meetings, with one of the meetings being at the same time as the annual TASA TASB convention. In addition, the director will be asked to serve on a standing committee that will meet as needed in conjunction with board meetings the director should be capable experienced school board member who can assist in providing the association with outstanding leadership board members will receive a nomination packet from the secretary for board services as soon as they become available from TAS be the last week of November or first week of December board members interested in this position will need to complete the necessary forms and return them to the secretary for board services by December 10th 2020 all right so we'll move on to the discussion action portion of our agenda 10.1 discuss and consider board approval of the september 2020 financial reports miss fighting madam president um so so can i just
have a timeline you're going to be sending out the nomination forms mrs ross will send the
nomination packet um that you'll would fill out if you're interested in the position and it's due by
december 10th she just doesn't have it from tasby yet okay and so then the the vote will happen in
December yes ma'am okay good evening president van dr. Gabor scheme board item 10.1 is to consider approval of the district September 2020 financial reports we have our standard for reports the first is our financial statements which is in two parts which represents our revenues and expenditures for the budgeted funds our general fund our food service fund and our debt service fund Expenditures are further broken down by function and high level object for our first month of operations, which is September. Being our first month, this represents just over 8% of our way through the year. You're going to see that most of those percentages are falling right along 8% or just below it. There are a few that are a little higher, and that would mainly be our yearly subscriptions that hit for most of our software. So that shows as a higher percentage. You'll also notice we have a small negative revenue showing in our debt service fund in our local revenue. We normally see a larger volume of tax refunds based on protests and lawsuits that occur during the summer months. This past summer with COVID, a lot of those hearings were being done online and that slowed the process down. So we're seeing some of those refunds hit in September and October. In November, we'll start to see our statements will go out and we'll start to see that revenue pick up again. The second report is the construction report, which presents costs through September for our 2017-2014 authorization, our construction-related E-rate funding, and our TERS report. The tax report summarizes our property tax revenues, and it does reflect those refunds that I spoke of just previously. And the last report is our check register, which indicates our vendor payments made in the month of September. So those are our financial reports for the month of September.
Board members, do we have any questions?
Madam President, Ms. Gassoff. I move that the Board of Trustees approve the September 2020 financial reports. Second.
The motion was made by Ms. Gassoff, seconded by Mr. Redman, that the Board of Trustees approve the September 2020 financial reports. We will now proceed to vote. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Item 10.2, discuss and consider Board approval of the November 2020 budget amendments. Ms. Butterfield.
Thank you, President Vann, Trustees, Dr. Grigorski. We have tonight a general operating fund local revenue increase of $278,000, along with equal and offsetting expenditures due to event security and dual credit teacher play. Additional expenditures are amended by $348,000 to cover various timing amendments related to delay in shipments due to COVID, and the remainder of the general operating fund expenditure amendments are direct offsets between different functions. Approval of these amendments will result in a $348,301 decrease to the general operating fund fund balance.
Do we have any questions? I'll entertain a motion.
Madam President.
Mr. Redmond.
I move that the Board of Trustees approves the district's November 2020 budget amendments.
Second. Second. A motion was made by Mr. Redman, a second by Ms. Gassoff. The board approves the District November 2020 budget amendments. We will now proceed to vote. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. Motion passes 7-0.
You're up for the next one. Go ahead. Okay. Thank you. Tonight I'm speaking on behalf of the District Investment Officers as we touch the space and meet this compliance obligation. Chris and Ann Feitinger and myself are all investment officers for the district, and we bring you tonight the Public Funds Investment Act requirements and our CDA local and legal policies. We have four objectives to accomplish in this report that will keep us in compliance with those requirements. The first is for the board to review the investment strategies by fund type. Second, to approve brokers. Third, to approve investment pools. And fourth, to approve investment training resources. Although CDA Legal describes all of the Public Fund Investment Act authorized investments, CDA local refines that list for ourselves for KDISD to include US government bills notes and bonds as well as agency bonds CDs commercial paper repurchase agreement no load investments and investment pools Our quarterly reports meet all CDA policy requirements Our first objective is the longest to explain primarily our CDA local policy and strategies by fund types are all very similar, although they are articulated separately. They are consistent with prudent, non-speculative investments focused on safety, preservation of principle, and liquidity. We have four fund types. Of course, the general operating fund, special revenue and agency funds are lumped together, and debt service funds and capital projects funds. All four of these have a three-year not to exceed stated maturity. However, all must plan for sufficient liquidity to meet cash flows and for the general operating fund, that cash flow requirement is expanded for a 24-month horizon. No changes are recommended this year with this report for investment strategies. The rest of the report is fairly straightforward. You'll see our list of investment brokers, brokers authorized to engage in transactions with the district. Brokers have been provided copies of KDISD's CDA legal and local policies, and their FINRA CDR reports have been pulled and reviewed to ensure that there are no outstanding issues with each of these brokers. We still have four investment pools authorized by investment policy, and we have a lengthy list of providers of Public Fund Investment Act training. These are sufficient to meet the need of our required eight hours every two years of investment training. That keeps us current in the market and with the current law. So that's it. This has met the requirement for PFIA and for CDA legal and local for the board's review of our policies and strategies. of Chiefs.
Board members, are there any questions? I will entertain a motion. Madam President,
I move that the Board of Trustees approve the District's investment policies and strategies.
Ms. Gessoff made a motion, seconded by Mr. Keller, that the Board of Trustees approve the District's investment policies and strategies. We will now proceed to vote. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you very much mrs butterfield item 10.4 discuss and consider board approval of the annual course editions for the 2021-2022 school year dr steele good evening board president van
board members and dr gregorski i'm here this evening to present new courses for the 2021-2022 school year each year the division of teaching and and learning facilitates the process of course review, including soliciting input from central and campus staff regarding course additions and deletions for the following year. As requested received, the division assesses the content of the course, availability of the curriculum, highly qualified staff, student interest, alignment to the TEKS, and relevance to the district's strategic plan. Last year, we can, like last year, we continue to take into account the state expectations on the development of programs of study for career and technology education. Based on this review, the administration recommends the addition of ten new courses. Three secondary CNI electives, three special education electives, and four CTE courses that will round out programs of study. The first two courses included in the secondary CNI list are social studies electives that students can take during their last two years in high school. Mexican American Studies and African American Studies. The third course is an advanced academic math course titled Elements of Data Science Gap, which can be accessed by students after they complete statistics. There are three courses listed in Board Docs for Special Education. The first two courses I will highlight are Making Connections I and II. These courses will provide time for Autism Support Intervention Program students to work on transition, communication, and social skills development. The third special education course is titled Student to Industry Connection and is a special ed career and technology course and is meant to give special education students opportunities opportunities to demonstrate skills in their chosen pathway of study. Four Career and Technology Education courses are being added to increase the number of courses and the programs of study and are titled in Board Docs. This is the second year we conducted a public review of all of the courses submitted for consideration. Principals are in agreement that these ten new courses should move forward and be added to the course catalog for 2021-2022 and be happy to respond to any questions that you may have at
this time thank you so much madam president i have a few questions dr steele first of all
congratulations oh thank you very happy for you when how many years 37 years in education
and 16 here in Katy wow that's amazing thank you for all those years of service thank you So I have a couple questions. One, how do we solicit feedback from the students? You said it's kind of based on student interest. Do we do a survey? How do we collect that information?
The folks that collect all of this information are the teachers and the staff at high schools. They're the ones in junior highs. They're the ones that ask if we need any more courses, and they're the ones that look from from the kinds of questions that counselors are getting, the kinds of courses maybe that they hear about from students that are already at college going, I really miss, that's one of the reasons why we've got the new math elective that we're pushing forward, is because there's a gap right there and students are seeing that when they leave for college. So that's really the way that we solicit. And it's also to our curriculum staff here at the administration building. We're always in tune to looking at what is out there for college to make sure that we're meeting the demands of students when
they go they're successful and is there a connection then to the to our community partners as well kind of you know to industry and what they're seeing
absolutely because we work very closely with Houston Community College who is currently our dual credit partner and we are also working a lot with the University of Houston Katie campus now that's on 99 and with all of those partnerships I am on some of those boards currently where we talk to economic development and a lot of the other partners that they have so that we are continually listening through industry what are the courses and the workforce that is needed for the for our particular local area and then that is why we continue to work and you keep seeing new courses added in the area of
career and technology and I just want to say I'm thrilled to see African American and Mexican American studies, you know, to celebrate the rich history and the diversity of the great state of Texas. And super excited because I'm a nerd to see the data science. I'm really interested to dig in and see what the curriculum is because most of the data scientists that I know are PhDs. So it'd be really interesting to see how we bring that down to the level of high school and get kids excited about it. So thank you very much for your explanations. Thank you. I can
also tell you that the data science course is going to be piloted at Tompkins High School next next year we had a teacher that brought that forward and he's extremely excited about getting that course moving forward and getting a class of students and that kind of thing none of our courses come to life if we don't have students that want to take them so the teachers do a really good job of making sure our courses are full especially these new ones it's hard to keep up because ten
years ago who knew what a data scientist was two years ago who knew what one was
thank you very much absolutely board members we have anyone else yes matter I have a few questions. Thank you very much for your presentation. And I again also like Ms. Gasloff really jealous that you get to hire. But anyway, that's awesome. I want to know about the automated mode of basics because aren't we currently already teaching something like that at the Miller Career Center? Because I know that they do tire changes and things like that. and how is this different from what they're already okay we are this is
going to be a one credit course that we are going to pair with the course that we currently have so that we've so that we will have together automatic basics will be paired with the two credit course that we have currently called automotive technology one which is maintenance and light repair so that it
will round out a program of study okay and also the principles of hospitality hospitality and tourism, I think that is awesome because a lot of kids really, I mean, that sounds fun, but there's so many real life situations over at the Miller Career Center. You know, you really have the auto shop, you really have the little place for the pets and you have, you know, is there going to be some kind of simulation for the hospitality Italian tourism like a mock, I don't know, hotel front counter or something like that that would be...
Okay, well I hear what you're saying. I can tell you that this particular one credit course is also going to be taken. The one thing, the courses that I brought forward with CTE, when I say they're rounding out a program of study, it means that there are going to be at least three courses in that program of study because currently we may only have two and sometimes only one and for it to be complete we need to have three and so the four that we brought forward are going to help with that this is another one of those this one is going to be concurrently taken with culinary arts one okay and hospitality services one so that it also rounds out a program of study and over the course of the next few years you're going to see that same thing happening as we grow those programs of study which were brand new from TEA last year. So we're going to be working on that for a few more years.
Okay. And then my last question about this is, I used to know this number sort of, but there has to be so many kids who'd want to take a class for the class to be able to be made. Isn't that correct? Yes, ma'am. And so will necessarily these courses, especially the first few, will be offered at all of the campuses? Or like you said, one of them is just going to be offered at Tompkins?
No, so that's an interesting point. So all of the CTE courses that I've talked about today are more than most all of them. Isn't it, Dr. Martin, all of them are going to be taught at Miller Career? Am I right when I say that?
Yes.
Yes. Okay, so most of them are going to be there. So it's going to be, it'll affect students spending a little bit more time there. Okay, and learning more in depth about those particular industries when they're there at that particular place. But yes, the other courses that I talked about, they don't make unless there's the right number of students. And that just depends sometimes on the school of where they are, and the number of kids, you know, there's got to be a good number. And sometimes we cheat a little bit because it's the first year, those kinds of things, but it really just depends on the quality of staff that they have. If they've got someone that can teach it, you know, all of those. It's a lot of different parameters that go into place before we can just offer it as well. But we give students lots of choice.
Do you have any other questions? Okay. There's no more. I would entertain a motion.
madam president i move i move that the board of trustees approves the course additions for the 2021-2022 school year second
a motion was made by miss gassoff a second by mr redmond that the board of trustees approves the course additions for the 2021-2022 school year we'll now proceed to vote all those in favor please raise your right hand and say aye aye motion passes seven to zero thank you so much thank you dr steele and congratulations on your upcoming retirement Item 10.5, discuss and consider approval of the minutes of the October 2020 Board Meeting. Madam President. Ms. Gassoff.
I move that the Board of Trustees approves the minutes of the Board Meeting held in October 2020.
Okay. Is that you, Dawn? A motion was made by Ms. Gassoff, a second by Ms. Champagne, that the Board of Trustees approves the minutes of the Board Meeting held in October 2020. 20. now we'll now proceed to vote all those in favor please raise your right hand and say aye motion passes seven to zero agenda item 11 um donated items to katee independent school district and mr graham you have something to add uh yes ma'am uh trustees we normally
breeze right through this item but i think that there's something very important there to bring to your attention. Normally we have items that vary in price on there. You'll see some are $10, less than $10, some are up to $8,000, routine things from booster clubs, etc. We have something in there that's unique, and I promised the foundation I'd bring it up to you. Alex Bregman, I don't know if you know him. He's a pretty famous baseball player here in Houston. He has what's called the Bregman Foundation. They actually reached out to us, to four of our campuses, McRoberts, Leonard, Griffin, and Stevens, and through their autism awareness program donated iPads and some money on those iPads to download autism awareness programs. The total value of those donations which you'll see in front of you is almost $20,000. So given the Given the price on it, I felt like it was worth mentioning to this group here today, sort of a one-off thing. We're very appreciative of that involvement, and I know those campuses are happy to get those resources.
Thank you very much. We'll now move on to agenda item number 12, future meetings. The regular board meeting will be held in this room Monday, December 14, 2020. That's all. That's all we have. That was a quick meeting. The Board will now convene and close meeting as authorized under the section 551.001 of the Texas Government Code for the following purposes. Texas Government Code 551.071, 551.129, and 551.074. It's necessary at this time for everyone to please clear the room as the Board will convene and close meeting in this room. The Board will now reconvene in open meeting. Today is Wednesday, November 18, 2020, and the time is 8.36 p.m. The Board heard a Level 3 DGBA grievance, DGBA 20-004, pursuant to Katy Independent School District policy DGBA legal and DGBA local regarding employee Tarek Middleton in closed meeting. In accordance with Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, any action regarding this matter must be taken in an open meeting. I want to inform everyone in the room that Greg Schulte, Leah Wilson, and Duke Keller are abstaining from voting, as noted during the hearing conducted during tonight's closed meeting. Do I have a motion on the Level 3 DGBA grievance?
Madam President.
Mr. Redmond.
I move that the Board of Trustees denies the Level 3 DGBA grievance in DGBA 20-004, thereby upholding the decision of the Level 1 and Level 2 hearing officer.
I have a second. Mr. Redman made a motion, seconded by Ms. Gessoff, that the Level 3 DGBA grievance in DGBA 20-004 is denied, thereby upholding the decision of the Level 1 and Level 2 hearing officers. There being no further business before the board, this meeting is adjourned and the time is 8.37 p.m. I'm so sorry. I have done this before. I'm obviously very rusty. Sorry. Thank you. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. Motion passes 4-0. There being no further business before the board, this meeting is adjourned. The time is 8.37 p.m.
Official documents
About the underlying data (7 notes)
- The transcript on this page was produced automatically by speech recognition. No person has checked it against the recording. It is a way to find a passage, not a quotation.
- Speakers are unresolved where a turn reads Unknown speaker: 86 of the 124 turns on this page. The transcript separates one voice from another but does not name them, and no name is assigned to a turn without evidence.
- The speaker turn timeline is not continuous. There are intervals with no attributed turn, so a gap between two turns is not evidence that nothing was said.
- The district’s video index for this meeting carries no timestamps, so the recording is presented here as a single section rather than divided into agenda items.
- The district publishes this recording as 20 separate files rather than one. The player on this page plays the first file; the later parts are on the district’s own player, linked above. Transcript times run continuously across the whole recording, so a time past the end of the first file will not play here.
- The recording is played here from the district’s own stream. The archive does not hold or serve a copy of the video.
- No speaker on this page is named. The automated attribution available for this recording was derived from names spoken aloud in the transcript, and a surname inside a turn is not evidence of who is speaking. Every speaker is therefore left unresolved.
Motions and votes
Recorded actions
MOTION 001 · AGENDA 8.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees names Dr. Sanee Bell as the executive director for secondary curriculum and instruction as recommended by the superintendent in Closed Meeting.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| duke-keller | Yes |
| greg-schulte | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| leah-wilson | Yes |
| susan-gesoff | Yes |
MOTION 002 · AGENDA 8.2
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees names the former L.D. Robinson Pavilion located at 6301 S. Stadium Ln. Martha Lopez Aki ECI Project TYKE as recommended by the Naming Advisory Committee.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| duke-keller | Yes |
| greg-schulte | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| leah-wilson | Yes |
| susan-gesoff | Yes |
MOTION 003 · AGENDA 10.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's September 2020 financial statements.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| duke-keller | Yes |
| greg-schulte | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| leah-wilson | Yes |
| susan-gesoff | Yes |
MOTION 004 · AGENDA 10.2
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's November 2020 budget amendments.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| duke-keller | Yes |
| greg-schulte | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| leah-wilson | Yes |
| susan-gesoff | Yes |
MOTION 005 · AGENDA 10.3
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's investment policies and strategies.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| duke-keller | Yes |
| greg-schulte | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| leah-wilson | Yes |
| susan-gesoff | Yes |
MOTION 006 · AGENDA 10.4
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the course additions for the 2021-2022 school year.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| duke-keller | Yes |
| greg-schulte | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| leah-wilson | Yes |
| susan-gesoff | Yes |
MOTION 007 · AGENDA 10.5
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the minutes of the Board meeting held in October 2020.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| duke-keller | Yes |
| greg-schulte | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| leah-wilson | Yes |
| susan-gesoff | Yes |
MOTION 008 · AGENDA 14.1
PassedThe Board of Trustees denied the Level Three DGBA grievance in DGBA 20-004, thereby upholding the decision of the Level One and Level Two Hearing Officer.
4 Yes · 0 No · 3 Abstain
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| duke-keller | Abstain |
| greg-schulte | Abstain |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| leah-wilson | Abstain |
| susan-gesoff | Yes |