Good evening everyone. Noting that a quorum is present, I hereby call this special meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District to order. Today is Thursday, February 24, 2022 and the time is 5 p.m. Dr. Kogorski, will you verify that we are in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act with regard to notice for this meeting?
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Mr. Schulte, I do confirm we're in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meeting Act for our meeting this evening.
Thank you. No speakers have signed up to speak in advance for public comment. As such, the Board will now reconvene in closed meeting as authorized under Section 551-001 of the Texas Government Code for the following purposes. Texas Government Code 551-071 and 551-129. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. The board will now reconvene in open meeting. Today is Thursday, February 24th, 2022, and the time is 535 p.m. On behalf of my colleagues, I welcome everyone to the Seething Special Board Meeting. The board has just reconvened from closed meeting in accordance with Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code. Any action arising from discussions in a closed meeting must be taken in open meeting. We'll now proceed to agenda item 5.1, I'm sorry, 4.1, action item, consider board approval to release the information received from special counsel. Trustees, I will now entertain a motion for this item.
Mr. President?
Yes.
I move the board of trustees approves the release of certain designated information received from special counsel.
Second. We have a motion by Mrs. Vann, a second by Mr. Redman. Are there any questions? We will now proceed to vote. All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
Motion passes 7-0. We'll now move on to agenda item 5.1, discuss and consider information received from special counsel. Council. Trustees will move now to discussion on this item. Before I open this up for your comments and questions, I would like to share some information with the Board. I have a statement that I'm going to read. I would like to provide context to the public on the KDISD Board of Trustees investigation summer report that the Board of Trustees just authorized to release to the public. The district has been involved in several lawsuits with the same plaintiff commencing in 2020. These lawsuits have been filed in state, federal, and criminal courts. All of these lawsuits are not closed and some are or likely will be under appeal. Many of the state and federal lawsuits have been dismissed without a trial. And in the case of the criminal complaint, the district attorney issued a no bill or will not prosecute. The dismissal of these lawsuits before trial is clear indication that in the eyes of the courts, the district's position is strong. Current and previous trustees have been privy to confidential written and verbal updates regarding all reference litigation, starting with the filing of the first lawsuit in 2020. District and outside counsel representing the district advise trustees before legal updates that the legal updates being provided are confidential, protected under attorney-client privilege, content should not be shared or discussed, and that no communication of any kind should occur between trustees and the plaintiff or the plaintiff's representatives. In addition, trustees are continuously reminded that any communication does occur on pending litigation with the plaintiff or plaintiff's representatives to immediately notify the superintendent, the board president, district council, and or outside legal counsel representing the district. Once lawsuits are filed, all correspondence should occur through the appropriate legal representative of each side. In November of 2021, it was brought to my attention that during the discovery process and one of the multiple pending lawsuits, evidence was provided to the district by the plaintiff's legal team that showed communication was occurring between one or more of the current trustees and the plaintiff's representatives regarding pending litigation. IN MY ROLE AS BOARD PRESIDENT, I WAS CONSULTED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT, THE DISTRICT'S COUNCIL, AND OUTSIDE COUNCIL REPRESENTING THE DISTRICT IN THESE LAWSUITS HOW I WANTED TO PROCEED. AT THIS TIME, IT WAS UNCLEAR TO ME WHICH TRUSTEES MAY BE HAVING THE INAPPROPRIATE COMMUNICATION, THE EXTENT OF THE COMMUNICATION, WHAT POLICIES OR LAWS MAY HAVE BEEN BREACHED, AND WHAT IMPACT THE DISTRICT MIGHT BE. I'm a no anybody that knows me I'm a no sudden news type of guy so the first thing I did is I advise the district that I wanted to better understand the data provided in the discovery process determine if a compelling case existed to preserve for the review and understand what options were available to me and then select the best course forward so the first thing I did was pause my second action was to request that the district secure outside counsel reporting directly and only to me representing the board and the board's interest I requested that the board council review the discovery materials and provide me a written screening level assessment of their findings I wanted to know which trustees were referenced in the discovery material how significant the breach was what policies laws may have been violated what the qualitative assessment was on impact to the district and what board council recommended to me as the best path forward to protect the district's position I was hopeful that the screen level assessment would conclude there was no significant infractions that all trustees would be cleared of any wrongdoing and we could conclude this event with some minor discussions and clarifications unfortunately that was not was what was concluded in the screening level report the screening level report provided to me by board counsel provided enough enough compelling data that I determined it would be inappropriate and not in the best interest of the district for me to do nothing and the decision forward was not solely up to me to make as such I brought the findings of the screening level report to the board for discussion and possible action the screening level report was provided to all trustees and a closed session conducted at the regular board meeting concluded conducted on the 17th of November 2021 along with my recommendation to the board that we approve a more detailed investigation of all trustees by outside legal counsel reporting directly to the board The investigation recommendation was limited only to trustees and trustee actions regarding pending litigation District personnel were not referenced in the discovery material So the district representatives were not the subject of the investigation nor were they interviewed as part of the investigation? The Board returned to open meeting on 17th November 2021 and approved proceeding with an independent investigation of all trustees by special counsel by a majority vote of the Board. At this time, sufficient review of the discovery evidence had been performed by the Board counsel and it was concluded that the Board Vice President had not acted inappropriately. Up until this time, all the communication with the legal counsel had been directly with me. me. Once it was clear that the Board Vice President had not acted inappropriately, the Board Vice President started supporting me as we navigated through the remainder of the investigation process. As the investigation commenced, trustees were reminded of their obligation to retain all communication, and trustees were requested to provide any and all communication between the Trustee and the plaintiff's team related to the pending litigation. Interviews were conducted with all trustees in December of 2021. The request for interviews and the materials related to the lawsuit was met with general cooperation. Several trustees produced correspondence with the plaintiff's representatives, most of which were already in possession of the district. Some material that was known to exist was not provided. A summary report of the findings was drafted by board counsel and provided to all trustees at a special meeting held on February 3rd, 2022. The February 3rd special meeting was dedicated solely to the review of the summary investigation report. No action was taken by the board at the February 3rd special meeting. The conclusions of the investigation were that one or more trustees in varying degrees violated the board code of ethics, violated board operating procedures, misled board officers and district personnel, did not provide all required communication after numerous requests to do so, did not follow legal guidance to have no communication with plaintiff's representatives on pending litigation, and or inappropriate handling of confidential and legal information. Safety nets were in place to ensure this behavior did not occur. And regretfully, because of choices made by trustees sworn to act in the best interest of the district, that these safety nets were disregarded, putting the district, district employees, and potentially even those trustees at risk. The impacts to the district from these actions cannot be quantitatively determined because the extent of verbal communication between trustees and the plaintiff's representatives cannot be assessed. And litigation is still pending. We cannot quantify how this inappropriate communication might be used against the district in future lawsuits or appeals. Actions for the board to consider based on the findings in the summer report were provided. These alternatives range from additional training to full reorganization of the board. In accordance with board policy for adding agenda items for consideration in an open meeting, the following items have been placed on the agenda for consideration tonight. night in the spirit of transparency with the public and accountability of the board the board just approved the motion to release the summer report to the public we will be reorganizing the board all positions in accordance with the board council recommendations and to officially document and close the result of this investigation publicly censor of identified trustees will be considered and if approved those censor agreements will be read in public board operating procedures have been updated and provided to trustees for review with the target to adopt the revised operating procedures at the upcoming 28th February meeting on Monday. We will conduct additional board training on handling of confidential information, code of ethics, and fundamentals of school board litigation. I remain steadfastly behind the board's approval of this investigation and the actions being proposed tonight. I take no There is no satisfaction in this conclusion. And I believe the format of the meeting tonight and the subsequent actions being considered is the right thing to do. The identified infractions are serious and necessitate an appropriate response. As trustees, we must do better. I can assure the public there was no predetermined outcome, no individuals were singled out, and this investigation was completed with transparency, fairness, and respect to everyone. The infractions uncovered from this report were based solely on choices made by the trustees involved. I understand that despite my best intents, some may believe I mishandled the situation. I would like to continue serving as board president, and I have some really impactful things I am committed to accomplish in my remaining time on this board. And if the board feels it's best to make a leadership change, I fully support and accept that outcome. This was my intention around opening up all board leadership positions for consideration tonight. I encourage trustees who have lost faith in my leadership to please voice your concern during the board reorganization agenda item. Thank you. I will now open up to other board members if they have questions or comments.
Mr. President? Yes. Over the past few months, I've heard board members justify many actions. Over the past 36 hours, I've been threatened, called names, if we move forward on tonight. but even with all those things in place that have happened so find no joy in in tonight with having like a like a parent disciplining a child you take no joy in that that pain in your child but you hope that they have a change in attitude in action better for the family or in our case the organization. When I first read the text messages, the data, I had a lot of emotions, angry, sad, disappointed. I remember thinking the first time I read, man, if I was an employee, I'd be terminated immediately. I would not have any recourse to, Texas Workforce Commission would would not award me any unemployment, I probably would be sued. The company would win. As we went throughout more information, I saw that the process, I had the thought that if this was me, I would have humbly, regretfully resigned. I know that if we failed to take action tonight and we handled this internally, internally, which we're not doing, it would have been hypocritical, dishonest, the way that we've called for ourselves the standard we hold ourselves to for transparency. This has been a distraction for the board, keeping us for the past four months from what we're called to be doing to provide the best education possible for our children. But don't be deceived by the lies on social media. This could have stopped really at any time. We've talked about that. Most people don't know. We followed the process in Matthew 18. Go as an individual, as a small group. Bring it in front of the large group. This wasn't ran through quickly like you shared. We've shown charity to individuals. We've operated according to policy, according to law. Every chance, I remember you said, we always would take the high road. Anytime there was opportunity, even if we felt like it would make a worse case. if we were building the case. We continually looked for a way out. So tonight, not to sound preachy, we have to finish this. As a community, as a board, it needs to be over. Eisenhower said, the supreme quality of leadership is unquestionable integrity. Without it, no real success is possible. And KDIC is destined for continued success. We have to pursue truth. truth, as a board we have to operate with unquestionable integrity. Anyone who desires to serve on this board should operate with that. Our kids deserve better, our teachers deserve better, our staff deserves better. The people sitting behind this dais, while not perfect, should operate with excellence. And so I believe our actions tonight should back up that statement. Despite the threats that if we do the right thing, won't be reelected. tonight I'll vote with clear conscience knowing that we make decisions based on principles of truth and justice that we take action tonight to let ourselves know to let the community know that we were not going to cover up bad decisions we're not going to cover up actions we want to bring it in front and shine light on it so I think we should end it tonight thank you any other comments
from other trustees yes I have two pages of what I'm gonna write a writing that I want to say but I'm gonna edit it down because I think Thank You mr. Redmond that was very eloquent clearly which we'll find with this report being released that code of ethics were not followed there was not just a breach but breaches of confidentiality and laws and ethical standards were definitely violated the actions to which will come to light have threatened the careers and reputations of many well respected and valued leaders administrators and respected athletic director in this district and in this state basically there's been a mockery made of everything KDISD stands for threatening the district that I'm a product of that mr. Keller is a product of mr. Redmond's a product of um that my husband's a product of and all of our children are products of i value kdisd and i love this town and community and it's upsetting to me and should be to all that these actions have occurred um the lies and the um the trust that's been broken will become evident um And I applaud Mr. Schulte. He has given more hours serving as president, handling this investigation, working with the outside counsel, in-house counsel, superintendent, Mr. Redman, and all of us. It's been very transparent, like you said, and I appreciate that. The only last thing I have to add is someone recently shared this quote with the board. Wisdom is knowing the right path that integrity is taking it and I hope that the path becomes clear to not one of us but all seven of us and the team of eight going forward once this investigation is released. I think there's probably more that's might come after this whether it's comments or as mr. Redmond mentioned threats and out you know accusations I have spent half of my daughter's life serving on this board there are things we've all missed things we've all given up things we choose to do for this district instead of our family and when a breach is done such as this and And it really hits home. So that's all I have to say.
Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Vann. Any other comments?
Mr. President? Yes. And I have a lot I'd want to say tonight, but I'm not going to repeat what's been said. said. We are we're the conduit to the community. We weren't voted to be here by the district. We were voted by the taxpayers and the parents and the other individuals in this community that rely on us. And one of the things I always hear is transparency. And I agree with that. It's not easy sitting up here. It's it's easy for people to type on Facebook or social media and attack you but it is not not easy to sit up here and it's a job we all take very seriously all board members were investigated all board members all board members were interviewed the board chose to investigate itself by independent counsel that was insulated from everybody but the board this is not fun i take no pride in what we're doing tonight night. Even if we have our disagreements, no one wants to see anybody suffer any punishment. But I didn't put this in motion. It would be wrong to hide this. This is not what the community would expect of us. The community should expect us to investigate ourselves. If there's a concern, I've received threats to do. It will not sway me. I will do what's right character, honor, integrity. Mr Schulte, I've watched you beat yourself up through this whole process. As an attorney, I can tell you I'm incredibly impressed with the way you handled this and you did it the right way. And I don't want to hear you beat yourself up anymore about it. You've done a good job.
Thanks, Duke. Any other questions? Comments? Dr. Gagorski, do you have any comments or insight you would like to share on behalf of the district?
Appreciate that opportunity, Mr. Schulte. I do have some prepared remarks, and I too am looking forward to getting some closure tonight on some of the things that have been impacting our team of eight as we try to move this district forward. So I'm going to read a prepared statement that I've had for tonight. Although the district had tried to resolve ongoing dispute with one of our KDISD families, the district has been unsuccessful. This conflict of which I speak has been going on for almost three years, and it would be impossible for me to summarize in just a few minutes the seriousness of the issues that have brought us here today. The Board of Trustees is the governing body for Katy Independent School District, and our board finds themselves in a difficult position. and I would argue that the situation is above difficult perhaps better described as a moral imperative the district has been in ongoing legal action because our district stood firm on a moral imperative this legal battle began because the district said it is never appropriate and we will not tolerate students using racial slurs harassing and threatening other students with violence. The district has done nothing wrong. This is further evidenced by multiple wins in the court system. To be more specific, the district has prevailed in three state courts in two counties, one federal court, and lastly a criminal grand jury. But the legal challenges are far from over. The investigation into board behavior has revealed that for well over a year one trustee has engaged in ongoing communication with a family that is suing the district. This ongoing communication has harmed our district. Throughout the litigation, it's been proven that the plaintiffs have been dishonest on many occasions. Plaintiffs not only sued the district, but also sued people in their individual capacity. One trustee stood beside the plaintiffs, concealed her involvement from the Board of Trustees. The investigation not only exposed a pattern of dishonesty, but also revealed the trustee engaged in ongoing communication because she believed this would improve her chances of being reelected. The Texas Association of School Boards, or TASB, describes the relationship of the Board of Trustees and the Superintendent as the team of eight. TASB further challenges the team of eight to work under the guidance of a social contract. TASB social contract can be summed up in one key sentence, and that is building a foundation of trust on which a team can work as a cohesive, united, aligned group with a shared moral imperative makes anything possible. I would argue that equally opposite of this statement would be if the district does not have a team that trusts and has a shared moral imperative, the team cannot provide effective governance and leadership. leadership. The social contract communicates accountability, transparency, and shared leadership. For me, my moral imperative rests in those words, to ensure I do best I can for our students and our employees to protect this district from harm. But this situation goes beyond the harm of the district. As the superintendent, a certain level of stress and pressure is expected. But there were good people who were brought before the grand jury based on a foundation of lies. They didn't deserve the stress and the heartache they experienced. The plaintiffs not only went after district leadership but wanted to put good people such as Dr. Rick Hall and Debbie Decker, Coach Gary Joseph in jail. Had the plaintiff succeeded in his deceptive tactics, people's lives and reputations would have been ruined. To have a trusted member of our team of eight openly deceiving all of us for well over a year for personal benefit is beyond the scope of rebuilding trust. Forgiveness and trust may be equally important, but not equally achieved. This is the challenge before our team of eight to rebuild that trust. When wrongdoing is discovered, as it's been in this case, it becomes a moral imperative for the Board of Trustees. The burden to uncover the truth and protect the district has fallen heavily upon President Schulte. I have the utmost respect for not only his leadership, but his integrity. He has managed this crisis by following an old saying wisdom is knowing the right path to take but integrity is taking it lastly I believe the framework for school governance is at stake the synergy of the team of eight as well as the future of our district I would be gravely concerned if anyone minimizes what has transpired and does not fully appreciate the gravity of the situation I respect our Board of Trustees who have chosen to be fully transparent and honest about the situation for which the board finds themselves and I look forward to rebuilding the trust that is necessary to move this district forward thank you
thank you we will now move on to agenda item 5.2 discuss and consider resolution regarding trustee I'm sorry trustee conduct and performance board members are there any questions if not I will entertain a motion for this item
Mr. President. Yes. I move the Board of Trustees approves a resolution regarding Trustee Champaign's conduct and performance. Second. We have a motion by Mrs. Vann, a second
by Mr. Redmond. We will now proceed to vote. All those in favor raise your right hand and say aye. motion carries 5 2 I'm sorry I'm sorry did I get the vote wrong I'm sorry 6 1 thank you I was I was looking okay I'm sorry thank you I appreciate the help okay in the interest of time we're gonna have mr elsa how you say it i used to call him slater but uh elsa who's with underwood law firm who actually uh completed the uh the investigation read the censure agreement that's going to be
read into the minutes the resolution of the kd independent school district board of trustees censoring trustee don champaign for actions contrary to board policy and the board's adopted adopted code of ethics. Paragraph one, whereas Don Champagne was elected to the KDISD Board of Trustees in May 2018 and Trustee Champagne was re-elected to the board in May 2021. Two, whereas Trustee Champagne took an oath to faithfully execute the duties of the office of the school board trustee for KDISD and his trustee owes a duty to comply with law, KDISD Board Policy and the Board Code of Ethics. 3. Whereas KDISD Board Policy BFF Local sets forth the Board's Code of Ethics which includes the following commitments regarding Board Member conduct. A. I will make no personal promise or take private action that may compromise my performance or my responsibilities. B. I will tell the truth. C. I will base my decisions on fact rather than supposition, opinion, or public favor. D, I will refuse to surrender judgment to any individual or group at the expense of the district as a whole. E, I will consistently uphold all applicable laws, rules, policies, and governance procedures. F, I will not disclose information that is confidential by law or that will needlessly harm the district if disclosed. Four, whereas the board has established operating procedures to ensure the board operates as a cohesive team to accomplish the district's vision, mission, and goals, and the operating procedures include the following. A, if employees, parents, students, or other members of the public bring concerns or complaints to an individual board member, he or she shall refer them to the superintendent. B, all information provided and opinions shared in closed meeting shall remain confidential unless otherwise agreed upon by the board. Noncompliance may result in private and or public censure. 5. Whereas, KDISD is a named defendant in a series of lawsuits filed by a former student Bronson McClellan with the first suit filed on November 12th, 2020. Six, whereas KDISD trustees have received numerous confidential communications from KDISD's general counsel and litigation counsel related to the pending litigation. Seven, whereas KDISD's general counsel cautioned trustees on multiple occasions about communicating with Bronson McClellan or his family members about the pending litigation. 8. Whereas, during the period from November 20th to October 2021, Trustee Champaign engaged in regular private communications with Colburn-McClelland regarding the pending litigation that Trustee Champaign did not share with the rest of the Board, the Superintendent, the District's General Counsel, nor the District's Outside Litigation Counsel at the time the communications occurred. 9. Whereas, Colburn-McClelland regularly initiated contact with Trustee Champaign directly before and or after KDISD board meetings. 10. Whereas on December 15, 2020, Trustee Champaign communicated to Colburn McClellan that a specific topic was not discussed during an executive session of the KDISD Board of Trustees. 11. Whereas on December 16, 2020, Trustee Champaign made inquiries to KDISD Superintendent about the pending litigation at the request of Colburn McClellan without acknowledging McClellan was the source of the inquiry. 12. Whereas a board meeting on May 17, 2021, or I'm sorry, I'll begin again. Paragraph 12. Whereas following a board meeting on May 17, 2021, Board President Greg Schulte asked Trustee Champagne if she was communicating with Colburn McClellan and Champagne denied any contact with McClellan. 13. Whereas Trustee Champagne failed to notify KDISD's General Counsel or Litigation Counsel after she received a subpoena to appear for a deposition on October 26, 2021, to provide testimony about the pending litigation. And Trustee Champagne never informed counsel, the superintendent, nor the board that she intended to appear for the deposition and did appear at the supposed time at the office of the plaintiff's counsel without legal representation. Fourteen, whereas on October 22, 2021, KDISD's general counsel requested all trustees provide copies of any documents or correspondence received from the McClellan's related to the pending litigation and Trustee champagne failed to disclose any communications in response to the request 15 whereas after it was discovered through written discovery in the pending litigation that trustee champagne had received numerous communications from Colvin McClellan Including multiple texts and email communications champagne was not able to produce the email communications which is a violation of a trustee's obligation to maintain communication related to district business that is received by a trustee at a personal account or on a personal device, unless the trustee has already forwarded the communication to the district's public information officer. 16. Whereas Trustee Dawn Champaign has conducted herself in a manner contrary to board policy and board ethics as follows. A. She failed to disclose communications to and from Colburn McClellan related to the pending litigation and on multiple occasions she misrepresented her contact with Colburn McClellan. B, she shared information about whether a topic was discussed in executive session and who was present in the executive session. C, her action omissions related to communications with Colburn McClellan jeopardizes the district's ability to effectively manage its position related to the pending litigation. 17, whereas the board has determined that a trustee's cooperation and or failure to share knowledge of the McClellan's family's efforts to influence trustees undermines the district's ability to act in the best interest of KDISD. Eighteen, whereas the board has determined that a trustee's disclosure of any information the trustee receives that is protected by attorney-client privilege undermines the interests of the district and jeopardizes the effectiveness or the effective and efficient operations of the district. And nineteen, whereas the board has determined that a trustee's ability to speak freely in closed session without concern such comments will be disclosed publicly as essential to effective collaboration and deliberation, and the inability to rely upon the confidentiality of the Board's executive sessions jeopardizes the successful operation of the district and the effective operation of the Board. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District that Section 1, the above recitals are found and determined to be true and correct and are incorporated into the body of this resolution as if copied verbatim. Section 2. The Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District does hereby censure Dawn Champagne, Trustee, and hereby condemns her conduct in the strongest terms. Section 3. It is hereby officially found and determined that the meeting at which this resolution was considered was open to the public and public notice of the time, place, and purpose of the meeting was given and posted. All is required by Chapter 551, Texas Government Code. It is so ordered, passed and approved by the Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District, Katy, Texas, on this 24th day of February 2022.
Members, are there any other motions for this item?
Mr. President, I'd like to say something about this. To the community, this is a continued effort to diminish my community engagement and prevent me from understanding issues from your perspective. They want to restrict my interactions so that I operate within their narrative. What you're hearing tonight is their effort to silence you and me. They do not want me to converse with people who disagree with them. They can take away my titles, but they can never take away my advocacy for this community and what is best for children. This report omits much of what I said during my interrogation and is full of circumstantial evidence. Most importantly, I never divulged any confidential information and I never spoke to the plaintiff, Bronson McClellan, or met with him. After the preliminary report which was received on 2-3-22, I replied to the independent counsel with 11 omissions and corrections of which they only corrected two. These are omissions and rebuttals that I have here and I will make them available to you upon your request president Schulte how much did this investigation cost I don't have that number okay so we at one time you told me you thought it would be twenty to thirty thousand dollars so let's say it's thirty thousand do you know how many administrative hours were spent and how does this translate into dollars in the hours spent by the admin and i know you spent hundreds of hours on this this investigation has found that there was no crime committed we have spent i would guess at least thirty thousand dollars and over four months on this investigation that is half of the school year this is appalling since we have such important issues to deal with such as closing the achievement gap and learning losses due to covin the Board of Trustees has no resources yet it voted 5 to 2 to spend your money to investigate one of its own it's your money the Texas Education Agency should be the ones to do the investigation of trustees wrongdoing and if it's criminal then the DA should have been contacted we should not have used taxpayers money and district resources to start this political witch hunt. There is no need for any of these actions which wasted money and time. Reorganization is already in the power of the board. It is in our policy. The report that it is to be voted on reveals no new relevant evidence besides what the district already had. I have survived many struggles including an accident that nearly claimed my life and left me permanently disabled. That near-death experience was a blessing to me. It taught me to never give up and I will never give up. I am strong and determined and I will remain strong for you. My desire is to serve the students, teachers, staff, parents, and this community and I will continue to fight for each and every one of you.
Board members, are there any other motions for this item?
Mr. President, what motion did we vote on?
What's that?
Didn't we vote 6-1 on something?
What was that? That was the motion for Mrs. Champagne. I was asking if there's any other motions on this item. Does everybody understand the question? Yeah? No other motions? Okay, we'll now move on to agenda item 5.3, discuss and consider board reorganization. Trustees, we will now move to 5.3 to discuss and consider reorganization of the board.
Mr. President?
Yes.
Was there a second censure to be read into the record?
That's what the, I was asking if there was a motion to do that.
Oh, it's right. Oh, well, we're confused.
Okay. Okay. Yeah, so we can go back.
I move that the Board of Trustees approves a resolution regarding Trustee Wilson's conduct and performance.
That's a motion. Do I have a second? Second. Second. We have a motion by Mr. Champagne, a second by Mrs. Fox. We'll now proceed to vote. All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed? The motion carries 7-0. Mr. Elsa, would you please read the censure agreement for Ms. Wilson?
A resolution of the Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District censoring Leah Wilson for her actions which are contrary to the Texas Education Code, Board Code of Ethics, and Board Policy. Paragraph 1, whereas Leah Wilson was elected to the Katy ISD Board of Trustees in November 2022, 2. Whereas Trustee Wilson took an oath to faithfully execute the duties of the office of a school board trustee for KDISD and, as a trustee owes a duty to comply with law, KDISD board policy and the board code of ethics. 3. Whereas KDISD board policy BFF local sets forth the board's code of ethics, which includes the following commitments regarding board member conduct. conduct. A. I will make no personal promise or take private action that may compromise my performance or my responsibilities. B. I will tell the truth. C. I will consistently uphold all applicable laws, rules, policies, and governance procedures. 4. Whereas the Board has established operating procedures to ensure the Board operates as a cohesive team to accomplish the District's vision, mission, and goals. The operating procedures include the following. following. If employees, parents, students, or other members of the public bring concerns or complaints to an individual board member, he or she shall refer them to the superintendent. 5. Whereas, KDISD is a named defendant in multiple lawsuits filed by a former student, Bronson McClelland, and his family. Whereas, KDISD's General Counsel cautioned trustees on multiple occasions about communicating with Bronson McClelland or his family members about the pending litigation. 7. Whereas, after being elected to the board, Trustee Wilson had conversations with Colburn McClellan, father of the plaintiff in the pending litigation, and received emails and texts from McClellan related to the issues giving rise to the pending litigation. 8. Whereas, Trustee Wilson did not share the correspondence received from Colburn McClellan with the rest of the board, the the superintendent, the district's general counsel, nor the district's outside litigation counsel at the time the communication was received. 9. Whereas, on October 22, 2021, KDISD's general counsel requested all trustees provide copies of any documents or correspondence received from the McClellans related to the pending litigation, and Trustee Wilson did not promptly disclose communications in response to the request. request. 10. Whereas Trustee Wilson later informed KDISD's General Counsel she received communications from Colburn McClellan and produced multiple emails, but she was not able to produce all electronic communications she received because she deleted messages from her personal device in March 2021 when she ceased all communications with McClellan, which is a violation of a trustee's obligation to maintain a communication related to district business that is received by a trustee at a personal account or on a personal device unless the trustee has already forwarded the communication to the district's public information officer. Eleven, whereas the board has determined that a trustee's cooperation and or failure to share knowledge of the McClellan family's efforts to influence trustees undermines the district's ability to act in the best interest of KDISD. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the board of trustees of the KD Independent School District that section 1 the above recitals are found and determined to be true and correct and are incorporated into the body of this resolution as if copied verbatim section 2 the Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District does hereby censure Leah Wilson trustee and hereby condemns her conduct in the strongest terms section 3 it is hereby officially found and determined that the meeting at which this resolution was considered was open to the public and and public notice of the time, place, and purpose of the meeting was given and posted. All is required by Chapter 551, Texas Government Code. It is so ordered. Passed and approved by the Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District, Katy, Texas, on this 24th day of February 2022.
Thank you. Trustees, we will now move to Item 5.3, Discuss and Consider the Reorganization of the Board Officers. Nominations are now opened for the position of Board President. Mr. President?
Yes. I nominate you, Greg Schulte, for the position of President.
Second. The nomination was made by Mr. Redman to elect Greg Schulte as President. Are there any other nominations?
Nominations.
The chair will now entertain a motion to close nominations. We have a motion by Mr. Keller, second by Mr. Redmond. All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. The motion carries six to one to close nominations. What? That was a closed nomination.
Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I meant to say yes.
Nominees shall be voted on in the order on which they were nominated. A nomination was made by Mr. Redman that the board elect Greg Schulte for the office of president of the board of trustees for the 2021-2022 school year. All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. Opposed?
No.
No. The nomination is approved by a six to one vote. Nominations are now open for the position of Vice President.
Mr. President?
Yes.
I nominate Lance Redmond for the position of Vice President.
Second. The nomination was made by Mrs. Vann to elect Lance Redmond as Vice President. Are there any other nominations?
Mr. President?
Yes.
I move the Board close nominations for the Office of Vice President.
Thank you.
Second. Second.
I have a motion by Mrs.
Question. Yes. Mr. Redmond currently holds this position, correct?
That's correct.
Thank you. Yes.
We have a motion by Mrs. Vann, a second by Mr. Keller. All those in favor? Again, we're voting on closing the nominations. All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. Motion carries 7-0. Nominees. Okay, I'm sorry. We're there. there. We are now open nominations for the position of secretary. I'm sorry, we didn't vote. I'm sorry. I thought I missed that. Thank you. So we just did the closing, right? Thank you. Okay. A nomination was made by Mrs. Vann that the board elect Lance Redmond for the office of vice president of the board of trustees for the 2021-2022 school year. All those in favor, Raise your right hand and say aye. Aye. The motion carries 7-0. Nominations are now open for the position of secretary. Mr. President? Yes. I nominate Duke Keller for position of secretary. Nomination was made by Mrs. Vann to elect Duke Keller as secretary. Are there any other nominations? Mr. President? Yes. I have a question. Yes. Yes.
Mr. Keller is a current candidate for an election that's ongoing at this time, is that correct? That's correct. Thank you.
Mr. President? Yes. I move that the board close nominations for office of secretary. Second.
We have a motion by Mr. Redman and a second by Mrs. Vann to close nominations. All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
6-1?
No?
All those in favor? I can't see everybody raising their hand. 5-2 to close? Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. Thank you. Okay. So 5-2. Thank you. Nominees?
Okay.
5-1, one abstain. Thank you. I'm sorry.
My apologies, as I'll be abstaining from voting for Secretary or TASB, as I have also been in my censure.
Okay, so let's re-vote again on the Secretary. All those in favor of Mr. Keller for Board Secretary, raise your out hand and say aye.
Four.
All those opposed? There's one. All those who abstain, two. So 4-1 and 2. Okay. Thank you. This concludes the election of board officers. We will now move on to the next agenda item. The next agenda item for Action 5.4 is consider Katy Independent School District's representation on the Texas Association of School Boards, Directors for Position 4E. Nominations are now open for the position of TASB Board of Directors, Region 4E.
Mr. President? Yes. I nominate you, Greg Schulte, for the TASB Board of Directors.
The nomination was made by Mr. Redman to elect Greg Schulte to the TASB Board of Directors. Are there any other nominations? The Chair will now entertain a motion to close nominations.
Mr. President, I move the board close nominations for the TASB Board of Directors position for Region 4E.
Second. We have a motion by Mrs. Vann, second by Mr. Redmond. Those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye. One, two, three, four, five, six. Are you voting? No, I was voting. Okay, the same. That's what I thought. That was just a close. Okay, that was a close. Thank you. 7-0. Okay. Okay. Nominees shall be voted on the order in which they were nominated. A nomination was made by Mr. Redman that the board elect Greg Schulte to the TASP Board of Directors for the 2021-2022 school year. All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye. One, two, three, four, five. All those opposed. All those that abstain.
I'm sorry, I put on post. Okay.
So 5-4, one opposed and one abstain. Okay, thank you. There being no further business before the board, this meeting is... I'm sorry, yes?
I have comments before we leave. My remarks will not sound like many of the other trustees here because I'm not here to pass judgment on a trustee because that is the duty of the people who we work for. I trust the community to get the information, read it, and make the decisions about what you believe about the people that you put here to represent you. My comments are, in November, we were asked to hire an independent law firm to do a lengthy and costly investigation. I voted no. The information presented to the Board during closed session on that night during the screening level report was enough to take the very actions that we're taking tonight. Four months later, we're here and this process has been a diversion from what we're supposed to do, take care of children. None of what we've learned from the lengthy report improves the lives of children. The district would be wise to take the many wins from the courtroom which they deserved in the legal manner, move on, and get back to the business of our students and staff. The board was scheduled for a strategic planning meeting to talk about our goals for the next two years. I was so excited, looking forward to planning for the next two years for our district, our student learning, and greater success. It was canceled because of this ongoing issue. We have many immediate challenges to address. We have student learning loss due to COVID. Staff shortages. Teacher burnout. Literacy concerns. mental health for our students and our staff, overcrowded schools and continued growth. And our focus has been on this issue primarily. People move here because of the excellent reputation of Katy ISD. Around the state we're respected and looked up to. This proceeding does not honor our reputation, and I believe hurts it. We have important challenges to discuss and make plans for improvements. It would behoove this relatively young board to focus all of its attention on student success and how we can continue the legacy this wonderful community has worked so hard to build and maintain.
Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Fox. There being no further business before the board, this meeting is... Mr. President. I'm sorry. Excuse me. Yes.
I mean, I would like to point out part of the reason this process did drag on was because people were not able to go on the dates that we said. The strategic meeting was pushed back because we wanted to get this over with before we focused on something as important as setting the direction for the next five, three years.
It's been canceled.
That was that was we pushed it back a month so that we could deal with this Work through it and then give the focus that was needed to a strategic design our take mr. Redmond has the floor So just just for clarification. Those were those are very natural reasons to move forward so that we can put our focus back on the kids Thank you, thank you
Mr. President?
Yes.
And also to respond to the expense of the lawsuit, which, yes, it was unfortunate, and I agree with Ms. Champagne's comment of what that $30,000 would be salaries of almost two paraprofessionals. But we wouldn't have had to have had this investigation if the code of ethics and misbehavior hadn't occurred by two board members. first of all. To put the blame back on the board or administration or this district that we spent money on this investigation, our code of ethics was violated. There was breaches of confidentiality that was put out there to help somebody who's attacking our school district and our administrators and our superintendent and principal and athletic director. I do believe Ms. Champagne's heart is in the right place but i also believe that she made choices that she felt would benefit her personally in doing this and ultimately yes this investigation has caused the district money that we could easily put someplace else and i would hope we could put someplace else but there is accountability we have two board members who who breach our code of ethics and our board operating policies and if we have a team of eight, as Dr. Gorski said in his words, can't monitor our conduct and how we lead this district, then we shouldn't be serving.
Thank you, Mrs. Vann. Any other comments before we close? President Schulte. Yes.
I feel like I've slipped into the twilight zone, respectfully. For the board members to be blamed for this is absolutely astounding to me. and illustrates why we had to go through the process we were just forced to go through. I respect everyone's right to say their piece, but this was not a railroading, this was not a witch hunt, and we could not have made a decision the first night we were given a few pieces of paper back in the boardroom. I think it was fair to go through this process because none of us wanted to jump to the conclusion that ultimately, unfortunately, we were led to. And I think it was only fair to go through that process. And again, we didn't elect to go through this process.
Mr. President.
Yes.
We had a great deal of information the first night that we, the screening process. We had text messages. We had communication. We had lots of discussion about what went on. and we could have made these decisions based on that information. I don't believe that the report gives us any significant information more than what we already had. We could have made these same decisions based on that, and that's my point. And while I... Other board members sitting at this table? No, I'm finished.
And I'm going to humbly disagree with you, Ms. Fox, because we were shown a smidge of what we ultimately were shown on the meeting earlier this month in the entire release of the information provided to the district. We weren't shown the personal attacks on former board members and sitting board members. We weren't shown the, we got to get this person on our side to fight for this and fight for that. there was planning of trying to sway votes and ask questions and get answers that helped the plaintiff bothers the father of the plaintiff in the case and which ultimately would have been a backlash on this district on dr. Gorski on leadership at Katy high school and yeah I mean there was there was more that we needed to see that ultimately let us sitting here in front of y'all tonight with all the faces we see out in the audience and I disagree we were shown a lot more information we were shown the whole report that I know were personal attacks on many of us not just our team of eight but other people other
administrators in this district so you believe that $30,000 and four months distraction from students. It was worth it to see that somebody said something negative about a board member. We had enough information, Mrs. Vann, that night to make these decisions. There was ongoing communication. between board members and a family member of a plaintiff. They said plaintiff every time when really it was a family member of a plaintiff. That's reason enough to take the decisions that we took tonight and save the money and time and focus on the children. And that's always been my focus is our children. I don't disagree with the actions. I voted for them tonight. But we had enough information. We learned nothing significantly different from those, from all the time we've spent hiring out-of-town attorneys to help us find some more emails and text messages than what we initially had. And the district was in possession of all of that information, which we could have gotten because they were provided it.
Mr. President, I know that if I had committed these actions, I would want to make sure I had a fair and impartial investigation into it and had the chance to share my side and not make decisions based on simple text messages. I would want a chance to come. If I wanted to bring my attorney to be able to do that, I would want to be able to state my case. And every opportunity we had, we chose to take the high road. And yes, it did go on out of fairness to the board the same way any of us would want to be treated the same opportunity we would want to have to know that if We were to make a mistake if at some point somebody said I just messed up That it could have been it could have been done. We could have put it out there We we continually asked which what's the high road and I believe we did that
Mr. President, could the TEA have done this investigation? I've called them, and they have departments. They have it in the budget to do the investigation.
The board voted to hire, the board voted a majority vote to hire UW to do the investigation.
I understand that, but there was another option that we weren't presented with.
Mr. Schulte? Yes. Mr. Redmond, I'd like to thank you for your words. I haven't said too much this evening, and I don't intend to, but one of the very reasons that I actually voted for this was because I was the one who divulged my private communications and my information personally to the investigative team and have continued to give over my pieces. So I want to thank you for that because I did vote to pursue this investigation knowing that I was one of the people that was responsible. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments?
I'd also like to say to you, Ms. Wilson, thank you for owning up and apologizing and admitting admitting what you did was wrong from the very beginning. It's when you started to turn your information in and come clean. So I just want to thank you very much. You haven't even served two years, and it is like drinking from a water hose or a fire hose. So I appreciate your honesty and apologies.
Thank you. Any other questions, comments? comments. There being no further business before the board, this meeting is adjourned. The time is 638 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.
- No speaker on this recording is identified. The transcript separates one voice from another but does not name them, and every turn therefore reads Unknown speaker.
- 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.
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- The recording is played here from the district’s own stream. The archive does not hold or serve a copy of the video.
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Motions and votes
Recorded actions
MOTION 001 · AGENDA 4.1
PassedIt is moved that the Board of Trustees approves the release of certain designated information received from special counsel.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| duke-keller | Yes |
| greg-schulte | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| leah-wilson | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 002 · AGENDA 5.2
PassedBoard member moves that the Board of Trustees approves a resolution regarding Trustee Champagne's conduct and performance.
6 Yes · 1 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| ashley-vann | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | No |
| duke-keller | Yes |
| greg-schulte | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| leah-wilson | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |