Noting that a quorum is present, I hereby call this regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of Katy Independent School District to order.
Katy ISD · Regular Board Meeting Agenda
Katy ISD Regular Board Meeting, July 31, 2023
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In this meeting
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- 0:06 to 2:50 1. Call to Order
- 2:50 to 5:36 3. Recognitions
- 5:36 to 47:28 4. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
- 47:28 to 47:55 5. Closed Meeting
- 47:55 to 48:45 6. Reconvene from Closed Meeting
- 48:45 to 54:17 7.1 Strategic Design 1.3 Elementary Literacy Update
- 54:17 to 57:21 7.2 Update on Board Counsel
- 57:21 to 1:19:09 8. Consent
- 1:19:09 to 1:19:29 10. Future Meetings
- 1:19:29 to 1:19:54 11. Closed Meeting
- 1:19:54 to 1:21:31 12. Reconvene from Closed Meeting
Full transcript
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1. Call to Order
Today is Monday, July 31, 2023, and the time is 5 p.m.
Dr. Gorski, will you verify that we are in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act with regard to the notice of this meeting?
Mr. President, I do confirm we are in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meeting Act for our meeting tonight.
KDISD Police Officer Frank Munez will lead us in the Pledges of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Do we have any scouts in the audience this evening?
Hey, come on up.
Go ahead and come forward.
Yeah, sorry, sorry.
introduce yourselves and you know what troop you're in and what badges you're working on that
kind of thing yes sir so my name is john taylor marsh and i'm from troop 584 and i'm working on
the communications merit badge okay what rank are you um i'm first class and i'm working on star
right now okay how many badges do you have i think i have around like 15 merit badges and
Wow, that's awesome.
Mr. President, may I say something to this young man?
Because I know him.
Oh, okay.
Go ahead.
Congratulations to you, and your mom contacted me and told me you were going to be here.
So good luck with you on your journey to equal.
Thank you.
Have you done the pioneering badge yet?
I don't think so.
That was my hardest.
But I think I might do it.
later. There's a mayor badge fair on like September 10th. Yeah, you have to practice your knots a lot.
Thanks so much. You're welcome. Congratulations.
3. Recognitions
So the next item of business is recognitions.
Dr. Rogorski. You bet, Mr. President. Next on our agenda, I'd like to introduce
Mr. Craig Eichhorn, Director of Communications for the recognitions
portion of our meeting.
! School Board Trustees, Superintendent Gregorski. Tonight I am
pleased to introduce Ms. Casey Williams, Legislative Director from House District
26, Representative J.C. Jeton's office with a resolution in recognition of the
the class of 2023 valedictorians and salutatorians.
Good evening, President, Superintendent.
Today we're recognizing the valedictorians and salutatorians of KDISD class of 2023.
Earning the title of salutatorians or valedictorians requires not only intellect and aptitude,
but also four years of dedication to the highest academic standards
in securing their places as one of the two top-ranking students in their classes.
It is demonstrated through a thorough understanding of a wide range of subjects,
and their attainment of this coveted distinction is the crowning achievement of a notable high school career.
And resolved that the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas Legislature
hereby congratulate those valedictorians and salutatorians on graduating their class of 2023
and extend sincere best wishes for continued success as they begin their next exciting
chapter of their lives that's all i have well thank you thank you for joining us
i think we made a picture
4. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
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 board policy.
Speakers who signed up by 2 p.m. on Monday, July 31, 2023,
provided their first and last name and signed in 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting
will be allowed to address the board.
The public participation section includes two categories.
Category 1 is for speakers signed up to speak on posted agenda items.
And Category 2 is for speakers signed up to speak on non-posted agenda items.
Speakers who signed up to speak on posted agenda items will be allowed three minutes
to speak.
For speakers who signed up to speak on non-posted agenda items, 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 a speaker is not finished speaking at the end of the three minutes, the audio will turn
off.
And in that vein, I just want to mention something.
The Board shall not tolerate disruption of the meeting by members of the audience.
If after at least one warning from the presiding officer, any person continues to disrupt the
meeting by his or her words or actions, the presiding officer or his or her designee may
request assistance from law enforcement officials to have the person removed from the meeting.
If speakers wish to share written material with the Board, please provide 10 copies to
the Secretary for Board Services before the meeting begins 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, F&G local, DGBA local, CKE local,
or GF local. Our speakers will be called forward in the order they signed up to speak.
And so the first speaker from the agenda items is J.R. Richardson, and the second person
after that will be Lynette Allidon.
Welcome.
Lynette Allidon, Superintendent, Board members, officers.
I came to talk about the bond.
I was against the bond because I didn't have any kids.
Then I married a principal and now I have 3,800 kids.
So now the bond all of a sudden becomes important to me because at the end of the day it's about
their safety.
Now if you look at the bond, and I hope you have a list of it, Prop A, B, C, D all spell
safety for the kids.
Not for the parents, for the kids.
When you go to work, you're fine.
But you're always worried about your kids when you go there.
However, with these bonds, we can make sure that happens.
By building fences around the schools, more security.
Let's talk about the notebooks.
I heard someone last week talk about one-to-one and it's 36-month lease.
KDISD can control the notebook better than you can control your kids' phones.
phones. So anything they see on that notebook, it won't be anything outside of KDISD school
information. Now we're going online with classes, training, homework. If they don't have a notebook,
KDISD is not going to let you use your own notebook because yours is not secure. So we
have ways of taking care of that and taking care of that cyber safety. I'm 38. I'm doing
doing good. Prop C, swimming pool. Nothing worse than having a leaking pool. I have a
pool and it leaked and it caused a lot of damage. And it's the damage that you say after
the fact that if I would have done this up front, this problem wouldn't have arraigned.
So think about once again the kids' safety. Okay? Finally, roads. Boy, that's a thorn
in it but it's still ours like it I love it it's still ours and we need to take
care of it we need to expand the restrooms so everyone has a chance to
use it it's long lines when they expand the concession stands when they expand
the handicap areas so everyone can come to the game and see their child nephew
nephew, uncle, be a coach, but overall it's for the safety of the kids. Thank you.
Thank you.
Lynette Alidon, and the next speaker is Alyssa Edelman.
Good evening, Dr. Gagorski and the Board of Trustees. I'm Lynette Alidon, a retired KDISD
librarian. As you prepare to vote on the revised book selection policy EFB
tonight, I kindly request you to take the following points into careful
consideration. It was mentioned at last week's meeting that the revision of EFB
was conducted by three board members, Mr. Perez, Ms. Calhoun, and Ms. Cuzela. The
issue lies in the fact that these individuals share similar viewpoints on
books, leading to concerns about a potential bias in the policies
development process. This situation raises questions about the fairness of
representation and may create the perception of an unbalanced approach.
Dr. Gagorski mentioned at last week's meeting that the district shouldn't need to re-review
books due to Texas House Bill 900 as book vendors will be required to submit ratings
to the Texas Education Agency.
However, a recent lawsuit implicates KDISD for taking action based on the law before
its initial implementation in September by withholding the current book orders in a warehouse.
house. It's crucial to acknowledge our school district's negative reputation
for book batting procedures. As a concerned citizen, I firmly believe that
implementing changes is vital to improve the situation and foster a more inclusive
and open approach to book selection and availability within our schools. Let's
strive for positive and progressive changes in our policies. Regarding the
policy reconsideration process, I'd like to highlight that the informal
formal reconsideration procedure hasn't been consistently followed.
A president was set back in November 2017 when a parent read an excerpt from The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
during a school board meeting instead of addressing concerns directly with the librarian and principal at their child's school,
as outlined in EFB.
This incident has led to others following suit, expressing their dislike for books such as New Kid by Jerry Craft
and Looking for Alaska by John Green through petitions and voicing opinions to district personnel
instead of following the policies guidelines. As a result, it's
essential for the current school board to adhere to EFB by not allowing such
grievances during open forum meetings and enforcing the policy, ensuring that
parents follow the appropriate channels for reconsideration. The last statement
on page 10 of the revised version is concerning. It allows any two board
members to request the review and potentially remove library materials.
It's important to remember that the role of board members is not to impose censorship
based on individual opinions.
You should not become antagonists like those in Fahrenheit 451 or engage in actions reminiscent
of historical instances of Nazi Germany.
Instead, our focus should be fostering an environment of intellectual freedom and encouraging
open-mindedness among students.
Let's ensure that our policies align with these principles.
Please take my concerns into account during tonight's vote. Thank you.
Thank you. Actually, the next speaker is Patty Lacy.
Patty Lacy is the next speaker.
Hi guys. I'm here also to talk about the bond again. I spoke about it last week.
I do want to tell you full respect though to Victor Perez is that I don't
expect you guys to rubber stamp things. I really don't. My husband was on the board
and I understand how this works. Again, I do at least expect quite a bit of respect
for the people that worked on the bond committee as well as the admin and the other people
with the degrees for putting these bonds together and what they were asking for. So when it
comes to Rhodes Stadium, I don't know if y'all have been there before or recently. That's
our big expensive date night as we go to football games on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays
in Katy ISD and we root for everybody pretty much. But anyway and so that definitely needs
some work at Rhodes Stadium. If you haven't been there please go there and check it out.
The stadium is used more than close to about a hundred times I believe last year last school
year so it is definitely used quite a bit. It is part of the city of Katy so when they are doing
these improvements I promise you the city of Katy is going to watch really closely to make sure
everything is safe for all the different things that Mr. Richardson talked about.
In addition to football players, we also have, basically it's like an outdoor classroom for
the LAMS program, which is the audio-visual people that work out there through Miller Career. Also,
of course, dance competition, KYF, band competitions where they use both stadiums,
soccer, football, etc. So I just ask that in addition to the work that's being done at Rhodes
on this Proposition D is Seven Lakes High School, Morton Ranch High School,
Taylor High School, Tompkins High School. So it's not just one stadium that they
are working on. They're working on a lot of different things and I do ask also
that you guys please, it seems like a lot of text that I was getting last week is
that it seems like a lot of it is y'all versus them and I don't think that's
what you guys want. So hopefully you guys can come together and gel and do what's
best for our students, for our teachers, and for our administration. Thank you so
much thank you the next speaker is uh martha aki and after that is hong zhang jin
welcome
mr perez and school board members my name is martha aki as a long-time kdisd employee i had
the privilege of serving the special education community for 42 years and as the eci project
type program director for 32 of those years eci serves the youngest consumers of our district
infants and toddlers with developmental delays and their families i was an employee and a consumer of
the district dedicated to being a part of the change and the exceptional model of the district
Both my children are educated through KISD, graduated, and are outstanding practitioners of their chosen profession, which is education and career military.
I would like to speak on behalf of the expansion of the Behavioral Learning Center and KD Plus program.
The Individual with Disabilities Act idea aims to provide a framework for ensuring that children from birth through 21 with disabilities to have access to an appropriate education that meets their unique needs and supports their academic and developmental progress, helping them each reach their full potential and participate fully in their community.
The KDplus program would provide the following as per idea.
Transition planning, vocational training, life skills instruction, social-emotional support, as well as opportunities to engage with the local community.
community. So as we move into the future of KDISD, now is the time to harness, coach,
mentor, and train this untapped potential not only for our district but for our community.
KDISD has had a long and exemplary commitment to our constituents whose life situations
are impacted by various developmental challenges. This is without a doubt a visionary and practical
extension of what KDISD has already accomplished for the sake of the
citizens of our community who require special education enhancements. The
expansion of the Behavioral Learning Center in the KD Plus program before the
board and the community creates a new and visionary opportunity for our special
education consumers. Your yes vote today determines the outcome for tomorrow's
ECI student to be exemplary citizens and contributors to our community. As for me and my house,
it is my hope that we will serve the greater community for the sake of our shared vision.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Hongzhang Yin, and after that, Ann Russey.
Hello Board Members. First I'd like to congratulate Morgan, Amy and Mary
Allen on your successful election to the Board with an overwhelming margin. Your dedication
and passion for education have clearly resonated with our community. I wish you all the best as you
you begin this important journey and look forward to seeing you have the positive impact
that you will undoubtedly make in our schools.
Today I stand here to express my strong objection to the inclusion of the book Looking for Alaska
by John Green in our school libraries.
The book contains sexually explicit content and a reference to alcohol and drug use.
These themes are not appropriate for students and I believe that they have no place in our school libraries.
Additionally, the book has been the subject of controversy and has been banned in many schools across this country.
In fact, it was the fourth most challenged banned book in the United States in the last decade.
I believe that it is our responsibility as a school district to provide students with literature that is appropriate for their age and maturity level.
There are many other books that can provide literary value without exposing students to potentially harmful content.
To keep this book in school library is a form of child sexual abuse and a danger to our children.
Regarding the book review committee here in KTISD, I'm very disappointed on its progress,
imposing inappropriate books from school libraries. This book was challenged by parents
and given to the review committee back in April 2022, and it is still in KTISD library. What kind
of community would review and then approve this book to continue to circulate in our school
libraries. We have a broken system that would allow this sort of material to
enter our libraries to begin with and an even greater issue that our review
committee will allow it to stay. I urge this new board to act swiftly to purge
inappropriate books such as this from our school libraries. Most importantly
those who introduce such books into our school library and those who allow it to
to stay need to be held accountable.
This district's assistant superintendent
on teaching and learning, who personally approved this book,
demonstrated her incompetence for the position
at the highest level and should be fired.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Ann Rossi, and after that, Angie Waller.
Hi, good evening.
My name's Ann Russi, and I'm a mom to two Katy ISD elementary school students.
This week, my six-year-old asked me what to do if she hears gunshots coming from her school while she's outside playing at recess.
These are the questions some second graders are asking their parents.
Yet the majority of this board seems more interested in trying to protect my kids from a book with a picture of a butt than passing a bond that would ensure the district can continue to meet and exceed the demands of unfunded school safety mandates from the state.
You seem to have overhauled an entire library and instructional resource policy without any regard for the master's level experts you employ.
If you talk to most school librarians, they will tell you they make book decisions based on the unique needs of their students.
They are responsible for protecting their students intellectual freedoms. They understand that only a parent,
the parents of a student have the right to restrict what their own child reads.
Their life's work is to expand the minds and experiences of students through varied literacy.
Despite our districts facing real challenges such as a massive teacher shortage days away from the start of school, overcrowded classrooms, discipline disparities, and academic gaps between campuses and demographic groups, and ongoing safety concerns,
one of your top priorities seems to be overhauling the book review and selection policies.
Before you adopt your proposed changes, please consider a few revisions.
First, please reconsider your third and fourth criteria listed for elementary school library inclusion, which would exclude books if they contain non-explicit written descriptions of sexual acts or visual depictions of nudity or implied nudity.
If your goal is to strictly remove pervasively vulgar content and you're not trying to give
yourselves cover to target books with ideas you disagree with, then why are you targeting
non-explicit and implied content? Second, if you're going to grant yourselves the power to
veto a formal review committee's decision or the authority to ban a book, then please at the very
least require everybody up here to read the books in their entirety before you
vote. Staff and parent volunteers who serve on the committees are required to
read challenge books in their entirety. The penal code says the material has to
be considered as a whole when determining if it's harmful or offensive.
Crowdsourcing book lists and reading poorly written half-baked book
reports found on the internet is hardly a substitute for reading the whole book.
in its entirety try to put yourself in the head and heart space of the one
student who may benefit from having access to that book thank you for taking
the time to consider my concerns thank you the next speaker is Angie Waller and
after that Eleanor Stoddard good evening board my name is Angie Waller and I've
I've had three kids that have graduated KDISD, and I've been a parent in KDISD for close to 20 years.
I'm here tonight to ask you to please reconsider granting the board the authority to override any committee decision
regarding the appropriateness of books in our schools.
Nobody should have the power to ban a book just because it doesn't align with their own beliefs.
As pointed out by Ms. Champagne during the last work-study meeting and during the June board meeting,
a book cannot be removed solely because of ideology, which means, Morgan, you cannot remove books just because it has sexual alternative lifestyles,
and you cannot remove pride sections from elementary schools.
Your beliefs do not outweigh student rights, and these students have the right to have books that represent their own families.
just because you don't like it that does not matter you don't have to agree with
that lifestyle but your approval does not determine whether or not a book is
appropriate for students how can we trust you to make the right decisions
when Victor you've already spoken out about books like new kid which contains
no sexual content whatsoever how can we trust you to make the right decision
when it comes to removing books. Please for once do the right thing and leave
the decision up to the review committee that according to the review policy
approved by the board has qualified staff members who are content specialists
and parent representatives of currently enrolled students. These are
qualifications that represent the voice of the students and staff of our great
district. Further these are qualifications that none of you can
claim which has been quite clear as you've already shown little to no
regard to those who you choose to represent who have different viewpoints
other than yourselves thank you thank you thank you Eleanor Stoddard and after
that Jason Asnar good evening I'm here to pretty much echo a lot of what you've
already heard this evening my name is Eleanor Stoddard I'm the parent of two
children, one of whom has graduated from KDISD schools and is currently attending college.
My other is in high school.
I moved here nearly 20 years ago because of the reputation the school district had, and
I've had very positive experiences so far.
However, I do have serious concerns about the direction the board is taking, especially
in regards to the proposed changes to the EFB, dealing with the process of reconsideration
of library materials.
It appears to me that certain members of the board are showing their disregard for the
the judgment of trained professional staff, including teachers and librarians in the schools,
by trying to change the process by which library materials can be challenged by community members.
I have no problems with parents exercising control over the materials their child can
access.
I do have problems with other people stepping in and restricting what my child can access.
We already have a process in place whereby books and materials can be challenged.
It seems to be working for me.
I do take strong exception to the proposal that any two board members can request the
board to review the final decision of a reconsideration committee and can vote to reject the committee's
decision.
This attempt to change the rules and processes to reflect board members' personal agendas
concerns me greatly.
And I urge the board to think carefully before accepting the beginning of a slippery slope.
Thank you.
Chair Greg Musil Thank you.
Chair Greg Musil Jason Asnar and after that, Marcy Sable.
Good evening, my name is Jason as an art or community advocate for educational progress.
Tonight, our district is at a crossroads.
For those in the audience, agenda item 8.7 is the consideration of the board approval
for the 2023 community bond advisor community, also known as CBAC.
In English, it means what the board wants to decide to pass on the vote to pass a vote
for the bond pass on to the voters.
This vote is pretty much the most important thing that we've ever faced before.
The bond has the potential to keep KDISD on the bleeding edge of education.
To disregard this bond is to disregard the future of our students and our children.
It includes key security upgrades, technology refreshes that allow KDISD to stay up to date
with ever-changing TEA standards, and provides upgrades to buildings such as Rhodes Stadium
and the Robert R. Shaw Robotics and STEM Center.
So I ask this board one last time after months and months of asking please pass this bond
Choose the future and tomorrow choose the voters in your constituents and pass this bond. Thank you so much. Thank you
Marcy Sable after that Brian Palmer
Good evening, President Perez, Board members, and Superintendent Dr. Gorgorski.
I'm here to speak to you this evening about the proposed bond projects,
specifically historical data and my personal experiences relevant to these projects,
and I provided you with handouts.
Upon beginning my career in KDISD in 2006 as a diagnostician's clerk,
One of the three campuses to which I was assigned was Nottingham Country Elementary.
While at work there one day, I witnessed a student running down the hall unabashedly and without escort.
I quickly realized that the student was likely not running to his classroom, so I gave chase.
Even in my heyday, I would not have been able to keep up with a fifth grader who was helping on getting out of school.
school. Encountering a custodian with hands in the air and utter disbelief, I grabbed her radio.
Very wisely, another staff member jumped in her car and followed. The student made it out of the
door across the four-lane Kingsland Boulevard and headed home. Perhaps having the benefit of a
closed-in library as an extra obstacle or an extra set of doors at the main vestibule would have
slowed his role. Next, I want to take you to the date of April 17th, 2016, the day of the horrific
Tax Day flood. Area watersheds received 13 to 17 inches of rain in a 12-hour period.
Parts of Katy were decimated. I remember receiving a text message on Sunday evening from my then-boss,
Assistant Superintendent Jeff Stocks. He said, Marcy, I don't think we're going to have school
school tomorrow. We've been at the Merrill Center, which has been opened as a shelter,
working all weekend. Next, let's go to the date of August 17, 2017, that dreadful day when Hurricane
Harvey came roaring through. I remember traveling from my house in Old Katy to my mother's house
next to Rhodes Stadium. Rhodes Stadium became a transit center, aiding in the evacuation of
thousands of people. I've never seen so many Greyhound buses in my whole life.
The entire parking lot was jam-packed full of buses. Undoubtedly people
were utilizing other parts of the stadium, perhaps the restrooms which are
not ADA compliant or the stairs which we have seen in the pictures have come
crumbling concrete. People move here because of the schools and people
continue to move here which is why we need to renovate our aging campuses and
build new schools we should be thankful for the growth because it has brought some wonderful
businesses and institutions to our neighborhood please support the bond package and put it in
front of the community thank you thank you brian palmer is our next speaker
good evening dr gregorski and board my name is brian palmer i wanted to speak today about the
books being kept in the warehouse. The books being read at these meetings are
ones current policy requires guardians to opt into as they are from the young
adult section. The parents also receives an email with the title of the books. The
existing policy took two years and compromised from both sides. The three
recently departed board members all voted to allow 18 year old students on
the book review committee. Now all seven of you would vote would have voted to
to not give your students a voice in the matter,
the people you are actually serving.
Voting yay or nay on library books
is not what you were elected to do.
It's a waste of taxpayers' money
and is not your job as laid out in the new law.
I was raised here, K through 12, in the 90s
with parents of an alternative lifestyle
who worked tirelessly to provide for us.
Morgan, your brother, was in my class.
He was kind to everyone,
so I know your comments were maybe taken the wrong way.
But holding elementary books that depict similar families
or changing the policy to where two board members can call a vote
to veto the review committee's decision is government overreach.
This is borderline do not say gay, which is not possible.
The number of teachers and students you serve
whose families look like mine is in the thousands.
My neighbor spoke about needing partnership
with his nonprofit for sidewalks
surrounding the schools at May Creek a few months ago.
This is what you were elected to do.
Balance the budget and address actual issues our students and teachers face.
It is disappointing to hear you refer to the automotive expansion at Miller
and one-to-one devices as boutique items
when other districts have already expanded their CTE offerings
and they already have one-to-one devices.
Hybrid learning is the future of education.
You can balance the budget, pay the teachers,
and still provide for greater forward-thinking opportunities.
I want to point out that the additional $1,000 in funding per student for new campuses
is a result of a greedy developer lobby.
I would like to see more land set aside for preservation and outdoor education
if we are going to keep building schools on endangered prairie land.
Students today do not have the same access to the outdoor learning center as I did
because of the increased number of students they are serving.
I have been a vocal critic of previous bonds, but I would vote yes for this one, as I believe
it is balanced between old and new campuses.
I know the land opportunities are limited.
It still allows for the discussion of rebuilding the KHS main campus and expanding Miller before
building a high school 11 and the next bond.
I want to talk, this is, so I want to go back to the gay issue.
I want to talk about Fred Mangione, a man who was stabbed to death at a bar in Katy
in 1996 simply for being gay.
This was before Lawrence v. Texas and many of the legal protections my brothers and sisters have today.
I will stand my ground.
Thank you.
Now we call up speakers who sign up to speak on non-posted agenda items.
Each speaker will have three minutes to speak.
And the first speaker is Xinrui Li.
Good evening. My name is Sherry Lee, a mom of a coming eighth grade student in KDISD.
Thanks for giving me this opportunity to speak today. I would like to express my great concerns
on the vulgar books. We moved to the U.S. in 2009. Everything looked unfamiliar and
and a little bit impressive, rich material life,
civilized culture, a lot of freedom,
and the people around me are kind and friendly.
I never thought there is a day I stand here.
However, since the last two years,
I was aware of what had been happening at schools.
Vulgar, explicit books are spread out on school libraries.
That is beyond my understanding and tolerance on why, as an education authority, you advocate
activities in favor of these books.
Some may say that it is okay you overreact, but in my common sense, these workbooks cannot
be encouraged and promoted by schools and education.
That is a bad induction for the younger ones who are exposed to pornography in their early
age when their thought and psychology are still premature.
That may slowly lead some of them down a path of addiction.
Their curiosity and keenness may lead them to pursue for more ways to find pornography online or social media.
Our younger children are vulnerable to various potential threats and temptations.
We need to put safeguards and defense into place to prevent any consequent occurrence.
The earlier the better. We as taxpayers should have the right to ask the librarians to stop buying these unsafe books.
I supported and voted for the brave school board members on behalf of our taxpayers and silent parents.
parents.
To work hard to get these books out, please I beg your support to help them to fulfill
the effort to remove these books.
Don't let our parents feel worried, anxious, and discouraged when our children are going
to school and spend eight hours at school with their daily growth.
Our beloved little ones deserve to possess respectful and...
Thank you. Thanks so much.
And now for, we have Jason Aznar for an encore presentation.
And after that, Hannah Aguilar.
Good evening again. My name is Jason Aznar.
Tonight, I'm here to bring light to security-related problems in KDISD.
I'm not here to accuse, as it is my belief that KDISD genuinely cares about the safety
of its students.
I'm rather here to bring attention and light to certain issues I've noticed as a former
student and now as a mentor for a robotics team in KDISD.
So I'm going to start with kind of an anecdote.
So one flaw I've noticed personally, which was the lack of proper procedure when volunteers
bring in large containers.
And it's kind of specific.
So for context, I visit Acadia's junior high every so often in order to mentor the school's robotics team,
meaning at times I have to bring very large boxes full of things like 3D printers, educational kits, etc., etc.
The major flaw is that these large opaque boxes have never been inspected,
meaning it's not hard to bring in for malicious people to smuggle in weapons or contraband,
as bringing these massive containers, which are about yay big, raises pretty much no concern.
That's kind of a problem.
Additionally, once I'm in with massive containers, there is no on-site staff to guide me to the classroom or area I say I'm going to.
With that being, I can say, hey, I'm going to this classroom. They say, alright, cool, welcome in.
I walk in with these massive boxes, no one watches where I go. If that's not a red flag, I don't know what else should be.
Obviously, I don't believe this is out of malicious or neglect. I think the fact is that there might not be a policy set in place for this.
And the unfortunate reality is this is not a one-off thing. This has happened to me over three times. Every single time I come in, I check in, no one checks my boxes, I walk through, I walk wherever I want. Obviously I go where I need to be, but if I was a malicious person, it's not too hard to, well, you can infer what could happen.
This should raise a lot of red flags in KDISD and within the board and KDISD.
And my goal with this tonight is to bring a positive discussion and hope
that the board and those around me who are in the audience who actually have
the ability to make a change can help instill this positive change in the KDISD
and help our students feel safer when they're in their schools and help
parents feel better at night when they know they're sending their kids to
school and know that they're going to be safe. That's all I have to say. Thank you so
much to the encore and good night thank you actually our next speaker is
Carrie Kathy Carpenter Kathy Carpenter is our next speaker
superintendent Gagorski board president Perez and Katie I see board of trustees
hi my name is Hannah Aguilar and I'm a rising ninth grader at Katie high school
I used to go to West Memorial junior high today I'm going to talk about
one-to-one technology and why I think it's a great idea to implement them into
to schools. One-to-one technology grants students access to a device at home and at school to do
homework and projects online. When I was in eighth grade, they allowed each algebra student to take
home a computer, which was their responsibility to bring back to school each day. We could use
this computer not just for that class, but for all of them. At that time, almost all of our
assignments were becoming digital due to the pandemic that started in early 2020. I was going
into sixth grade when it first started, and fortunately, I was able to acquire a computer
to join virtual school and complete my online assignments.
However, other students during the pandemic weren't as fortunate,
and it detrimentally affected their learning experience.
During the time when algebra students were given the opportunity of one-to-one computers,
I noticed some benefits that came with it.
One being the fact that if you didn't get to finish your assignment in class,
you could always finish it at home or in advisory,
and it would still be considered on time if it was submitted the same day.
Another thing was that I didn't have to worry about losing some paper in my backpack
because all of my work would be efficiently organized in one space known
as my computer. I also think that the computers don't just benefit the
students but also the teachers. In my old school the teachers would have
In my old school the teachers would have to organize themselves by
figuring out which teacher gets to reserve the Chromebook cart each day due
to the limited computers. I remember one time in social days we had
to take a test but we didn't get the Chromebook cart that day so students had
to use iPad to take the test unless you're an algebra student that brought
your Chromebook. I feel like it was a disadvantage for the students who had to
use the iPad because it was a bit lagging and had smaller screens. This wouldn't be a
problem if each student had their own computer that they would use for
education and bring to each subject. One-to-one technology would be a great
addition to schools for both students and teachers by helping with access to
the internet, less stress, better organization, and a proper learning
experience. Thank you for listening. Thank you.
you our last speaker of the evening is Kathy Carpenter leaving I forgot to buy
ink so this is from a teacher Debbie gender is a group of genders in which
one is partially but not fully a given gender. It can also describe those who
feel the barest connections to a gender but not enough to fully identify as that
gender. Demi-gender people may identify as another gender in combination with
with demigender. Demigender can also be an identity in itself for people who feel a partial
connection in the same concept of gender in general. Gender people often identify as non-binary
and may also identify as transgender. Being demigender does not necessarily mean that
one is partially a gender, though it can be. One can be, for example, a demiboy and a demigirl
at the same time, meaning part of one's gender is a boy and a girl. The other part of one's
One's gender can be gender or a combination of genders.
The opposite demigender is hypergender.
What part of that is education?
What part of that did anybody understand?
I'm 62 years old.
What happened to education?
education? Why are parents begging for you to teach their kids how to be confused? I
know y'all go through a lot of trouble up here. I just don't understand why is junk
like this considered education and demanded by parents? Thank you.
Thank you. This concludes the open forum portion of our meeting. The board will now convene
5. Closed Meeting
and closed meeting as authorized under section 551.001 of the Texas Government Code for the
following purposes. Texas Government Code 551.071, 551.074, 551.076, and 551.129.
The Board will now reconvene in open meeting. Today is Monday, July 31, 2023, and the time is
6. Reconvene from Closed Meeting
is 7.58 p.m.
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,
July 28, 2023.
The board will receive information and recommendations from staff, administration, and the superintendent
on these agenda items at tonight's meetings.
Board members will be able to ask questions, receive answers, and should be prepared to
take action.
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 an open meeting.
The first item of business is 7.1, which is strategic design, the 1.3 elementary literacy
7.1 Strategic Design 1.3 Elementary Literacy Update
update, and the presenter is Dr. Christine Caskey, Chief Academic Officer.
Welcome.
Welcome.
Thank you very much.
Good evening, President Rez, Dr. Gorkorski,
and board members.
Dr. Bell is out of town this evening with her family.
I know she's typically the one who provides these updates,
so I'm here to provide you
with our monthly literacy update this evening.
We're currently in phase three
of the implementation timeline,
which is focused on implementing training
and providing ongoing campus support.
Summer training began at the end of May
and concluded just last week.
We had 85 sessions,
which were offered throughout the summer in partnership with our HMH publisher and our instructional partner consultants.
During the annual administrative conference, which was also held last week,
elementary principals, assistant principals, and instructional coaches engaged in professional learning, which was again focused on literacy.
One of the major goals of the learning sessions addressed the importance of understanding the change management
and the impact on shifting to structured literacy practices within our school district.
In addition, campus leadership teams spent time learning about best approaches for collaborative
planning to ensure that classroom instructional practices are aligned to the KEISD literacy
framework.
Quarterly literacy goals, which will be used to measure and monitor progress, were also
reviewed, and progress toward these literacy goals will be shared with the Board throughout
the school year.
During new teacher orientation, which will be held this week, teachers new to the district
and or new to the profession will engage in learning that focuses on the understanding
of the basics of structured literacy and the major components, again, of the KDISD literacy
framework. New teachers will gain an understanding of the literacy instructional essentials,
which are grounded in the science of reading. In addition, teachers will learn about effective
literacy teaching practices that promote and support student engagement.
District training days will also be held later this week. On August the 3rd, kindergarten through
fifth grade literacy teachers will rotate through literacy sessions focused on practical instructional
strategies for implementing structured literacy and the science of reading in classrooms teachers
will take a deeper dive into the assessments which will be used to capture student growth
throughout the school year including how to analyze student data to support classroom instruction
and instructional routines and structures that teachers will use to increase student engagement
and independence will also be an area of focus for our training sessions
I'm here to respond to any questions that you may have.
Any questions?
Mr. President.
Ms. Fox.
Thank you for the update.
I appreciate it very much.
I'm looking forward to how the implementation training goes and all of that.
Do you have all the experts you need to implement efficiently, effectively and-
Yeah, absolutely.
As a matter of fact, I attended part of that training last week where Dr. Bell and her
her team went over the structure and how we are organized and structuring our literacy
support into three different, not quadrants, try what?
There are three.
Clusters.
There you go.
Three clusters.
But Mrs. Muller is also here if we want to delve into what that training looks like.
But we've really aligned that support.
Thea, we're still working with Dr. Woodruff, so she will be out throughout the, will be
back in Katy throughout the year, as well as instruction partners as well, and HMH.
So a lot of the training on those resources comes with the contract.
Okay, great.
It's built in.
This is anecdotal, so I'm not going to have a ton of complete details for you.
But someone was getting trained, oh, you're going to love this.
This is the best thing.
We're so excited about the program.
And then when they had specific questions, they're like, I don't know, but it's really great.
AND HMH TRAINER WILL BE BY THIS AFTERNOON TO TALK TO
YOU ABOUT IT.
AND NO ONE EVER CAME.
OH, LET US KNOW.
OKAY, JUST...
LET THE TEAM KNOW.
OKAY, SO WHO DO I HAVE THEM CALL?
KARA MUELLER.
OKAY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
ABSOLUTELY.
I HAVE A QUESTION.
SO AUGUST 3rd, IS THAT THE FIRST TIME THAT ANY TEACHERS
HAVE HAD TRAINING?
NO, NO, NO, NO.
NEW TEACHERS.
NEW TEACHERS FOR AUGUST 3rd.
OKAY.
You know, teachers have been, we had 85 sessions throughout the summer.
So teachers have been in training all summer.
And I received some feedback about Dr. Brow.
She was doing outstanding, by the way.
Fantastic.
I'll pass that along.
Do you feel like the teachers, particularly the veterans that have been here a while
and were used to a different system, if you will, that they're taking it in, that they're embracing it?
That's when I respond to that.
We had excellent feedback.
Here, come to the mic.
Yep.
They were actually part of the training.
We had excellent feedback.
We take feedback at each and every session.
We do that in every PD that we give, have feedback.
And the feedback has been tremendous on it.
Of course, there are outliers that don't like it.
That's in every training.
But absolutely the majority of the feedback
was extremely positive.
We did an additional type of feedback,
which was an opportunity for them to give questions.
For that, we created a Q&A doc that is live
and everybody has access to.
So if people have questions,
somebody else probably has that same question.
So we make sure that we are attending to that
and that everyone can as training goes on that they can see what other people were asking and
get those responses thank you our next item is a report 7.2 update on board council and the
7.2 Update on Board Counsel
presenter is justin graham general counsel uh trustees uh board president perez uh superintendent
Lieutenant Gorgorski, in KDISD, as in most school districts, purchasing and acquisitions are governed by CH policy, CH legal and CH local.
Within those, when we think about our traditional purchases, such as toilet paper or lights or desk or the chairs that the audience is sitting in,
we have to go through a competitive procurement process, and there are several avenues in which to do that.
However, CH Local also has a caveat that the RFP process, which is, hey, you need to take the lowest bidder or the best value for the district, doesn't apply when you have professional services.
So the Professional Services Procurement Act, as codified in the Texas Government Code Chapter 2254, applies to if you're going to hire attorneys, architects, engineers, surveyors, folks that provide what is defined by law as professional service.
In this instance, we have at the direction of the Board President and in consultation with the Superintendent, the District is going to retain outside counsel to assist in serving as Board counsel is needed.
Again, outside counsel to assist in serving as Board counsel is needed.
We are engaging Jonathan Brush, he's a partner at Rogers Morris Grover LLP, so their law firm.
We retained in that role and making that recommendation, I'm not making the recommendation, I'm just giving you the update to the Board.
And that's again in the professional services procurement act demonstrated competence qualifications
To retain the services so we know that I know Jonathan and his practice in that law firm
Highly respected in the state of Texas in the school of all professions
So just an update to the board on that item happy to take any questions that you may have
Thank you any comments or questions
Mr. Mr. President I
I would just like to say that I just want the public to know that Mr. Brush has talked to all of us individually,
and I just want you all to understand that it's going to be a separate attorney that will be representing the board on board issues
that we will pay for on an as-needed basis.
And so, you know, this isn't for a vote.
I understand that.
but I'm just wanted the people the public to know that now there are two attorneys we still have
Mr. Justin Graham who will be representing the district and the board still but then we will
have our own separate attorney to represent this board as a total entity is that correct thank you
Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you for that.
8. Consent
We will now move on to the consent agenda.
And the consent agenda shall include items that were discussed and considered at the
previous work study board meeting, as well as items of a recurring nature.
And the board shall be furnished with background material for each item.
consent agenda items shall be grouped together under one action item all items shall be acted
upon by one vote without separate discussion unless a board member requests that an item be
withdrawn for individual consideration and this is for be legal be e-local so board members are there
Are there any items that you would like to remove from the consent agenda?
Mr. President, I would like to remove 8.9 to have further discussion on that, please.
Okay.
8.9 to be removed from the consent agenda.
Any other items to be removed from the consent agenda?
I will now entertain a motion on the consent agenda excluding 8.9 mr. president I move the
Board of Trustees approves the consent agenda agenda for items 8.1 through 8.1 for except
for item 8.9 which has been removed from the consent agenda second it is moved and second
that the Board of Trustees approves the consent agenda for 8 through 8 except
for 8.9 which has been removed from the consent agenda. We will not proceed to
vote. Board members please record your vote on the screen via your keypad.
The motion carries 7-0.
We will now go back to 8.9.
Are there any questions, any discussion related to 8.9?
Oh, okay.
So, Mr. President, may I proceed with what I wanted to discuss?
So, I've read the policy that was rewritten by the policy committee.
I don't have a problem with the way that that has been written or rewritten.
Sorry, I don't have a problem with the way that you all have revised that or modified it.
But what my problem is, is that the books that have been retained,
when those books were initially reviewed and purchased, they were following the old policy.
So the old policy was what our guideline was or what the librarian's guidelines were.
so based on that I'm just trying to have a clear understanding as to to why those
books were retained with in regards to the fact that they were already reviewed
on the old policy and in also you know if you follow the old policy there is a
a reconsideration thing.
And so I know that there are some people
who brought about the list of those books.
But rather than going through the reconsideration process
for those particular books,
all of the books were retained.
All of the books were withheld.
And I read part of the EFA,
and I'll just read this.
The oversight for the purchase of all instructional material is vested in the board.
Recommendations for new materials and reorders of existing materials shall be made by district employees as designated by the superintendent.
This employee shall discharge this obligation consistent with the board's adopted selection criteria and procedures.
procedures.
So the, so and note of that, the books that were purchased, as I said before, were being
attained using the old procedures.
And then it goes on to say no challenged materials shall be removed solely because of the ideas
expressed there in Board of Education versus PICO 1982.
So you know, I'm not trying to say that I want to change the policy.
I'm just trying to understand why those books were retained.
Also, the new HB 900 says that we have to have, the vendors will have to review all the books by April of 2024.
So that's seven months from now.
I'm trying to kind of safeguard our our expenditures and if the vendors are going
to pay for that expense of the reviewing of the books I don't understand why our
district employees will have to be paid excess money whatever to use their time
to do this also you know when we use the employees to review to do this extra
work it does take away from the service that I'm hoping that they that's what we
all hope they provide is educational experiences for our children so we still
have the other review process in place right now I'm not I'm not trying to
disregard the work you all done on the new policy but I'm just trying to find
out why they were withheld and why we won't proceed with just using the
vendors review process those two things
so I think we discussed this last last week in terms of the the books that were
were paused to be, that were, the purchases that were paused and that now that this policy
will have been approved that the district is responsible for taking a look, for releasing
those books that were paused in accordance with this policy, in accordance with compliance
with this policy.
Whether that be that the librarians re-look at the purchases or somebody in the district
go through the list, et cetera.
We discussed this last time.
It's not, it's not, it's not,
the board is not in the business of
combing through lists and approving lists.
The board is basically, with this policy,
it's establishing policy in terms of the criteria.
The criteria are based on the law,
which is all that we're citing in this policy is the law.
And those are the criteria.
whether that and that's HB 900 the Texas Education Code and also the Penal Code
and that's that's what this policy establishes and as if the board is also
saying that regardless of that if there are if it books services that is
contains sexually explicit material the board retains the right as long as two
board members bring it up and want to discuss it, the board has a right to review those
books with regard to retaining the books or removing the books or moving them perhaps
to a different level as far as school-wise.
So that's really what this policy accomplishes and it's basically updating the policy for
sexually explicit definition, which was different, somewhat different than before where it was
pervasively vulgar.
Okay, Mr. President, but as I said,
I'm not against the way the policy
was written. That's not
my problem. And there's really nothing for me
to protest against the policy that you've
written. What I am asking
about, because this part isn't in our policy,
is that we have
already withheld the books.
You know, so
as of today, we still have the
old policy. And even in the new policy,
it doesn't say anything about
you know, withholding books.
And also, you know, it doesn't say anything about us taking
advantage of the vendors who will review the books on our
behalf.
So what is your question?
My question is why have we withheld books before the policy
policy was enacted and even in the new policy it doesn't state anything about withholding books
could I make a comment Mr president okay um so um in my mind we withheld the books because with
the under the current policy that we have today they were out of compliance with that policy also
in addition to to what we're also trying to move forward with um if you read the penal code 4321
regarding obscene material.
Some of the books read by parents at that meeting
when we withheld the purchase or asked the books to be withheld,
they were out of compliance with our current policy
in regards to Penal Code 4321 and perhaps others.
There were a few books read,
so it seemed that we were out of compliance.
And also, in addition, the purchase lists were not easily used by the public.
They were not in a searchable format.
That's being addressed already.
So I think that's the simple answer of why they were held.
And we're working.
And we have that.
And in this new policy, under acquisition, the board also does have oversight on what's being purchased.
So under acquisition on the new policy.
Okay.
So I agree with you.
That's in the new policy.
but that wasn't in the policy of the old books.
They're not old, but the new ones that were purchased are being held.
Also, applying the policy that we had or still have in place,
there is a review process.
So those books that the person that emailed us brought about
could have been put into the reconsideration process based on the old.
I'm just trying to understand why we're enforcing, well, it's not even a policy.
Let me add to that a little bit, if you don't mind.
You know, the parents, per the district's policy and our existing policy, previous policy,
any new purchases are placed on the website for 30 days, and parents have an opportunity to review it.
So it came to light with parents reviewing it, speaking to the district, speaking to board members, et cetera,
that it was obvious that some of the books that were being purchased did not comply even with that existing policy.
And so therefore, in discussion, we agreed, we all discussed it, and Dr. Rogorski agreed to pause the purchases.
And based on, we know that HB 900 is coming.
It's law as of September 1.
actually the law is and it's in the Texas Education Code to update the policy for HB 900.
And based on that policy, to take a look at the books that were paused,
release them as quickly as possible,
but make sure that they were still in compliance with the sexually explicit standard.
So if we approve this tonight, what's the next, tomorrow, what's the first step?
Well, the next step, as we discussed last week, is that the district, it's not the board's
role, it's the district's role to apply the policy to all books on the shelf as well as
books being purchased.
So tomorrow all the books will be on the shelves?
No, I didn't say that.
No, I know.
We're going to have to review all the books first, right?
Okay.
Anyone have any other comments?
I do.
Thank you. I made a mistake and that is my fault and I need to, I don't know how you do this parliamentary wise, but I was reading and got distracted and realized that I voted yes on the bond and I didn't mean to. I meant to vote abstain or no. I want to rescind my vote and I don't know how we do that, but I want that done. So whatever that looks like, I want that done. Why can't I?
So, I think we've already had, I hate to jump around here, right, because we're talking
about EFB policy.
So we can note that you've made an error and that you would like to abstain.
I don't think I have a problem with that if the Board itself doesn't have a problem with
that.
You could also make a motion to reconsider the item
which would need a second and a majority vote to then go ahead and reconsider and then
Have another formal vote but as at this time the action has been formally taken and approved by the board now the board always has
the opportunity
At this meeting to do so but unless we have an objection from the presiding officer the other trustees we can note an abstention
in the official minutes
Then I
I motion that we reformally consider whatever you want to do.
I don't care if we have to take another vote or not.
But I have serious objections to this and questions about this bond.
Mr. President, I have no objection to her registering her abstention or no vote and adding that to the minutes.
I don't either.
Which would you prefer, Mrs. Calhoun?
I would prefer another vote.
That's what I would prefer.
No, we will register your vote differently.
That's fine.
Then register my vote differently, and I am happy to explain why.
Abstain or no is the question.
No.
It's no.
And I'm happy to explain why.
But the vote is no for me.
It's okay.
Sure.
My concerns with the bond is not that there are – there's anything necessarily wrong with the entire thing.
That's a point of order.
Because it was consent agenda, there's no discussion on consent agenda items.
Is that correct?
So is this a point of privilege then?
So, again, this is your board meeting.
We can determine how we're going to discuss these items.
My recommendation is that we have EFB local and EFA local in front of us.
Let's go ahead and deal with that.
And then, Ms. Calhoun, if you'd like to say, hey, I'd like to revisit, can I have a point of personal privilege to note your objections to the previous vote?
I can think we could do so after we handle these library books.
Okay.
Sounds good.
Let's go ahead and I'll entertain a motion with regard to 8.9.
I have a question about the discussion that we're having on EFB, if I may.
Does that, I read the policy, I don't have any objections to the policy.
I know the discussion was about evaluating every book throughout our campuses and
labeling them before the vendors have the responsibility to do that.
Are we going to have the district spend district money, taxpayer money,
to go back and reevaluate every book in our campus libraries?
I'm not aware that we're doing that that we're going back through each book on the shelf and labeling them
Mr.. President that was not my understanding from this board
About understand going through current inventory or the warehouse inventory to have those books labeled
What will begin should the board pass the recommended policy is
as
As we discussed last week, we were going to start with the elementary books first and try to knock those out.
And that was the request to this board to tackle that and then move on to the secondary books.
And we would be applying the new policy to those books, including in the policy as written.
It has responsibility for selection.
Those are the materials that have been selected.
So those will have to be evaluated on that policy.
and we would go through that process as quickly as we can on those thank you for
the clarification mr. president do I hear a motion for EFA and EFB
mr. president I move that the Board of Trustees adopt the board policies EFA
and EFB. Do I hear a second? Second. Board members please record your vote on the
screen via your keypad.
Motion is carried 7-0. Now we will go on to the next item that we were
discussing which is to register miss calhoun's objection a point of privilege i guess uh the
point of privilege i'm taking is over the bond and why i have issues with it it's not because
i don't want to roof schools it's not because i don't want to fund schools it's not because of
any other reason other than when i'm looking at the math i'm a little concerned um our current
debt sits at 2.3 billion and our new bond increases our debt to 3.1 billion if i'm not mistaken and
And correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Smith, you can jump in on this.
But what are our annual interest payments?
Because my understanding is they're over $200 million annually.
And then our principal payments are $100 million annually.
What it feels like is that we have maxed out our credit cards.
And instead of paying the bill, we're maxing out more credit cards.
This is concerning.
because what you're doing is you're taking out a 30-year loan with an interest rate that you're asking the taxpayers to share the burden of.
The people who live here now and who have children are supposed to benefit from this bond.
When those children that are in the school system now graduate, move on, they come back to Katie to raise their own children,
they will still be paying on this bond that they were supposed to have benefited from, and their children will be paying on more bonds.
I have a problem with carrying debt over 30 years.
You're saddling kids with debt.
We complain about this at the national level, and yet we do it at the local level.
I'm sorry.
I can't in good conscience vote for this knowing what we're doing.
I'm not saying that our schools don't deserve good.
They absolutely do.
They deserve the best.
But at what cost?
At what cost do we do this to the taxpayers?
It has to stop somewhere.
We cannot continue to just kick this can down the road.
What are we doing?
So, no, I will not vote no on this.
I'm sorry I missed it, and I was in my notes, and I missed it, and I apologize.
But, no, I am voting no.
Mr. President, is this time for discussion of this?
I'm sorry?
Is this time for discussion of this?
No, no.
No.
We're registering her vote.
Is that just a vote?
The only thing that I am voting no on at this moment
is on the bond.
I can vote differently on everything else,
but I am voting no on the bond.
OK.
The next item of business is basically the information items.
Do we have any requests for information?
Okay.
10. Future Meetings
Our future meeting is the work-study board meeting on August 21, 2023.
2023
There will be a work-study board meeting on Monday, August 21
2023 and the regular board meeting is August 28 2023
On Monday August 28 the board will now convene in closed meeting as authorized under section 55 51
11. Closed Meeting
.001 of the text government code for the following purposes
Texas government code five five one point zero seven one five five one point zero seven four and five five one point one
It is necessary for everyone to please clear the room as the Board will convene and close
meeting in this room.
Thank you very much.
The Board will now reconvene and open meeting.
12. Reconvene from Closed Meeting
Today is Monday, July 31, 2023 and the time is 910 p.m.
The Board heard a level 3 DGBA grievance 23-005 pursuant to Katy Independent School District
policy DGB a legal and GG ba local regarding employee enclosed meeting in
accordance with chapter 551 of the Texas government code any action regarded this
matter must be taken an open meeting do I have a motion on the level 3 DGB a
grievance mr. president campaign I move that the Board of Trustees denies the
the level 3 DGBA grievance and DGBA 23005, thereby upholding the decision of the level
1 and level 2 hearing officer.
Chair Greg Musil.
Do I have a second?
Chair Greg Musil.
Second.
Chair Greg Musil.
It is a move and a second that the Board of Trustees denies the level 3 DGBA, DBGA grievance
and DBGA 23-005, thereby upholding the decision of the level 1 and level 2 hearing officer.
We will not proceed to vote. Board members please record your vote on the screen via your keypad.
The motion carries 6-0.
There being no further business for the board, this meeting is adjourned. The time is 9 12 p.m.
Official documents
Agenda
The district's own agenda file, as published on its video page. 4 pages.
Board packet · 29 documents
The district's own backup material for this agenda, retrieved from BoardDocs. Each file was checked against the size BoardDocs states for it.
- Notice of Public Meeting to Discuss Budget and Proposed Tax Rate 76 KB
- 1 Financial Statements - May 2023 64 KB
- 2 Function Object Analysis - May 2023 84 KB
- 3 Construction Report May 2023 169 KB
- 4 Tax Report May 2023 43 KB
- 5 Check Register - May 2023 182 KB
- DMP-SCC Revisions Summary - 2023-2024 268 KB
- 2023-24 DMPSCC DRAFT 07-23 2843 KB
- Interlocal Agreement PY 23-24_encrypted_updated7.12.23 (1) 381 KB
- EFB(EXHIBIT) - DRAFT - Revised 07.22.2023 136 KB
- EFB(LOCAL) - 07-2023 Tracked Changes - Revised 07.22.2023 167 KB
- EFA & EFB Clean Versions 225 KB
- EFA(EXHIBIT) - DRAFT - Revised 07.22.2023 152 KB
- EFA(LOCAL) - 07-2023 Tracked Changes - Revised 07.22.2023 137 KB
- July 2023 Budget Amendments 217 KB
- OFSDPBoardPresentation July 2023 282 KB
- R. Avalos-Position A 318 KB
- D. Breaux-Position B 346 KB
- Endorsement Form 113 KB
- 051523_Board Presentation - 2023 Bond Recommendation 6113 KB
- MIN_6_19_2023_Special_Board_Meeting SIGNED 678 KB
- MIN_6_26_2023_Regular_Board_Meeting SIGNED 1365 KB
- Interlocal Agreement PY 23-24 SIGNED 4179 KB
- R. Avalos Endorsement Form SIGNED 380 KB
- D. Breaux Endorsement Form SIGNED 344 KB
- 2023- Official-Delegate-Designation-L. Redmon Form 172 KB
- OFSDP Application 2023 SIGNED 4016 KB
- Cert of Order Bond Election-July 2023 644 KB
- Order Calling for Bond Election-July 2023 3491 KB
Motions and votes
Recorded actions
MOTION 001 · AGENDA 8.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's July 2023 budget amendments.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 002 · AGENDA 8.2
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's May 2023 financial statements.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 003 · AGENDA 8.3
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the publishing of the Notice of Public Meeting to discuss Budget and Proposed Tax Rate, with a Maintenance and Operations Tax Rate and an Interest and Sinking Tax Rate. Rates will be determined based on Truth in Taxation calculations which utilize property value information to be provided by Harris, Fort Bend, and Waller Counties.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 004 · AGENDA 8.4
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves INSGroup of Houston as consultant for the Katy ISD Health Plan and voluntary benefits for Plan Year 2024 with four additional one-year renewals as mutually agreed upon.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 005 · AGENDA 8.5
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the Harris County Department of Education and Katy Independent School District Interlocal Agreement for the promotion of adult education.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 006 · AGENDA 8.6
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the 2023-2024 District Professional Development Plan.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 007 · AGENDA 8.7
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the 2023 Community Bond Advisory Committee (CBAC) Bond Package recommendation.
6 Yes · 1 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | No |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 008 · AGENDA 8.8
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the Order Calling a School Building Bond Election as recommended by the administration.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 009 · AGENDA 8.9
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees adopts Board Policies EFA and EFB.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 010 · AGENDA 8.10
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the application for the Raines Academy Optional Flexible School Day Program (OFSDP) for the 2023-2024 school year.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 011 · AGENDA 8.11
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the Discipline Management Plan and Student Code of Conduct for the 2023-2024 school year.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 012 · AGENDA 8.12
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees endorses Lance Redmon as delegate to the 2023 Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Delegate Assembly.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 013 · AGENDA 8.14
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the minutes for the June Board meetings.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 014 · AGENDA 12.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees denies the Level Three DGBA-23-005, thereby upholding the decision of the Level One and Level Two hearing officer. Not Present at Vote: Rebecca Fox
6 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |