Good afternoon. Noting that a quorum is present, I hereby call this regular board meeting of the Board of Trustees of Katy Independent School District to order.
Katy ISD · Regular Board Meeting Agenda
Katy ISD Regular Board Meeting, May 13, 2024
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- 0:01 to 9:33 1. Call to Order
- 9:33 to 38:12 3. Recognitions
- 38:12 to 45:25 4.1 Consider Board approval of the canvass for the May 4, 2024 Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees Election.
- 45:25 to 50:32 4.2 Consider Board certification of the May 4, 2024 Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees election of Positions 6 and 7.
- 50:32 to 1:04:11 5. Oath of Office
- 1:04:11 to 1:56:37 6. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
- 1:56:37 to 1:57:01 7. Closed Meeting
- 1:57:01 to 1:59:47 8. Reconvene from Closed Meeting
- 1:59:47 to 2:06:10 9.1 Consider and elect officers for the 2024-2025 Board of Trustees.
- 2:06:10 to 2:21:23 10.1 2022-2024 Strategic Plan and 2024-2026 Strategic Plan Update
- 2:21:23 to 3:03:47 10.2 2023 Health Plan Update
- 3:03:47 to 3:16:02 11. Consent items
- 3:16:02 to 3:41:18 12.1 Discuss and consider approval of a compensation increase for the 2024- 2025 school year.
- 3:41:18 to 3:51:10 13.1 Board Committee Updates
- 3:51:10 to 3:52:25 13.2 Recap of Board member requests for information.
- 3:52:25 to 3:52:51 14. Future Meetings
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1. Call to Order
Today is Monday, May 13, 2024, and the time is 5 p.m.
Dr. Gorski, will you verify that we're 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're in compliance with the provisions of Texas Open Meeting Act for our meeting tonight.
I think we're ready to go ahead and start with our Pledge of Allegiance and our National Anthem tonight.
I'm going to go ahead and introduce our special guests sitting up front there.
I can see them.
Naomi Austin, fifth grader over at Fountain Elementary.
I see Principal Michael Schwartz is there.
Parents Miriam and Brian Austin.
Also has a sibling over at Haskett Junior High, Thomas Austin.
and I see the Fowlton sitting there, Russell and Cindy as well, namesake. So awesome to have you all tonight.
Student special interest, Naomi is an enthusiastic learner and athlete. She can do taekwondo, cartwheels, backbends, and front handsprings.
She has an interest in learning about theater and plans to take theater classes in junior high.
She loves to go on family trips, like to Seagram State Park, to camp, and to go crabbing.
Naomi loves reading math and science. She loves to read books, especially comic books such as The Babysitter's Club.
In math, she likes learning new strategies pertaining to multiplication and other numerical processes.
And from Mrs. White, science teacher, Naomi loves learning and people.
She's a dedicated and hard worker in the classroom, and she is a caregiver and cheerleader for her friends.
Naomi's smile, her helpfulness, her perseverance, and her laughter make her a leader on campus and a joy to have in the classroom.
And from Ms. Callis, math teacher, Naomi is very sweet and bright student who always tries her best.
She is a sensitive soul and always looks out for others.
So you hold right there for one second before we bring up our pledge leader.
I also want to introduce the May Creek Elementary Choir, and they are here tonight.
Principal Felicia Aschenbranner, music directors Rhea Marsh and Angela Chappell.
students here tonight from the choir nina arroyo lara sofia gonzalez emma mendez layla jefferson
morgan priester vittoria mosca fernandez and elena angelova are all here and a quote from
the music directors these students are dedicated members of the may creek elementary choir
they are passionate about becoming excellent musicians and exhibit star student qualities
They have performed for school and community events and show great pride and leadership within the choir and we are very proud of their
Accomplishments and they are thankful to have the opportunity to represent the campus
So if I could bring up our pledge leader if you're ready Naomi, we go ahead and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, individual, with liberty and justice for all.
Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one in the visible.
So maybe you can
we're gonna bring up our choir. You can you can stay with mom and dad or you can stand here
and we're gonna bring you right back up after the choir to share your remarks.
Thank you.
By the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilight's last gleaming
Were the stars and bright stars
Through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched
We're so now and we should be.
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
So say the zaps, hearts, and souls, and carry it away.
For the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Good evening, President Perez,
board meeting members and superintendent Gregorski. My name is Naomi Austin. I am a
fifth grader from Fowden Elementary. I am excited to be at a new school and one of
the first fifth graders to ever attend Fowden Elementary. Fowden will always be
special to me because all the teachers are so kind and they teach me a lot of
important subjects. I am really happy that I have made a lot of new friends at
Thank you.
I'll be so proud of you.
Thank you so much for all that you do.
You're a great representative of Southern Elementary.
And I appreciate you for that.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
3. Recognitions
technicians tonight starting with uh UIL 2024 stat state track and field champion
and Nick are you doing that as Lance okay go ahead Nick
all right good evening President Perez trustees and Superintendent gregorski tonight we're excited
and pleased to recognize a student athlete who earned his way to two gold medals at the 2024
2024 State Track and Field Championships. Here to introduce him is Coach Lance Carter, Executive Director of Athletics.
It's kind of funny we talked about doing that. I said you ought to walk sideways just to make them clank together, you know,
just to make sure everybody knows who you are.
Good evening, President Perez, Dr. Grigorski, and Board of Trustees.
our kiddie ISD track teams had great success at this year's state championship.
We had a total of 13 athletes earn medals.
We had 30 athletes that placed in the top six.
And the Tompkins High School boys finished third overall as a team.
Tompkins High School senior Jayden Keys competed in the 6A Track and
Field Championship and garnered two gold medals and one silver medal.
He brought home the gold medal and was number one in the country in the 300
hundred hurdles and in the long jump. He also received a silver medal in the
110 hurdles, which was the second fastest time in the country. We are
very proud of the fact that Jaden was also named the six a athlete of the
meat scoring a total of 26 points, correct? I don't want to short your
points, but 26 points at this year's 28 points
at this year's state championship. At this time, I'd also like to ask Coach
Ward and his staff, campus athletic coordinator Todd McVey, and principal
Mark Grisdale to please come forward to be recognized.
Thank you.
Tonight, we are proud to present the top two students from each high school ranked highest
academically in their respective graduating class.
Parents of the valedictorians and salutatorians are asked to please stand when their student
is being introduced to the Board of Trustees by the campus principal.
At this time, please welcome Dr. Kay Williams, principal of Cinco Ranch High School, to introduce that school's valedictorian and salutatorian.
Good evening, Board President Perez, trustees, and Dr. Gagorski.
I am proud to introduce to you this evening the valedictorian and salutatorian from Cinco Ranch High School.
I am pleased to announce Alina Dang as Cinco Ranch High School's Valedictorian.
Alina is the daughter of Liban Dang and Ludan Alice Pang.
She's graduating with a 4.8923 GPA and plans to attend Duke University where she will major in biology and computer science.
While attending Cinco Ranch High School, she was active with the Mu Alpha Theta Science Olympiad and founded the club Girls Who Code.
Alina is a competitive table tennis player and has an article published on Alzheimer's disease.
Please join me in congratulating Alina.
I am also excited to announce Yujin Shah as Cinco Ranch High School's 2024 Salutatorian.
She is the daughter of Jin Ho Cha and Hao Yang Gu.
Yu Jin is graduating with a 4.8485 GPA and plans to attend Amherst College where she
will major in biochemistry and global health.
While attending Cinque Ranch High School, she was active in the Science Olympiad, Academic
Decathlon and the National Chinese Honor Society.
She also founded a nonprofit and volunteered for hospice patients.
Please join me in congratulating Yu Jin.
Thank you.
Thank you, Dr. Williams.
Now I'd like to introduce Dr. Ethan Kroll, principal of Jordan High School.
President Perez, trustees and superintendent
Gregorski. I'm honored to introduce to you this evening the
valedictorian and salutatorian from Jordan High School. I'm proud to introduce the 2024 Jordan Warrior
valedictorian Jade Kamun. She's the daughter of Syree Kamun and Chunhui Zhao. Jade graduates with a
4.8594 and plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin to major in biology on the pre-med track.
She is well-rounded warrior with a variety of accomplishments including Science Olympiad state team, Silver Presidential Volunteer Service Medal for
over 175 volunteer hours, Varsity Orchestra and VP of Orchestra, National Honor Society and
the AP Capstone Diplomat to name a few. Please join me in congratulating Jade.
I am proud to announce the 2024 Jordan Warrior Solitorian, Sophie Zhang.
She is the daughter of Wenju Zhang and Ling Hu.
Sophie is graduating with a 4.8594 GPA.
She plans to attend university and double major in computer science and a business related
degree.
Sophie is a three-year All-State musician and the first violinist of a string quartet
that achieved second place in the UIL State Chamber Music Contest, the first KDISD ensemble
to qualify. She has served as concert master of the Varsity Orchestra Symphony and co-president
since her freshman year. Sophie hopes to join the University Orchestra and continue her music
passion with her peers. Please join me in congratulating Sophie.
Thank you, Dr. Kroll.
Now I'd like to introduce Dr. Rick Hall, principal of Katy High School.
President Perez, members of the board, Dr. Gorgorski. For the past 125 years, Katy High
School has been the cornerstone of Katy ISD. They have contributed to society in many ways.
It is my honor and privilege to present this year's valedictorian and salutatorian for Katy
High School. I am proud to announce Katy High School's valedictorian is Mr. Haraz Hizam.
He is the son of Hizam Hayaran and Suryakas Sukhuri.
Araz will be graduating with a 4.8382 GPA.
After graduation, he will begin serving a mandatory two-year national service in Singapore.
He has been active in many clubs and organizations while at Katy High School,
including serving as the president and vice president of the robotics team,
president of the Technology Student Association and a four-year member of
the Varsity Orchestra. Please join me in congratulating Haraz.
I'm also proud to present Katy High School's salutatorian, Karrish Parikh. He
He is the son of Vimal and Nina Parikh.
Kharish will be graduating with a 4.8276 GPA
and will be attending Texas A&M University, where
he plans to study electrical and computer engineering.
While at Katy High School, he served
as the programmer and secretary of the robotics team
and as the vice president of Model UN.
Please join me in congratulating Kharish.
Thank you, Dr. Hall.
all. Now please welcome Ms. Elizabeth Herring, principal of
Maid Creek High School.
Good evening, President Perez, members of the board and Dr.
Gorgorski. It is my honor to be here tonight to introduce the
valedictorian and salutatorian for Maid Creek High School. Our
Maid Creek High School valedictorian for the class of
2024 is John Lee. John is the son of Paul and Yun Lee, and
and John has a 4.7544 GPA.
He plans to attend Texas A&M University in the fall,
where he will study engineering.
In addition to his stellar academic performance,
John also participated in National Honor Society
and Social Studies National Honor Society.
He was a member of the Mighty Ram Band,
where he served as a captain on the band's student leadership
team.
Congratulations, John.
on. And our class of 2024 salutatorian is Natalie Baxter. Natalie has a GPA of 4.6792,
and she is the daughter of Christopher Baxter and Kimberly Miller. She plans to attend the
University of Texas at Austin in the fall to study nursing. During her time at Maid Creek,
Creek, she balanced her tough academic schedule with a demanding set of extracurricular activities.
She participated in band, athletics, RAM camp, and multiple honor societies.
In her senior year, she served the RAM band as their head drum major as well as president
for National Honor Society.
She also sat on the principal student leadership round table.
Congratulations, Natalie.
Natalie.
Thank you, Ms. Herring.
Now I'd like to welcome Ms. Julie Henson, principal of Morton Ranch High School.
Good evening, Board President Perez, members of the board, and Dr. Gregorsty.
Tonight, I'm honored to present the 2024 Morton Ranch High School Valedictorian and Salutatorian.
I am proud to announce that our valedictorian is Rose Villasana.
She is the daughter of Heath and Donna Morton.
Rose is graduating with a 4.7636 GPA.
Rose will be attending Trinity University to pursue her degree in computer science with
aspirations to be a project manager.
During her time at Morton Ranch, she was a member of my principal communication network,
of varsity swimmer, the Mu Alpha Theta Treasurer,
theater, junior ladies, and senior women.
Please join me in congratulating Rose.
I am also proud to announce our salutatorian,
Alina Malikulan.
Alina is graduating with a 4.7321 GPA.
She is the daughter of Vache and Shake Malikyan.
Malikian. Alina will be attending the University of Texas to pursue a degree
in neuroscience with hopes of a career as a physician's assistant.
During her time at Morton Ranch, Alina was a member of my principal
communication network, National Honor Society, National English
Honor Society, Rho Kappa, Mu Alpha Theta, Science National Honor Society,
Orchestra, Tennis, and the KDISD Safety and Security Student Advisory Board.
She was also able to fit in being a part of the Houston Methodist Hospital Summer
summer program. Please join me in congratulating Alina.
Thank you, Ms. Hinson.
Now I'd like to introduce Dr. David Paz, principal of Pato High School.
Good evening, President Perez, members of the board, and Dr. Gagorski.
It is my honor and privilege to stand before you tonight to present our valedictorian and salutatorian for Pato High School.
It is my privilege to recognize Pato High School's valedictorian, Isabella Fresneda-Bolivar.
She is the daughter of Danny and Susana Orego.
Isabella will be graduating with a 4.7049 GPA and will be attending the University of Pennsylvania where she plans to major in biology.
She has successfully modeled what a student athlete is at Pato High School.
Isabella ran cross country and wrestled all four years at PHS, becoming a three-time state qualifier in wrestling.
She was a member of our Science Honor Society as well as our National Honor Society and currently serves as our NHS president.
president. It was through NHS that she started the Love for Venezuela project, raising funds
and goods for the families of Venezuela. Isabella has also selected to represent Pato High School
at Girl State over the summer. Knowing the challenges of advanced academics, Isabella
mentored underclassmen as a member of our APM Ambassador Program. Please join me in
congratulating Isabella.
I'm also very proud to present Pato High School Salutatorian, Francisco Howard.
He is the son of Bonnie Erickson. Francisco is graduating with a 4.6833 GPA and will be
attending New York University in the fall to also major in biology. Francisco is an
extraordinary student who has done so much in his four years of high school. He was involved
He has been involved in math and science UIL competitions as well as a member of Mu Alpha Theta all four years and currently serving as their president.
Not surprisingly, he is also a part of the National Honor Society and the Science Honor Society.
It was through his academic achievements that Francisco wanted to mentor underclassmen as an AP ambassador to provide support for students in advanced academics.
Finally, to ensure a well-rounded education, Francisco raised rabbits in FFA as well as participated in Quiz Team and the Wildlife Team.
He played the trumpet for three years and was a varsity swimmer, proudly representing PHS in all his extra endeavors.
Please join me in congratulating Francisco.
Thank you, Dr. Paz.
Please welcome Ms. Carrie Finneson,
principal of Seven Lakes High School.
school.
Good evening President Perez, KDISD Board members and Dr. Gorgorski.
As the principal of Seven Lakes High School, I would like to present our valedictorian
and salutatorian.
I am honored to introduce our Seven Lakes High School valedictorian, Aiden Lai, who
earned a 4.8676 GPA and plans to study chemical engineering at the University of Texas at
Austin.
Aidan is the son of Wah Tat Lai and Susie Tan.
He was a member of Science Olympiad, UIL Calculator Applications, UIL Spelling and Vocabulary,
Mu Alpha Theta, National Science Bowl, UIL Science, UIL Mathematics, Computer Science
Club and National Honor Society.
Aidan received a Texas Math and Science Coaches Association State 6A Senior Scholarship and
University of Texas Engineering Honors for Chemical Engineering Scholarship.
Please join me in congratulating Aidan.
I am also pleased to introduce our salutatorian, Ayush Ishwar.
He is the son of Kishore Ishwar and Purvi Barwada.
Ayush earned a 4.8676 GPA as well and plans to study computer science at the University of Texas at Austin.
He was a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Computer Science Club, UIL Academics, and the Beckendorf Math and Science Volunteering Team.
Ayush received a Texas Excess Houston Chapter Scholarship and a National Merit Scholarship.
Please join me in congratulating Ayush.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Finneson.
Now, please welcome Carolyn Fuquay, Associate Principal at Taylor High School.
President Perez, esteemed members of the school board, and Dr. Gagorski,
I am honored to present to you our valedictorian, Henry Liu.
He is the son of Ming-Kuan Liu and Li-Ping Liu.
Henry finished his high school career with a 4.8594 GPA.
Henry will attend Yale University, an accomplishment that speaks volumes about his dedication and intellectual acumen.
During his time at Taylor High School, Henry has been actively involved in various extracurricular activities,
including the Varsity Orchestra, National Honor Society, and Future Business Leaders of America.
His commitment to excellence has garnered him prestigious accolades,
such as being named a National Merit Commended Finalist and Scholarship recipient,
an AP Scholar with Distinction, a UIL Scholar,
and a recipient of the President's Award for Educational Excellence.
Beyond his academic achievements, Henry is a virtuoso violinist whose talent knows no bounds.
Please join me in congratulating Henry.
I am also honored to present to you today Taylor High School salutatorian Jenna Kang.
And unfortunately Jenna could not be with us this evening.
She's a little under the weather.
But Jenna is the daughter of Chan-Gook Kang and Suk-Young Chang.
Her GPA of 4.8413 is a testament to her commitment to academic excellence.
excellence. Jenna will attend the University of Southern California, where she will major
in global health on a pre-med track. She has a deep commitment to addressing pressing global
health issues and promoting equity worldwide. Jenna has been deeply involved in numerous
extracurricular activities, including HOSA, Project Cure, and the Spanish National Honor
Society, showcasing her dedication to service and leadership. Even amidst the challenges
As a result of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Jenna dedicated her time to volunteer work at Project Cure in Houston, contributing to the global efforts in providing medical supplies to those in need.
You may or may not find this surprising, but she will join the Army ROTC at USC as she works on her degree. Please join me in congratulating Jenna.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Fuquay.
Finally, I'd like to introduce Mr. Mark Grisdale,
principal of Tompkins High School.
Good evening, members of the board.
Dr. Grigorski, it is my honor to introduce
the valedictorian and salutatorian
from Obra D. Tompkins High School.
I am proud to announce that the Tompkins High School
She is the daughter of the school valedictorian
Aisha Shahid.
She is the daughter of Shahid Ahmed and
Ngar Naushi.
Aisha's GPA is 4.8649.
And Aisha will attend Princeton University
and study electrical and computer engineering.
She is the president of the math honor society.
She is also president of the model United Nations
She is president of operations smile and she is a member of the UIL literary criticism team and a member of the national honor society.
She is also a member of the superintendent's student leadership circle.
Please join me in congratulating the Tompkins High School valedictorian Aisha Shahid.
I'm proud to announce the Tompkins High School Salutatorian, Soneka Mishra.
She is the daughter of Sasheen Mishra and Nidhni Pandey.
Soneka's GPA is 4.8615 and she plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin,
where she will major in computer science.
She is the current president of the Tompkins chapter of UNICEF and has previously held the office of secretary her junior year and was an underclassman representative her sophomore year.
She is also the current public relations officer of the Girls Who Code Club, a position she has held for two years.
She was the secretary for this group her sophomore year also.
Zunika was a member of the Tompkins choir for three years.
She is an AP capstone diploma student and an AP scholar with distinction.
So please join me in congratulating Shanika Misra.
Thank you, Mr. Grisdale.
Congratulations to all these students on their exceptional accomplishments.
This concludes the recognitions portion of this meeting.
That sort of concludes what Nick is going to do for us, but I've got a few recognitions up here of some new principals that we are going to recognize tonight, starting with Jenks Elementary.
I want to go ahead and recognize Renee Canales. Where's Renee at? Welcome, Renee.
Renee did you bring anyone out with you tonight and if you did would you like to
introduce those folks to us awesome all right Thank You Renee I appreciate it
I also got another principal opening, another retirement for McRoberts Elementary and Eric
Finley.
Where's Eric at?
Also over there.
Welcome, Eric.
And you've got some folks with you over there?
Yeah, I brought my wife and her kids.
All right.
Awesome.
Welcome.
And last but not least for tonight another retirement over at Tompkins
High School. Mr. Grisdale we appreciate all you've done over there but we are
gonna welcome Elizabeth Braugh.
Elizabeth you got some folks with you awesome Thank You Elizabeth appreciate it
thank you do we have any scouts in the audience this evening any scouts no okay
Okay, we will then begin with item 4.1,
4.1 Consider Board approval of the canvass for the May 4, 2024 Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees Election.
which is to consider Board approval of the campus
of the May 4th, 2024,
Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees election.
And the presenter is Justin Graham, General Counsel.
Mr. President, Dr. Grzegorski, members of the Board,
when I came to Katy ISD, I guess about eight years ago,
Dr. Hintz said, hey, we want you to come set up a general counsel's office.
And then about 30 days later, he said, oh, one of your other duties as assigned is going
to be to run these elections.
So here we are several years later.
Just going to give you some highlights.
I think I do this every year as we do the assessment of where we are in our elections.
The first thing I'll tell you is we've had a high voter turnout, high participation this
year.
And I'll talk a little bit more about that in just a minute.
This is the first year we've had six early voting locations, if you guys will remember.
We moved one to Paytoe High School and then this board said, hey, we want to reopen the
Morton Ranch site.
So we did so.
On election day, we have 13 election day sites.
And I will tell you, for everybody that's watching at home that is interested, because
this is the number one question that we get on election day is, how come I'm not, how
how come I can't vote at Taylor High School if my zone is Cinco or my zone is
Patterson?
The way that that law works is we have robust early voting in Texas.
We have robust early voting in KDISD, and that's allowed.
So whether or not you live in whatever zone you live in,
you can vote at any early voting site for KDISD at any time during early voting.
Now on election day, the counties, both Harris County and Fort Bend County, they have opted
to say, hey, if you just show up at any polling site, you can also vote on election day.
The problem with that is that when the legislature wrote that law, they were very specific to
say counties only.
So it does not apply to school districts or local municipalities.
So because we have the 13 precincts we have to vote, if you're going to vote on that Saturday
of election day, you have to vote at your precinct.
That's the second thing. Third thing I was going to say is size. So I tell people this all the time
and they're kind of blown away at these numbers and I'm kind of blown away at these numbers. We
have 236,000 registered voters within KDISD's limits. We're in three different counties,
Waller, Fort Bend, and Harris. We're also in at least three different cities, Fulcher, Katy,
in Houston. We have a bunch of other territorial jurisdictions that are around us, whether it be
mud districts, etc., council's office, different precincts. But with our 236,000 registered voters
in Katy, we are bigger than, Texas has 254 counties, we are bigger than all but 11 counties
in Texas. So when we put on an election here in Katy, it's a big thing. It's a monumental
undertaking. I will tell you, I'm going to go back to the high turnout participation that we had this
year. Last year was the highest early voting, I mean the highest turnout we had had in a
May election ever in KDIC's history. And we had 5.1% turnout last year, which equaled
about 11,500 votes total last year. I'll tell you this year our turnout was almost 7%, 6.96%.
We had more votes in early voting. We had over 12,000 votes in early voting and 16,441 votes total this year.
So that represents like a 33% increase on the highest that we've ever had.
So obviously people came out this year.
That being said, you will also see in the numbers that are in front of you, you'll see absentee ballots 873.
That's a substantial increase from last year.
The reason that that traditionally is on a year like this year is because this year is a presidential election.
And so if you are somebody that is at home and you request a absentee ballot for the presidential election or for the primaries that we just had, then KDIC is going to send you one as well.
So if you look back, I think, guys, if you look back four years ago, now that would have been during COVID.
But if you look back four years ago, the BBMs were high, and that's going to happen every four years.
One other thing I'd like to address before I get to the results and you guys certifying the election.
One of the other complaints that we get in my office, and I hear it throughout the district,
is that we don't have enough voting sites in the northeast quadrant of our district.
So if we say 99 is one way, I-10 is one way, we actually did.
Again, Morton Ranch was a site that's over there, and Taylor High School is really not that far from that area.
But on election day, we have three polling sites that are in those areas.
I would say if you look at the numbers, we have less than 3% turnout in all of our sites on the northeast side of the district.
So pretty astonishing when you consider we had other precincts that were over 10, 11, one that even had 13% voting, 7% as a district.
It's very tough, been very hard to get the northeast side voters motivated to come out
and vote, even with the additional early voting site.
So that being said, you guys, I updated, we updated the numbers that were in front of
you.
I'm just going to give you this number and then I'm going to ask you to do items 4.1
and 4.2 consecutively.
So for position six, the total vote for Mrs. Rebecca Fox is 9,261.
Mr. Donovan Campbell, 7,131.
And then for position seven, Mr. David Olson, 7,185.
Mrs. Dawn Champagne, 9,220.
Trustees, I'm happy to take any questions that you may have before taking action on this.
Board members, are there any questions?
I will now entertain a motion for this item.
Mr. President?
Mr. Redman?
If I understood, Mr. Graham, correct, we can just make one motion for both of these at the same time?
No, let's go ahead and make one for one, and then I'm just not going to present again on the second one.
Perfect.
I move that the Board of Trustees approves of the canvas for the May 4th, 2024,
Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees election,
as reported by the Central Counting Station,
and declares the winners of each position as follows.
Rebecca Fox, position 6, and Don Champagne, position 7.
Do I have a second?
Second.
We will not proceed to vote.
Board members, please record your vote on the screen via your keypad.
motion carry 7-0
now we go on to 4.2
4.2 Consider Board certification of the May 4, 2024 Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees election of Positions 6 and 7.
mr president i move that board of trustees certifies the may 4th 2024 katie independent
school district board of trustees election for position six and seven whereby rebecca fox for
position six and don champaign for position seven were duly elected do i have a second second
we will not proceed mr president because between the motion and the vote is an opportunity for me
to ask questions or make a comment so i have some something i'd like to say
you have any questions i don't have a question i have something i'd like to say
This community has voted for public schools, for our children and families, and for our teachers and staff.
This result was the outcome of a grassroots effort to protect our school district from outside influences.
I'm grateful and humbled to continue to serve the community I adore.
This wasn't about Fox and Champaign as much as it was about the people of Katy making their voices heard.
It was about putting past differences aside and joining forces to protect the community you built.
Teachers and staff had the courage to speak up for their students, their careers, their work environment, and their reputations.
They have found their voice, and they now know they have the power to choose the leaders who support them.
them. The residents of Katie showed their strong support for the community they want to live in.
They voted for the teachers and staff who care for their children. They voted for proven leaders
who stand up to political pressure because a school trustee's role is to ensure every child
learns at the highest potential and is prepared for the future. The community understands the
exemplary reputation of kdsd and why that matters to the community as a whole your vote voice is
loud and strong and we are not finished i want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart
but for you my heart has no bottom we are katie strong
Mr. President, I'd like to say something also.
Thank you, Mrs. Fox.
I'd like to say ditto.
So the community has spoken,
and I want to thank the community for choosing me to be your school board member for another three years.
I vow to you to be not only an advocate for all of those who did vote for me,
but also for all the people who didn't vote for me,
even the people who voted against me. I want to continue to be an advocate for
all of you and I vow to continue to be an advocate for all of you. I am here for
you and I love that I won on my own merits without tearing down an opponent.
Thank You KDSE for rising to the occasion. I do not take your endorsement
of me lightly. I promise you that. The community has made a resounding
statement and I hear you. I hope that the rest of the board realizes the impact of
this vote and what it means for the future to action that our board wishes
to make. We are here to listen to what the community wants not what we want. I
also want to thank in particular a local PAC named Keep for supporting us and for
for the Fort Bend County, Fort Bend Business Coalition for endorsing me.
And I am happy to be here for you.
Please reach out to me anytime you'd like.
Thank you very, very much.
Thank you.
I will now entertain a motion for this item.
We have the motion, Mr. President.
We have a second.
We have the second, just the vote.
We will now proceed to vote.
Board members, please record your vote on screen via your keypad.
The motion carries 7-0.
Mr. President, before we move to the next item, may I have a point of personal privilege, please,
to introduce several former board members who are in the audience.
It's rare to see them here.
May they please stand to be recognized.
Brian Mahalski, Greg Schulte, Susan Gesoff, Ashley Vann, Leah Wilson, and Henry DeBrell,
thank you for being here tonight.
And for being a part of making KDI-ST what it is.
5. Oath of Office
At this time we'll move on to 5.1, which is administer the oath of office to the newly
elected members of the Katy Independence School District Board of Trustees. Former
mayor Katy Mayor Skip Connor will administer the oath of office to our
newly elected board members Don Champagne and Rebecca Fox.
Hi.
Hi.
State your name.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay.
Y'all want to come and be behind the picture?
Everybody join in?
That's right.
Congratulations to...
Thank you.
Thank you.
Congratulations, Ms. Champagne and Ms. Fox.
Thank you.
At this time, we move on to 5.2, Peace Officer Oath of Office,
and our presenter is Henry Gall, KDISD Chief of Police.
Good evening President Perez, Board members, Dr. Gorski.
It's an honor here to be in front of you all to present to you all the swearing in of our
first set of cadets that we've actually sponsored.
So we're very proud to present them for swearing in this evening.
Our first candidate we're swearing in is going to be Daniela Cano.
Daniela Alexis Cano was born in Houston, Texas, and moved to Katy at 10 years old.
Officer Cano graduated from Katy High School in 2019 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
She attended recruit training in Parris Island, South Carolina in June of 2019 and graduated in September 2019.
Officer Kana was stationed in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina as a 3531 Motor Transportation
Vehicle Operator.
During her time in active duty, Officer Kana was awarded the Marine Corps Good Conduct
Medal for serving honorably and faithfully for three years, the National Defense Service
Medal, Global War and Terrorism Service Medal, Meritorious Mass by Commanding Officer Lieutenant
Lieutenant Colonel Neil Albury for meritoriously performing her duties while serving with the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine, 2D Marine Division in July of 2020,
and three letters of appreciation for multiple hours of volunteer work off-duty in support of the 2D Marine Division Headquarters Battalion Base Cleanup.
Officer Cano achieved many more accomplishments and held several roles throughout her enlistment.
Officer Cano was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps in August of 2022.
Officer Cano is a proud mother of her one-year-old son, Dominique Cano, who was born December of 2022.
She has always had a selfless character and puts everyone first before herself.
Officer Cano knew from an early age that her life calling is to serve and protect those around her in any way that she can.
After serving her country, she wanted to continue to do just that and now serve her community.
community. Officer Cano attended the Gus George Law Enforcement Academy, where she held the
role of squad leader throughout her duration and graduated in January 2024. She is an ambitious
young lady and eager to learn. Officer Cano is hoping to gain as much knowledge from working
in law enforcement to help her community. She is now a proud member of the KDSC Police
Department family and is enjoying her time here. Mario M. Jordan.
Mario Jordan was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and moved to Katy, Texas in 23.
Officer Jordan graduated from Morgan Park High School in 2018 and enlisted in
the United States Marine Corps. He attended recruit training in San Diego,
California in March of 2019 and graduated May of 2019. Officer Jordan was
stationed in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina as a 3531 motor transportation vehicle
cooperator. During this time, Officer Jordan was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement
Medal for Chief Dispatcher, Ground Mobile Equipment Coordinator, and Assistant Roadmaster while
attached to G4 Headquarters Battalion 2D Marine Division. Officer Jordan was also awarded the
Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal for serving honorably for three years, the National Defense
Service Medal, Global War and Terrorism Service Medal, and multiple letters of appreciation for
for off duty volunteer work in support of 2D Marine Division.
Officer Jordan achieved many more accomplishments
and carried many leadership roles throughout his enlistment.
Officer Jordan was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps
as a corporal in March of 23.
Officer Jordan is a proud husband and father of two year old Halo Jordan
and is expecting another son.
He is family oriented and honored to serve in a community
where his wife Destiny Jordan was raised.
He has always had a big heart for providing for others before himself and protecting those who are in need.
Officer Jordan stands by Bible verse James 127 to remember what is important by committing to this service.
Officer Jordan attended Houston Community College Law Enforcement Academy where he graduated in December of 2023.
He is open-minded and ready to learn to provide a great service to his community.
He is now a proud member of the KDSD Police Department family and looks forward to serving
the KDSD community for many years to come.
Brittany J. Loya.
Brittany J. Loya was born and raised in Rosenberg, Texas.
After graduating from Lamar Consolidated High School in 2010, she joined the Richmond Fire
Department and later she continued with Harris County ESD 48 Fire and EMS where she proudly
She served for several years in this capacity and resigned in 2020.
After a brief career as a broker, she felt a calling for more and
decided policing was in her future.
She trained immensely and was eager to get back to action when the opportunity to
be sponsored by KDISD police was presented.
After Loyal was accepted by the KDISD Police Department,
she became one of the first sponsored cadets.
She graduated HCC Police Academy in December 2023 and was honored to be asked to lead her cadets commencement ceremony.
Officer Loya feels like everything she's been through in life has led her to her new position as a Texas Peace Officer.
And she is grateful for the opportunity that KDISD has given her.
She is excited to give back to her colleagues, community students, and staff of KDISD.
Currently she resides in KDSC with a loving fiance and her fur baby Scooby.
And we have Anna L. Oviera Wilkinson.
Anna Wilkinson was born and raised in Brazil when in 2022 she became an American citizen.
She is a mother and stepmother of four children, River, Kevin III, Helena, and Zelda.
She has been happily married to Dr. Kevin Lee Wilkinson, Jr. for an amazing four years.
Along with being a devout Christian and as a coordinator of the Association of Brazilian International Women Entrepreneurs, or acronym AME,
Officer Wilkinson strongly believes in her chosen career, that being law enforcement.
In this career, she looks forward to working with a sense of moral and ethical responsibility
and will strive daily to help guide students.
Ultimately, Officer Wilkinson believes that her role as a police officer is to be part
of the solution for her students.
Officer Wilkinson describes her desire to be a police officer here at Katy.
I see a passion that was developed by what she describes as a need of a reform which
can be brought about through proactive policing focused on our current and next generation
of students. Here we have our...
So let's do this. This time we're going to do a little
different.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chief Gahl.
Well, at this time the Board of Trustees will give members of the public an opportunity to speak in accordance with KDIHD Board Policy BEV Local.
6. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
As defined by Board Policy, speakers who signed up by 2 p.m. on Monday, May 13, 2024, provided their first and last name and signed in 15 minutes prior to 5 p.m. will be allowed to address the Board.
Speakers who signed up to speak on posted agenda items will be allowed three minutes to speak.
speak. Speakers that signed up to speak on non-agenda items be allowed 2 minutes and
18 seconds. If a speaker is not finished speaking at the end of their allotted time, the audio
will turn off. I might add that 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 person identifiable information regarding a student and will not
discuss the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal
dismissal of a public officer or employee or hear a complaint or charge
against any an officer or employee should a wish or speaker wish to address
one of these issues they must do so through the appropriate local grievance
policies FMG local GGBA local CKE local or GF local our speakers will be called
forward in the order they signed up to speak we're calling first the agenda
items and the first speaker is Tana Weiss.
Sorry, the speaker after that is Marissa Pappas. Good evening Dr. Gorgorski and
board members. My name is Tana Weiss and I am here this evening with a list of
thank yous regarding this election. Thank you Dawn and Rebecca for standing up for
every student and every staff member in Katy ISD. Thank you for standing in the
fire against the lies and misinformation that was spread by the opposition who
were recruited by the four members seated next to you this evening. It was
certainly a testament to your love for our district that teachers, administrators,
administrators
district staff
parents 18 year olds voting for the first time and
community members voted in record numbers in this race for what is right and good
in our district
I want to thank the outside packs that sent thousands of dollars and disgusting flyers to our community
Reminding voters who really pulls the strings for this faction, especially for our four members here
I want to thank Ms. Cuzela and Ms. Teamey for knocking on doors that had campaign fox signs,
being captured on ring video, passing out amateur flyers that accused their fellow board members of all kinds of nefarious deeds.
I want to thank Mr. Perez for giving unhinged interviews to print and radio, showing the community exactly what you stand for.
And I would like to thank Ms. Cuzela, I'm sorry, Ms. Calhoun, for kicking it all off on Easter weekend
with that photo of her on her Katie ISD Facebook site of her and her beloved gun shooting a peep.
Then topping it all off last week with accusing immigrants of stealing education dollars.
Praise God. You have awoken the silent majority who will be silent no longer. This majority will
continue to pay attention to your actions and continue to vote. As my father, who served as
mayor of my East Texas hometown for nine years, says, you have shown us your rears. You have shown
everyone your rears. Thank you for that. Thank you.
Marissa Pappas, and after that, Lynette Alidon.
Good evening, my name is Marissa Pappas
and I've been a KDISD teacher since 2012.
I took this position like I'm sure most of my colleagues did
because I felt I had a calling
to be a role model for children
and to encourage and inspire our next generation
with high hopes for the future.
Every summer as I prepare for the next year,
I'm excited. I'm excited to decorate my room, meet my new students, plan new lessons.
I'm going to tell you that recently this board has dulled and almost diminished my excitement.
I'm unsure if many of you fully understood the position you are taking and I'm actually concerned that some of you may not know the
definition of the words public education.
Texas wrote their Constitution in
1876 and it states our public education system must ensure all kids have access to an education that enables them to achieve their potential
and fully participate. This was followed by 1954 Brown B Board of Education, 1974
Plyer B Doe, 1987 McKinney-Vento Act, and 1975 IDEA. These are all laws that
require us to provide a free, fair, and appropriate education to every student,
regardless of skin color, immigration status, homelessness, or disabilities. These
are things I had full knowledge of when I became a teacher, and each morning when
when I open the door, I accept my students exactly how they are.
I continuously listen to our board meetings with optimism
that you're going to have discussions and make decisions
that are going to improve the lives of KDISD staff, students,
and families.
And I'm disappointed almost every time.
During the last board work setting meeting,
Mrs. Fox attempted to inquire about teacher
raises for next school year.
She was interrupted because it wasn't on the agenda.
That insinuates to me as a teacher
that you didn't deem it important.
However, Ms. Calhoun was allowed to speak for three minutes uninterrupted on the monetary
impact illegal immigrants are allegedly having on our funding.
Her remarks implied that she doesn't believe that those children should be provided an
education.
Mr. President, I checked and I couldn't find that topic on the agenda either.
There was also a comment made by Ms. Timi regarding transportation of homeless students.
She said the finance committee had ways and creative things they're doing to cut that
down.
I hope the creativity includes finding homes for children, but I'm gonna assume it's geared towards not providing them transportation
To quote miss Calhoun directly there are circumstances that are beyond a child's control
She should have stopped there
Yes, all the circumstances discussed are beyond their control
Their children and their innocent and those of us who are dealing with them on the front lines every day while being compensated poorly are the ones
Who understand that?
So I stand up here today to ask that your board meetings have discussions that pertain to making our district better and to making sure KDISD employees and students are the highest priority.
Please stop wasting time arguing with one another and stop discussing political topics and agendas and put your personal bias and beliefs aside.
Thank you.
Thank you.
after the net Aladon and after that Kush vizier poor good evening dr. Gagorski
and the board of trustees I'm Lynette Aladon a retired librarian concerned
stakeholder first of all I'd like to congratulate Rebecca Fox and Don
champagne for their recent win to continue serving our community on the
school board I'm here to address agenda item 12.1 regarding the compensation
increase for the upcoming school year chief financial officer Chris Smith
stated at last week's work-study meeting that a 1% staff salary increase would
cost seven point three million dollars currently our school district has a seven
point eight million dollar deficit that doesn't include staff raises there was
some discussion among the board members last Monday that may that may be
possible for the staff to receive a 2% raise using the school districts fund
balance I understand that school districts across Texas are experiencing
similar concerns due to the lack of state funding from Austin and the next
legislative session is scheduled for January I know there is no argument from
the board that our staff members rightfully deserve a raise I'm asking
you to please approve a 2% raise for our hard-working educators in order to
maintain and or improve the teacher retention rate if this district cannot
afford to provide a pay raise to attract top-notch educators then the district
should provide a positive working environment and support educators as
much as possible the board needs to focus on improving the teacher retention
rate and not focus on cultural worlds that put our school district in the
negative spotlight recently the US Department of Education launched an
investigation into our school district regarding last August gender fluidity
policy that many stakeholders spoke against including myself this policy has
put many staff members and students on edge and is definitely does not provide
a positive climate at schools at last week's board meeting miss Calhoun made
made comments about tracking, quote, illegal immigrant children, end quote, attending our schools,
and her remarks brought more negative press.
I urge the board to please focus on what you were elected to do,
which is to support all educators, students, and families so that Katy can be an A-plus school district.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Kush Bishapur, followed by Angie Walter.
Hello school board members and Dr. Gorski.
My name is Kush Fajapare and I'm a junior at Jordan High School.
I'm here to talk about agenda item 9.1, electing officers for the 2024 to 2025 Board of Trustees.
Before I begin the content of my speech, I'd like everyone to note something most of us
already know.
In the status quo, KDISD policy is under a federal Title IX investigation.
Said investigation, however, is not the end result of harmful policy, rather the start
of something much bigger to come. Our school board has partaken in consistent
overreach that is the result of certain school board members that are not
interested in the well-being of every KDISD student but instead interested in
furthering a political agenda. Just seven days ago on a Monday similar to this, Ms.
Morgan Calhoun asked the district if they had any ways of tracking the number
of children who are brought to the country illegally and our students in
KDISD. Not only is this question inherently problematic given that Ms.
Ms. Calhoun, who wants to track individual students, doesn't even send her own kids
to KDISD schools.
It is also simply unconstitutional, according to Supreme Court ruling Plyer v. Doe.
Ms. Calhoun, a couple days later, claimed that she didn't mean to overstep.
She was simply asking a question about how to better route budgeting.
However, on the day of the meeting, she posited that the district should further push legislation
that allowed them to monitor students' legal status.
The question is, why?
Why are we obsessed with pushing policies that can only have a negative impact on students?
Policies focused on halting education for illegal immigrants rather than bettering our education for everyone.
These policies are harmful, and the leaders who recommend them cannot receive powerful officer positions.
This is not the sole instance of dogmatic legislation that our school board has consistently tried to further.
Policies like the Gender Policy Act...
and it's supposed to be speaking on certifying the election.
So I'm failing to see what this has to do with the agenda.
Towards the end of my speech, I'll be talking about why certain leaders should be receiving officer positions
and should be elected as vice president.
If you could get to the point of what it has to do with certifying the election, which is 4.2.
If you let me finish and continue with my speech.
Excuse me, excuse me.
I swear towards the end of my speech, you'll understand why this is important.
of the agenda. Instead of electing officers who foster an environment of hatred, who don't
send their own kids to KDISD schools, and who have not taught at schools, some of them
for more than 23 years, instead of electing officers that are focused on furthering their
own dogmatic, violent agenda, we should further elect officers that have non-political motives
and extensive expertise. This is related to the agenda item. Ms. Champagne and Ms. Fox,
who have voted against policies that is rushed, poorly written, and pushed without consultation,
who have had children in KDISD schools, who have worked closely for schools and with schools
within the last 10 years against dogmatic ideas and agendas that some school board members
continue to push.
They are officers that are fit to run a school board.
Our district policy has far too often been centered around exclusivity and controversy,
and it has taken a laborious toll on teachers and staff.
Instead of distributing more work for parents under the guise of parent rights, or trying
to police which students can or cannot go to school under the guise of financial budgeting,
school policy must focus on creating a better and more productive environment
for students and teachers alike. The only way that can happen is if we prioritize
and elect officers that further agendas that prioritize safety and productivity
over autocratic ideals. Thank you.
The next speaker is Andy Walter and I'm gonna say at the outset that when you
you signed up you said that you're speaking on agenda item 4.2 which has to
do with certifying the election yes as opposed to being put in a non agenda
you're put I'm gonna be speaking about miss Fox and miss champagne what's about
certifying the election yes it is they got certified as to win their election
so hi my name hi guys my name is Angie Waller and I'm a KDI SD mom and I've
lived in this deck district for close to 20 years that three children graduate
from our great schools I'm deeply invested in our school board matters I've
attended or watched almost every board meeting for the last 12 years and I've
seen the past year shocking the standard of governance of this board is dropped
significantly shame because you Katie I used to used to be all about excellence
now we're more concerned about books and pronouns I want to thank mrs. Fox mrs.
champagne for running and for the community voting for them as they
continue to fight for our children not just ones that think and look like them
What we have now is a president who doesn't follow the Robert rules of
order that you've seen after he interrupted our students speaking and
this community deserves better. He is consistently rude and demeaning to
fellow board members and it's time for that to stop. We've had
silencing really shut down by the president because he doesn't like what
they have to say during open forum. This board has an obligation to hear
criticism of the board during its meeting and just because the president
and doesn't like what's being said he's ignoring the rules and infringing on their free speech and
frankly this community deserves better our community has shown they are no longer willing
to sit by and allow this behavior to continue we've had the highest voter turnout to date
because we demand a board that respects everyone and during this election mrs fox and miss champaign
received the highest number of votes in past years way to go ladies we have four
inexperienced board members doing their job rather shabbily disrespecting the
experienced board members and calling out things like it's our turn now when
they really should be respectful listen and learn but they refuse to do so this
community deserves better this community deserves a board that has respect for
the legacy handed to them and the democratic principles upon which
operating procedures were established their newer trustees here don't own the
board their custodians and while they serve they have the solemn duty of
advancing the district and the integrity of the board not to tear it down to suit
their needs the way the four fellow board members treated Mrs. Fox and Ms.
Champaign during the election was disgusting that is not the way you treat
people that you have to work with do better congratulations to trustees Fox
and champagne. This community believes in you and is counting on you. My hope is
that the inexperienced members of the board pay attention to what you have to
offer and learn from you because they should have learned by now that our
community expresses they do better. Victor your time is up. Next year we all
come together again to make sure you're voted out. We are done with your antics.
We will stand strong against you and others like you. Thank you.
Marcy Sable.
Marcy Sable.
And after that, Lisa Lister-Brown.
Good evening, President Perez, members of the board, and Superintendent Dr. Gagorski.
I'm here tonight to share some information and speak in support of a pay increase
to help retain the dedicated employees this district is blessed to have.
On the afternoon of February 29, 2024, as I was standing with my teammates in the staff development entrance
providing administrative support to a training for assistant principals,
I noticed flashing lights in the parking lot.
I asked our fabulous security guard, Mr. Johnny Salisbury, to take a look.
As we were returning from the parking lot to the building, a tow truck driver arrived at the first row of handicapped parking and quickly latched on to an employee's car.
Mr. Salisbury contacted the employee who was able to retrieve some personal items before the car was towed away, being repossessed.
Unfortunately for the district, this employee is one who travels between campuses using her personal vehicle to provide support to students.
I think about Lee Cruz, former Morton Ranch High School Principal, Assistant Superintendent, and Chief Operations Officer,
who spent the night in this building during Hurricane Harvey as it took on nearly two feet of water.
He was trying to protect and preserve this building and the assets of the district.
I think about the countless campus principals and district administrators who manned KDISD facilities that were opened as shelters during Hurricane Harvey and the Tax Day flood.
I think about the nutrition and food service staff, the health services staff, and the KDISD police department who worked symbiotically during the pandemic so that meals could be provided to students in a grab-and-go type fashion at designated sites while KDISD campuses were closed.
I think about the technology staff who, while KDISD campuses were closed, went from campus to campus collecting laptops and Chromebooks, which were then distributed to students via a drive-thru arrangement.
I think of the librarians who voluntarily came to the ESC to assist with this distribution.
I think about the maintenance and custodial staff who work diligently to manufacture protective shields, spray and disinfect, and thoroughly clean whatever area the district was being utilized to provide a safe and secure working environment during the pandemic.
Time and again, our employees put their own health and safety on the back burner due to their dedication to this district and its surrounding community.
I'm hopeful the board will take action sooner rather than later on a fair and
modest salary increase thank you thank you
Lisa Lister Brown and then after that we're going to the non-agenda items
Rebecca Swick. My name is Lisa Lister-Brown and I have children in KDISD and like some of you.
Tonight under board agenda item 9 this board will consider and elect officers for the 2024-2025
board of trustees. This is an important decision for the board to make so I'm
going to reiterate comments made by previous speakers. Thank you. There is an
expectation in this community that whoever is elected into a position is
not only capable of fulfilling the role but willing to fulfill the duties of
their role in a way that honours and upholds the legacy that has been set by those who served by
trustees before them and also fulfils the duties in a way that respects this district's policies
and procedures substantial experience counts proven competence counts incompetence should
should also be taken into account when deciding if a particular person is appropriate to hold a certain office.
If, for example, someone has proven that they don't understand or are unwilling to uphold policies relating to the conduct of board meetings,
meetings, they should not be appointed to a role that has them in charge of conducting
board meetings.
Please don't elect somebody into a position that they are likely to embarrass themselves
in or that will bring embarrassment to the district.
Board members and especially board officers should conduct themselves in a way that shows
respect for the legacy from these guys that was handed to them and the
democratic principles that others fought for upon which this board's operating
procedures were established. No person and no group owns this board. Everybody
on the dais who has a vote tonight is a mere custodian. A custodian with the
the solemn duty of advancing the district and the integrity of the institution of the
Board of Trustees, not to tear it down to suit petulant impulses or outside agendas.
So please choose wisely because we are watching.
Thank you.
Rebecca Stewart.
And after that, Shelly Keating.
Welcome.
Hi, my name is Rebecca Slick, and I am a kindergarten teacher in KDISD.
First, I would like to congratulate the board members that were reelected.
Thank you for the service to KDISD.
I grew up in Houston and went to Second Baptist School, K through 12th grade,
but I am a strong advocate for public schools.
I have taught in the public schools for 30 years and the last 19 in KDISD.
This is what I know as a teacher.
I don't care about book bans, gender issues, or my students' immigration status.
None of that matters when I'm teaching.
Teachers care about needing more support for our SPED students and our ESOL population.
Let me repeat that.
We need more support for our SPED students and our ESOL population.
In my classroom, we care that you are kind, that you are respectful, and you treat each
other the same way you want to be treated. I love being a teacher and I
love everything about each child that enters my classroom. As a teacher I have
been disgusted by some board members, their behavior towards each other, the
lack of empathy and respect for each other just makes me sad. You are adults
and you should be role models for the students in KDISD. I understand that we
don't all agree but in public we should treat each other with respect. If you
were a student in my class that is what you would learn. You would learn that
teachers love you and care about you no matter what teachers are watching and
talking about how you for board members act that is one good thing positive that
this board has done teachers are involved thank you dr. Gregor ski for
the support you give staff I'm thankful for Katie I see for the best 19 years of
my teaching career in just a few short days I will retire I will continue to
use my voice for all students teachers and staff because they deserve our best
Thank you.
Thank you.
Kelly Keating, followed by Kelly Waswill.
Good evening.
Thank you, President Perez, members of the board, Dr. Grigorski.
I'm going to try to get through this without a tear.
It's really hard to believe that we are at the end of another school year.
This year is very bittersweet for me because I'm at the end of my term serving as the President of the Katy Council of PTAs.
It's been my favorite volunteer job and it's been my honor to serve in this role.
I'm very proud to say that we started this year with 69 PTAs, all of which obtained good standing with Texas PTA.
We have formed two new PTAs this spring at Nelson Junior High and Friedman High School.
Texas PTA's mission is to make every child's potential a reality by engaging and empowering all families and communities to advocate for all children.
children. This Katy community is a special place with so many wonderful things to offer our students
and our families. I thank you all for your tireless efforts in cultivating this place that we call home.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Kelly Waswell followed by Simon Lin. Welcome.
Hi, I'm Kelly Waswell. In 2023, the Global Threat Assessment shows that child exploitation and abuse keeps escalating worldwide.
The volume of child sexual abuse material reports analyzed by the National Center for Missing and Exploiting Children has increased by 87% since 2019.
In 2020 to 2021, in one year, it escalated by 35%. This is staggering.
One in five girls and one in 20 boys are sexually abused. Over the course of their
lifetime, 28% of the US youth ages 14 to 17 have been sexually
victimized. Children are most vulnerable between the ages of 7 to 13. As a family
teacher and advocate for our children, I worked with sexually abused and
neglected children and I saw firsthand the long-lasting detrimental effects.
Two common themes in every child that I worked with was one, adults failed these children.
They reported it, they went to people they trusted, and their trust was crushed.
Secondly, most importantly, the abusers threatened, coerced, and intimidated these children and
and told them it is their secret.
And the abuse would go on for years.
Keeping secrets from parents is grooming.
Plain and simple, period.
It's grooming.
It is our job to protect our children.
I want to thank the four board members who
voted for the gender policy, which put protections
and safeguards in place for our children.
Three board members voted no and sent a clear message
to parents all across Haiti that they didn't support our God-given parental rights.
In a verbal exchange between President Perez and Mrs. Fox,
Mrs. Fox made it clear she did not support our God-given parental rights.
This is grooming. Grooming.
Please don't interrupt.
interrupt. Our rights. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Simon
Lin followed by Robert Willoughby. Good evening President Perez, trustees and Superintendent
Lieutenant Gwigorski. My name is Simon Lin. I've been a taxpayer and resident of our community
since 1998. I want to congratulate Rebecca and Don for winning the re-election. I think
the election was very spirited, but I really was encouraged by the fact that we had such
a large turnout, right? We had over 40% increase year over year. But I do want to point out
one issue for all of us as a community. The fact that it's only 7% of our population came
out to vote is appalling. Okay? That does not represent the community at large. There's
still 93% of the people out there that their voices for whatever reason didn't come out
to vote. I get it. In May, people don't want to come out and vote. But the fact that 93%
and we sit here and think that's a good idea? That's good enough for us? I don't think so.
I think we need to all do a better job to engage. I'm glad the turnout came out, and I'm glad we
have spirit debates here. That's part of our democracy. That's why my family came from Taiwan.
That's why others came from Venezuela, from communist China, to this country, because they
had an opportunity to speak, to be able to express their opinion. There's freedom of speech. We can
disagree on a lot of issues. We can call each other names and call each other idiots, right?
But we're not going to be thrown into a gulag or into jail, right? And one of the major issues that
we're dealing right now as a community is a budget deficit. I commend Trustee Calhoun for bringing
issues up in our community. I remember in 2011, Rebecca, you remember there, we had a budget cut.
Our fine arts department was decimated because of that. We need to have serious conversations
about that. I'm a business at heart and I know that we need to do the right things.
These are tough choices that you guys, you seven, are having to make for our
community. That's why we elect you. And whether you like the trustee or not, yes,
President Perez is up for reelection next time. Some of us will support him,
some of us won't. That's part of our country. That's what makes America great.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Robert will be followed by Rebecca Trahan.
Dr. Grigorski, Trustees Redmond, Champaign, and Fox, thank you for your time.
My name is Robert Willoughby. Three of my four children graduated from Katy High School.
I have been a resident of this district since 2001.
So to start off, please do not interrupt me, as I do not wish to have a conversation.
This is my time to speak, and I expect you to sit there and listen to what I have to say.
The U.S. and Texas Constitution, HB 2840, and board policies state that I have the right
to properly convey my concerns and even criticize this board should I choose to do so.
I've come before you today to congratulate Trustees Fox and Champaign for receiving the
the most votes in a May school board election, the most votes in KDISD history.
Our community has recognized their value to this board.
The rest of you should do the same.
Being involved in school board elections over a decade,
I have never seen such deceit, fabrication, lies, big money campaigning,
and outside influence as I've seen in the last three cycles. Four of you are
Trojan horses bought and paid for by the politicos. These politicos change their
names, they change their methods and stay hidden in the shadows. Thankfully our
Our community is paying attention.
We see you.
We see what you're doing.
And we see your political partners.
Well, KDISD is not for sale.
Oh, and Victor Perez, you're the next batter up.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
We'll let this right hand followed by Jared Burton.
Thank you Superintendent Gregorski. Thank you to President Perez and the school board.
Good evening board members. My name is Rebecca Trahan and I want to issue a heartfelt congratulations
and way to go to Rebecca Fox and Don Champagne. I want to thank you for running a successful and a
a clean campaign.
You're an example to us all, and we really appreciate that.
On August 28, 2023, everyone on the board, including the superintendent, signed the board
operating procedures.
Included in what everyone signed was the board member creed.
Mr. Perez, it's nothing personal, but last week, when you continuously interrupted Lisa
Lisa Lister Brown, in addition to people tonight, in addition to the entire year, Rebecca Fox and Don Champagne, you violated Section 2.0, Subsection F in the Board Member Creed and the Board Member Code of Ethics, Section 3.0, Section C.
This section, it's actually too long for me to read, so I'll move forward.
In your campaign against Rebecca Fox and Don Champagne, you also violated the Code of Ethics, Section 3.0, Subsection A, B, D, and many others.
others. In your campaign against Fox and Champaign, you are not thinking of the best interests
of the district as the oath requires that you do. You are thinking of your own interests.
When one runs an ill-planned, not thought out campaign against beloved incumbents, the
easy thing to do is to lie about the incumbents and to tear them apart in the media so that
that the people hate them so much that they have no choice but to support your candidates
who don't even have a plan for the district anyways.
You sought to disparage, shame, and humiliate Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Champaign, but the community
saw this, and they did the right thing by rallying behind Fox and Champaign in victory.
If I were up for another fight, I would actually ask for your resignation tonight.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Jared Burton.
Hello Board. My name is Jared Burton. I'm a junior at Tompkins and president of the
School of Sexuality and Gender Alliance Club. Near the beginning of the school year, the board voted
to enact the gender fluidity policy and now as the school year comes to a close although this
heinous policy is still in place there's still been many other small victories to celebrate
since that board meeting in august in february committee members were able to convince most of
the board to vote against sp763 and this month katie residents made their voices heard in the
recent board election re-electing miss fox and miss champaign and showing that extremist candidates
like david olson and donovan campbell even with their out-of-state political action committee
donations and endorsements do not reflect the values of Katie and lastly
the decision of the Department of Education to open an investigation to
Katie ISD for potential title 9 violations and its gender fluidity
policy in response to the complaint filed by seat this this revelation in
addition to the new revisions of title 9 show the tides turning in the struggle
for the safety of our LGBTQ plus students mr. Perez miss Cuzela miss
CMA and miss Calhoun you were elected at a time where everybody's eyes were
turned away from this district you commandeered our schools and pivoted us down a path of bigotry
and hatred but all eyes are on kdisd now the candidates you four endorsed did not make the
cut like you did because you poked a sleeping bear when you started going after your own students
however i would like to thank you for you have cemented my desire to become a teacher and improve
this district so that future students can do something other than this two mondays night two
monday nights a month moving on miss calhoun last meeting you after the district could track how
how many students are illegal immigrants in order to, quote,
understand what we're actually paying for due to budget
deficits facing many Texas districts.
No matter your intention, this statement is telling.
Rather than fight against Governor Abbott, who
withheld billions of dollars in state funding
unless vouchers passed, you have once again instead
taken aim at students.
You cannot call yourself an educator
if you would at first disadvantage your students
before fighting a conservative lawmaker.
Shame on you.
I'm sure you're upset that a simple question elicited
this much of a reaction.
Now imagine how students felt about the reaction
to them asking teachers to call them by their preferred pronouns. To close off my
speech I'd like to congratulate Ms. Fox and Ms. Champagne on their re-election. In
the face of extremism you remain the voice of the students. However I ask that
you continue to learn from and fight for your students throughout your term as
well. You represent us now so please don't let us down. Thank you for your
time. Thank you. Margaret Daniel is next followed by Patty Lacy.
Welcome.
Good evening.
I'd like to praise the Board's courage and clarity in the passage of the Parental Authority
and Gender Fluidity Policy.
As an adult, I find it very difficult to navigate the complexities of our current culture, and
I can't begin to imagine how challenging it must be for our students.
I've heard some misconceptions being discussed in the community that I would like to address.
address. First, our children belong to their families, not to the schools. They are our
children, not yours. They are your students that you have been entrusted to teach and
educate. Parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education, and care
of their children. Second, keeping materials that are sexual or pornographic in nature
out of schools is not book banning. If the material is too salacious to be read aloud
allowed in a board meeting, it does not belong in the school.
Third, the primary role of a school
is to educate and not indoctrinate.
Students in the US have fallen behind other developed
nations.
Public education must focus on imparting knowledge,
fostering critical thinking, and providing the skills students
need for a successful life.
I urge the board to continue to craft policies that
focus on students' academic success
and leave the social cause of the moment out
of the classroom.
All students deserve to have it and I want to say this again and I hope everybody hears me
Because I'm not a hateful person
All students deserve to have a safe supportive and quality education, but that doesn't not include bending the knee to a woke mob
But all students do deserve to have a safe supportive education. Thank you for your time and consideration
Thank you
Patty Lacey and then Claudia Turcotte
Hello
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms on the board.
So happy Mother's Day.
I know tonight's been kind of brutal,
but I'm going to try and be nice.
I'm usually nice.
Anyway, so as we look back on the year,
you guys have been in control for a year
since May of last year.
I just want to review a few things.
Do you think our teachers are happier?
You don't have to answer.
I don't think you're allowed to, actually.
Do you think that the administration is happier?
do you think our students are any happier I venture to guess probably not
so I'm not gonna beat you up I just want you guys to be nice you know just be
nice I am have the pleasure of being with two out of five of my grandbabies
every morning for breakfast and and then I take them to school where they have
amazing teachers one of them spoke tonight but anyway so I asked them this
morning I said guys what do you think that people in charge of our school
school district should be, what do you think they should be like?
Well, much to my chagrin, the first thing they said is they should be like you, Mimi.
So and they see a better side than you all probably think about right now.
But anyway, they said they should be kind, they should be nice, and
they should educate children.
My children, my grand babies, they're super smart.
So my question to you all is, are you?
Are you nice?
Are you nice to our teachers?
Are you nice to each other?
Are you nice to our administrators and the people that are in this room right now?
And if you're not check yourself because that's not okay
And my mother used to say pretty is as pretty does I don't know if y'all know what that means
But basically you can be beautiful on the outside, but if you're rotten on the inside
You're not pretty anymore and with mother's day. It made me think about that
Something else that was said and I know this will sound kind of weird
Maybe but my daughter used to say when someone was being mean she'd say you're making Jesus cry
And so I thought it was really funny, but you know what?
Y'all are making Jesus cry.
Be nice.
Thank you.
Claudia Turcotte, followed by Melissa Ramirez.
Good evening.
I'm here to tell you something you don't hear often enough, and that's thank you.
Oh, and also congratulations to Ms. Fox and Ms. Champagne.
I'm especially grateful that you passed the Parental Authority and Gender Fluidity Act policy last August.
You showed tremendous leadership and courage.
Thank you for not being fence sitters.
True leaders are willing to take decisive action.
And I know this has made you some enemies.
Like, I know currently you're under investigation by the Department of Education of the Biden administration.
And to be very honest with you, I consider that a badge of honor.
I don't think most reasonable people want to be on the side of them at this time.
You've sacrificed a lot in what is largely a very thankless job.
You don't make any money and you're subjected to constant attacks and relentless character assassination
I know you've given up your free time and worked hard to do the right thing for the district. I
Appreciate very much that you are willing to apply basic logic and common sense and crafting this policy
Thank you for not wasting time convening a focus group to tell me things that should be a given
like boys should use the boys bathroom and minor children who request to take
on a completely new name sex and identity can only do so with the
knowledge and consent of their parents how could anyone justify everyone under
the Sun knowing something like that about a child except their parents there
is nothing in this policy that requires further investigation it's simple clear
and straightforward those who make decisions grounded in reality and led by
logic won't oppose this policy. I know the negative voices can seem overwhelming, but
I want to encourage you to stay strong and keep doing what you're doing. You've taken
this on at a great personal cost, and I want to acknowledge the sacrifices that you're
making on behalf of our community. I encourage you to stay the course. We need noble, honorable
people like you who are willing to step up in defense of what is right and just, and
And I'm so grateful that you are willing to give up your comfort and anonymity to make KDISD the best it can be.
I'm going to pray, and I have been praying for a spirit of unity for you all that you may continue.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Melissa Ramirez, followed by Jesus Gamboa.
Welcome.
Thank you.
Good evening.
My name is Melissa Ramirez, and I would like to address the board and the community as a concerned KDIC parent
on behalf of many other concerned parents and students in this district.
I have two children in the district, and as my children are getting older,
I am concerned about how race-related bullying is affecting them.
Many children in this district, including one of my own, have had to endure being called the N-word,
being called monkey, having monkey sounds chanted at them,
and have children pretend to peel bananas at them. I've only shared a few
examples but these behaviors are happening to multiple ethnicities and
cultures. Children are encouraged to report these types of behaviors on the
Speak Up app which I am appreciative for. However, I would like the board to
consider the measures taken to prevent this behavior in all of their schools.
Please do this by incorporating programs that are geared towards the importance
importance of acceptance and inclusion of all races and cultures. While we all should be treated the same, we also need to bridge the gap of understanding and embracing our differences.
This is not an issue isolated to one campus and I ask that you all take a stance against it and consider proactively addressing it.
Many children are tired of reporting because they feel like nothing is being done and it just continues.
use we will not allow our children to be conditioned into thinking this is ever
acceptable until then I will continue to meet with leaders in our zone schools to
advocate for all of our children and I will also continue to appeal to the
community that we need to join efforts of empowering our children to stand up
for what is right all of our children deserve better thank you thank you
Jesus Gamboa followed by Nancy Eddy.
Good evening Board of Trustees and Dr. Rogorski.
My name is Jesus Gamboa and I would like to start off
by congratulating Trustees Rebecca Fox and Don Champagne
on their successful re-election to the school boards.
I'm very thankful for their service to KDISD
and for being strong advocates for public education.
Also, I would like to say that public schools are meant to serve and educate all students,
regardless of whatever background students may have.
It doesn't matter whether they're white, black, brown, or yellow.
It doesn't matter whether they're LGBTQIA+, straight, or non-binary.
It doesn't matter whether they're citizens or immigrants,
whether they're documented or undocumented. It doesn't matter what
religion they practice, whether it's Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism,
etc. Public schools are the lifeline for our community because they provide
everybody with an equal opportunity to get an education so that they can become
good and productive citizens. I hope that our trustees in our community can agree
that fighting for our public schools school district isn't the best interest
of our students our staff and our community thank you for listening thank
you
last speaker tonight is Nancy Eddie welcome mr. president Patrick Gorski and
esteemed board our third president Thomas Jefferson stated I tremble for my
country when I reflect that God is just and that his justice cannot sleep
forever there's been a misconception far too long that has been promoted by those
who would seek to destroy our country and unfortunately this false narrative
has been adopted by the unsuspecting citizenry the idea that that God has no
place in government specifically in the public school system this has led to
to a departure from God's rules, his absolute truth.
As a board, and specifically, Rebecca and Don, as you're being sworn in tonight, I speak
to you, you are accountable first to God and his ways, and then to the families of KDISD
whom you serve.
Beware of loving man's approval more than God's approval.
Reference is John 12, 43.
Stand firm in this resolve.
back in 1962 Supreme Court failed us by electing to remove prayer from schools
and a mere year later the Bible was eliminated in 2002 an atheist lawyer
fought to remove the Pledge of Allegiance fast forward to 2024 where
school board the school board battles are being waged over allowing students
confer confused by their birth sex encouraged to transition behind the
backs of their own parents how far we have fallen it's time to pick ourselves
us up and see where we've fallen. Last month I shared excerpts from the New England Primer
textbook used by our schools during the early years of this nation, taught hand in hand
with the Bible to educate our youth. Look folks, the First Amendment was set in place
to protect the God-given religious rights of the people from the government, not to
protect the government from God. President John Adams said our Constitution was made
only for a moral and religious people it is wholly inadequate for the to govern
any other with that being said it's clear that our founding fathers were
moral and religious and this moral fabric must be restored in our schools
we're going to have any hope of restoring our city on the hill status
our preambles in several states begin we thank you thank you very much this
This concludes the open portion of our meeting.
7. Closed Meeting
The Board will now convene and close the 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.
Thank you.
8. Reconvene from Closed Meeting
The Board will now reconvene and open the meeting.
Today is Monday, May 13, 2024, and the time is 822 p.m.
On behalf of my colleagues, I welcome everyone to today's regular board meeting.
Each board member will receive the agenda and documentation for this meeting on Friday, May 10, 2024.
The board will receive information and recommendations from staff, administration, and the superintendent on these agenda items at tonight's meeting.
Board members will be able to ask questions, receive answers, and should be prepared to take action.
the board has history convened from closed meeting and according to its
chapter 551 of the Texas government code any action arising from decisions in the
closed meeting must be taken in an open meeting first item is 8.1 considered
board action to non renew the term contract of a diagnostic specialist
Rubenica Hamilton board members are there any questions or discussion mr.
Mr. President, I will now retain a motion for this item.
Mr. President, I move that the Board of Trustees authorize administration to approve action to non-renew the term contract of diagnostician specialist Robnica Hamilton after May 15, 2024.
Do I have a second?
I second.
Second.
Chair Greg Musil.
It is moved and seconded that the Board of Trustees authorize the administration to approve
action to non-renew the term contract of a diagnostic specialist, Rubnica Hamilton, after
May 15, 2024.
We will now proceed to vote.
Board members, please record your vote on the screen via your keypad.
The ayes have it and the motion is adopted.
adopted. Item 8.2, consider Board approval of termination of a probationary contract
employee, Stockton Junior High Teacher, Jesserick Levi, for good cause, effective May 13, 2024.
Board members, are there any questions or discussion? Mr. President, I will now entertain
a motion for this item. I move that the Board of Trustees approve of termination of a probationary
contract employees talked to junior high teacher jessrick levi for a good cause effective may 13
2024. do i have a second second it is moved and seconded the board trustees approved determination
of a probationary contract employee stock the junior high teacher
jessrick levi for good cause effective may 13 2024. we will not proceed to vote
board members please record your vote on the screen via your keypad
The ayes have it and the motion is adopted.
9.1 Consider and elect officers for the 2024-2025 Board of Trustees.
The next item is to consider and elect officers for the 2024-2025 Board of Trustees.
Trustees will now move to 9.1 and consider to elect officers.
Nominations are open for the- Mr. President.
Mr. President. Mr. President. Ms. Calhoun. I nominate Victor Perez for the board for the
position of president. The nomination was made by Ms. Calhoun to elect Victor Perez as president.
Are there any other nominations? Mr. President. Ms. Fox. I nominate Lance Redmond for the position
of president. The nomination was made by Ms. Fox to elect Lance Redmond as president.
are there any other nominations the chair will enter a motion to close
nominations mr. president I move that the board closed nominations for the
office of president is there a second second it is moot and seconded that we
close nominations we will not proceed to vote or members please record your vote
on the screen via your keypad well this is this is we're close to close the
nominations we're voting to close the nominations so we will now proceed to
vote board members please record your vote
the motion passes by a 7-0 vote so we've closed nominations a nomination was made
made by Mrs. Calhoun that the board elect Victor Perez
for the Office of President of the Board of Trustees
for the 2024-2025 school year.
Nominees shall be voted on in order
in which they were nominated.
We will not proceed to vote.
Board members, please record your vote
on the screen via your keypad.
Which one?
We're voting in the order in which they were nominated.
The vote is 4-3, so the motion passes by a 4-3 vote.
Mr. President, I nominate Rebecca Fox for the position of Vice President.
Are we not going to that? I don't think we've moved to that.
You can make a motion at any time. It's on the agenda.
And while the nomination was made by Ms. Champagne to elect Rebecca Fox as Vice President, are there any other nominations?
Mr. President, I nominate Amy Thieme for the position of Vice President.
Okay, nomination was made by Ms. Cozella to elect Amy Thieme as Vice President.
Are there any other nominations?
The Chair will now entertain a motion to close nominations.
Mr. President, I move that the Board close nominations for the Office of Vice President.
Do I have a second?
Second.
It is moved and seconded that we close nominations.
We will now proceed to vote and this will be in the order of the nominations which would
mean that we're now voting.
Hold on.
We're voting to close nominations.
We're doing close nominations.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Okay.
Now let's vote indicated on your keypad.
Passes 7-0 so we've closed nominations.
We will now proceed to vote on the screen via your keypad.
This is a vote for Ms. Fox as vice president.
the motion is lost and we will go on to the next person nominated nomination a nomination was made
by miss Cuzela to elect Amy Timmy for the office of vice president of the board of trustees for the
2024 2025 school year we will not proceed to vote board members please
record your vote on screen via your keypad the motion passes by a 43 vote I
will now retain nominations for the position of secretary mr. president I
nominate very young Kusala for the position of secretary mr. president
I also nominate Don Champagne.
The nomination was made by Ms. Calhoun to elect Ms. Cosella as secretary.
Are there other nominations?
Yes, Mr. President.
I nominate Don Champagne for secretary.
Mr. Redmond has nominated Don Champagne to be elected as secretary.
Any other nominations?
The chair will entertain a motion to close nominations.
Nominations.
Mr. President, I move that the Board close nominations for the Office of the Secretary.
Do I have a second?
Second.
It is moved and seconded that we close nominations.
We will not proceed to vote.
Board members, please record your vote on the screen via your keypad.
This is voting for Ms. Cozella.
No, this is to close nominations.
Close nominations, yeah.
Okay, let's vote.
This is to close nominations.
Sorry about that.
Nominations are closed by a vote of 7-0.
The motion passes.
A nomination was made by Ms. Calhoun to elect Ms. Cozella to the Office of Secretary of
the Board for the 2024-2025 school year.
The nominees shall be voted on in the order in which they were nominated.
We will now proceed to vote. Board members please record your vote on the screen via your keypad.
The motion passes by a vote of 4-3.
This concludes the election of Board Officers. We will now move on to the next agenda item.
The next agenda item is report a report 10.1 2022-2024 strategic plan and 2024-2026 strategic plan update.
10.1 2022-2024 Strategic Plan and 2024-2026 Strategic Plan Update
Our presenter is Andrea Grooms, Chief Communications Officer. Welcome.
Thank you. Good evening, President Perez, Trustees, and Superintendent Gwagorski.
I'm here this evening to provide an update on the district's strategic planning process.
The reason I am providing this update this evening is because the district just completed its third
cycle of strategic planning with its community this past spring.
So I'm going to open up by talking about what strategic planning has meant to this school district over the past few years.
We first launched our first strategic plan in 2017 and this district has historically defined strategic planning as a
community-led initiative designed to identify and set priorities with
the goal of focusing resources and energy on the goals set forth by the community and the board
together through a strategic planning process. We have partnered with a TEA approved provider
to facilitate our strategic planning processes, and we've been with that provider since 2017.
That company's name is Engage to Learn. They take a collaborative, community-centered approach that
focuses on aligning teacher and staff work with the vision of both the board and the community
who are charged to move that work forward in terms of the strategic planning vision so i'm going to
show you a couple timelines here and then we're going to talk about the outcomes over the past
seven years of strategic planning what you'll see in the next two slides are timelines that
that highlight our three cycles of strategic planning
in KDISD.
As I mentioned, we launched this process
of strategic planning in 2017.
Every strategic planning cycle begins with a board workshop
that again is facilitated by the TEA approved provider,
which is Engage to Learn.
They sit down with our board and they talk about
what the strategic planning process could look like,
gather feedback on information
that the board may want the strategic planning committee to consider throughout the process.
So in 2017, this is when the district did not have any goals, did not have any beliefs that had been community developed,
and did not have any specific results or also known as objectives.
So it was a charge of the first strategic planning committee of this district to develop all those things.
So this first process that began in 2017 also launched with a community survey
that essentially asked the community to identify its key priorities for students
and student learning. What do they want out of their school district? What do they
want their students to learn? What do they value in the classroom? That survey
was focused, was followed rather by education summits. There were about three
held across the district in which we gathered again qualitative data based on
those survey outcomes and additional information that was discussed and
gathered at those meetings. That was followed by smaller focus groups that were comprised of
various stakeholders throughout our district including staff, parents both non-working and
working, our community business partners, and our faith-based leaders. They also informed the
discussions around the goal making process and the beliefs and the strategic planning.
And then at the end of that process we brought a community group together of about 100 individuals
to start developing the strategic plan for that first cycle of planning.
The members of that team included those who initially volunteered through a survey process,
a survey that went out to the entire community, as well as board nominees.
That process, again, produced about eight goals that focused on everything from safety,
physical and well-being safety, to personalized learning, to operational systems, technology,
technology, and even legislative advocacy. And you'll see those goals in a minute here.
And that team of community members also identified 41 specific results,
or again, objectives that were attached to each of those eight goals.
That first plan was a five-year plan. When it was time for a refresh in 2022, at the end of that
first five-year plan, the board at that time decided to move forward with a two-year plan
plan as opposed to a five-year plan.
Again, that process commenced with a board workshop in which the board provided some
guidance to engage to learn the facilitators who meet with our strategic planning group.
They talked about some criteria, some recommendations, some outcomes they would like to see moving
forward in those discussions with the community planning group.
We also launched the survey again, education summits, and then that group of 100, many
new people along with board nominees came together to take a look at the goals.
They decided to keep the eight goals that were already established in 2017 and they developed 20 new specific results.
In a couple slides here, you'll see what those results were.
In 2023, it was time for us to take a look at the plan again and refresh the plan.
This board decided to move forward with the strategic planning process, again meeting with that TEA-approved provider, Engage to Learn,
who reviewed with the board that time what the process looks like, gathered
feedback to take back to the strategic planning committee which again was a
group of about a hundred individuals that was inclusive of members from
previous planning engagements as well as board nominees. That group
decided to add one new goal so we went from eight goals in 2017 and in the
second cycle to nine goals in this third cycle of strategic planning and you'll
You'll see those goals in a minute here, particularly that new one that was added.
And next year will be our first year of that plan, and we'll talk about with that group.
We'll meet with them again.
We'll give them an update on the first year of the plan, how it's going, gather feedback for any adjustments that need to be made to the second year of that planning process.
So here you can see those nine goals I spoke about.
I know that this board is familiar with the goals, but that new goal that was added by this last strategic planning team, which was this year, has to do with safety.
That team decided it was important to divide the original safety goal into two.
So now you'll see one goal that speaks specifically to the safety of our physical environments.
And then that last goal down there, goal number nine, is safety with regards to student well-being.
And then again, the other goals speak to personalized learning, operational systems, technology,
as well as staff recruitment and retention and so forth.
This next slide, you're going to see some high-level outcomes over the past seven years.
This slide is not reflective of every single specific result that was just mentioned here
because again, we had 41 specific results in the first cycle, 20 in the second, and
then about 20 or so in the third cycle.
But these are some highlighted results that you're probably familiar with because they have high visibility in our school district
So I have six big rocks here that are reflective of our nine goals
I combine some of them for example that safety goal or that safety
Column that first column really combines goal one and goal number nine
But you'll see the speak up app was a result of the strategic planning process
that is the application that allows individuals to anonymously report tips
concerning safety or in criminal activity. We also have the mental health
intervention team or our crisis intervention team that emerged out of
strategic planning and our mental health staff. That second column personalized
learning again just big rocks that merged out that strategic planning
process as you know very well that elementary literacy framework that this
board was very involved in advocating for and moving along dual credit and cte course expansion
and rains academy was rebranded as part of that goal operational systems which is that third
column we had the multi-bell schedule emerge out of that goal i think that was probably our first
maybe second strategic planning cycle that was to create more efficiency with our bus routes and to
account for our shortage of drivers we also had the energy savings program emerge out that goal
and the objectives as well as the smart tags gps system where we're now able to offer parents
opportunity to track whether or not their student actually got on a bus or got off a bus technology
another column you see there we strengthened our cyber security protocols as well as our digital
We're now offering more to both students and staff, which is going to be very important as we move into that class.
As we move into that class one to one initiative beginning that this fall and our single sign on portal for my Katie, which provides greater security on our systems.
Staff recruitment, which is that second to last column teacher salaries.
I know that's very important to this board in the school district, constantly taking a look at that, making sure they're above market median.
The TeamSTRE Mentoring Program was expanded as a part of the strategic planning process.
We now have a culture and climate staff needs survey that is administered on a six-week
basis.
It allows principals and other administrators to take the temperature of what's happening
on their campus, what their staff needs are in real time, and to be able to react to those
needs in real time.
And then we also have the staff e-newsletters. Staff communication was a
highlighted specific result within our first cycle of strategic planning. And
then finally legislative advocacy. Again part of our first cycle and our
second cycle of strategic planning. What came out of that goal? Community and
elected official education campaigns as well as the board legislative priorities
parties, which were established by the boards, and community advocacy initiatives.
All of the goals, as well as the previous strategic plans for those three cycles I mentioned,
are viewable on the KDIC website.
We do have a webpage dedicated just to strategic planning.
All of those specific results that I mentioned from all three cycles are available in report
format if anybody ever wants to take some time to review them and if you have
any questions I'd be happy to answer those right now questions mr. president
mr. Mp dr. grooms thank you so much for your presentation I have a few questions
first of all I'm just curious how long have you been the chief communications
officer I have been with the district since about 2013 not always in the chief
communications officer position because it's interesting to me that this started
in 2017 and were you a part of the development of this process yes okay
that's what I guess that's what I was going to get it because I came in 2018
so that's when I met you and I really appreciate all this I'm sure it's been
some evolution of it as it's gone through and everything and I was just
curious as to what is the name of the K through 12 what is it engaged to learn
engaged to learn so could this survey because I know you use it a lot of times
you know there's this and with the bond committees and things like that and
could this process been used for our teacher recruitment committee so you're
asking about a survey platform yeah because we use for something for
anything like that so engage to learn was the facilitator for the strategic planning process
we do utilize a survey platform for various survey needs throughout throughout the school year and
there is a platform available for that for any survey the district and ministers okay i was
just curious and then what else i want to say um so this down here the culture and climate
thing. So do you know what year that we started using that? Was that in 2021 or so? I want to say
we've been using it for three years now. Okay, 2005. But I will look at the data and make sure
I get you a correct answer. And okay, and I think the other question I would have was probably be
directed more to Dr. Krakorski. Do you think that the teachers are utilizing that survey?
I think the the remember the survey goes for both campuses and for departments
so I think we're getting better use out of it then we have the first couple of
years there's been a concerted effort for that in the data that I can provide
to the board if you want to see rolling averages on the percents on that I can
get that by campus of how many percent of the people that are using the survey
right that's all I have thank you okay any other questions mr. president Fox
Thank You dr. grooms so as I'm looking at their strategic planning outcomes
maybe if you go back a slide and these are just a few examples of the many
many many things we've done over the years I I look through these and I just
think of how impactful these have been to our district to to keep our success growing and going
and so many of them focused on students a lot of them on staff and of course community but just
you know like this improvement and this improvement and this improvement i think the
strategic plan as we devise it has action steps that happen and make us better and i especially
especially appreciate the community engagement piece where everyone builds it based on community needs and what people perceive us to be. And then they come and find out, oh, that's not how that happens. Right. And when they build it, they support it. And I think we've seen that recently. So the student and staff impact here, I think, is great.
great and the listening circles is that also the one that like under legislative advocacy i just
remember listening circles and how we brought in community to listen and a lot of staff to listen
to them and really take their input and so it's just great to look back and see where we were and
i can't wait to see where where we keep going and what things uh we will do to make us better
So I just wanted to reflect on that.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Dr. Grooms.
Thank you very much.
10.2 2023 Health Plan Update
The next item is the 2023 Health Plan Update.
Presenters, Lance Nauman, Director of Risk Management.
Welcome.
Good morning, or good evening, rather.
I'm sorry.
It feels like morning.
Does he sleep like that?
No.
No.
In all sincerity, Dr. Grigorski, President Perez, and Board of Trustees, I'm here to
present this evening our semiannual update on the health plan.
And here is how we're going to proceed this evening, if that's okay.
Plan to present to you sort of our operating results of plan year 2023, how the individual
plans perform, some interests of items related to healthcare, and some key measurements for
us to look at. I'm also going to provide you an update regarding TRS active care and what's going
on in the marketplace there and plan year 2024 regarding current results and some planned
migration issues. You'll see in this slide in plan year 2022, and let me stop right here, in terms
of when I'm talking about reporting, we're talking in plan years, which is a January 1
to December 31.
Plan year 2022, we had an operating loss of $16.8 million.
Plan year 2023, we had an operating loss of $13.7 million.
And then with our consultants in this group here this evening,
we projected to you back in August,
we would have a negative $7.4 million.
Here is the operating results that we finished 2023.
23. We had total plan contributions of 62.2 million. 36.4 was by the district and 25.7 was for contributed by the employees. Medical spend was 52.6. Pharmacy was 23.8. And I would also note in the rebate section, we had we rebated from our pharmacy plan $7.7 million, which was really, really good. And we
you will see we had stop loss and program oversight.
So how do the individual plans perform for us?
We have three plans.
We have the Memorial Hermann ACO, a high-deductible health plan, and a Choice POS-2.
Briefly, the Memorial Hermann ACO is a closed network where employees must stay within the Memorial Hermann system.
system.
The high deductible health plan is obviously a high deductible, but you have open access.
And the Choice POS2 is a very rich plan which has open access to virtually any Memorial
Hermann, Methodist, Texas Children's networks available.
And as you will see, and this has historically been the way things operate, the Memorial
Memorial Hermann ACO is very effective in delivering care where we basically only lost
$243,000.
The high deductible health plan had a $5.1 million loss and the Choice POS II had an
$8.4 million loss.
Since I've been here, the Choice POS has always been the loss leader, always has been.
What do we do on a daily basis, or what does it cost us in the district?
For the cost per covered employee in 2023 was $9,624.
For a covered member, that's staff plus their dependents, cost us $5,425.
On every day of the calendar year, we spent $144,354 in medical expenses, and we spent on pharmacy $44,229.
This is a very interesting slide.
In health care, we manage things by per employee per month, kind of guide us how we're progressing.
You will see that, and I hate to use the C word again, but every health plan, and I think I can speak to that, they would affirm this, that everybody took, we all took a hit in COVID in 21 and 22.
That's just, that's, it is what it is.
But I think it's important to see that if you will look in the medical PEPM, we were at 596 in 21, 577 in 22, and in plan year 23, 556.
So we're starting to see some beginning to see some normalcy back to more stabilization in the plan.
And again, in plan year 21, 156.
Plan year 22, we had a spike at 169, and then we're back down to the 158.
And I think it's also important in terms of measuring some things that we're doing,
if you'll take a look in terms of our virtual medicine offering that we do.
In plan year 21, we had 10,307 virtual visits.
Plan year 2022, we had 9,863.
In plan year 23, we had 16,303.
And I'll speak to that literally down the line, but I think that's attributed to our education of utilizing that tool.
It's a free tool for our employees.
and our goal is to keep our employees in the classroom,
keep them from spending unnecessary money at doctors to refill prescriptions
and things of that nature that are very simple.
So we're moving the ball forward in that regard.
Looking at our large losses, these are losses that are greater than $75,000.
dollars. You'll see in 22 we had 91 and then in 23 we had 107 and the dollar
spent went up by 2.1 million dollars from over year over year and I will also
add to the large losses are very hard to predict, very difficult because these are
the very traumatic incidents people get engaged in whether it be cancer, it be a
serious accident and our goal is to keep the plan and cost and those things that
we can control. This slide just is a reiteration of the premiums that our
employees pay per month. Pharmacy, let's talk about pharmacy for a moment. This
tells some of the things that we're accomplishing. Plan cost net per member
per month we were able to reduce our cost by a negative 8.1 percent this is
excellent when you compare us to the peers our fellow peers you'll see they
were at 129 and we were at $88 so we're doing some really good things there
non-specialty medic medications went up a little bit 5.2 we're still well below
low peers and our specialty PEPM.
These, as I think I referred to these to you on an ongoing basis, I call them our Saturday
morning drugs.
When we're drinking coffee, we're blasted with these specialty meds that are just running
through the roof.
We dropped 17 percent.
And that was a conscious effort and a strategic plan because we were able to put some pre-certification
processes in place, making sure that people who might need Ozempic for diabetes get it for diabetes
as intended purposes and not the weight loss phenomenon that we're seeing. There's some
pre-authorization processes. We never want to restrict medications, but we want to make sure
they're being utilized properly for their use. And I would ask Mr. Harris to speak to what he's
see in the marketplace in terms of GLP-1s, which are your... Well, so really what we're seeing there
is a lot of times if you don't manage your pharmacy, the large pharmacy benefit managers,
they're incentivized for everybody to be medicated on these because of the rebates they get back from
the drug manufacturers. So we're starting to see a trend to where the provider's actually having to
show labs to prove that the person's diabetic instead of giving them these drugs because,
I mean, these drugs are expensive. They'll be $1,500 a month. So you want to make sure that
that they're used accordingly.
The other thing I will say on the plan
costs when we talk about the percent of change with the peer group at 10.6 on pharmacy. Regionally,
we're seeing a pharmacy trend of around 9%. So when you see a pharmacy trend of a negative 8,
that is a really big swing. So what that means is the peer groups, they're not managing their
pharmacy. If you just set it on autopilot, it's going to go up 9 to 11% a year. So what we're
doing here in managing the pharmacy, it is working. Thank you. Let's look at the next little
topic here, and that's the 90-day utilization.
That is where we're able to give our employees those
prescriptions at a 90-day, and it's a cheaper cost for the plan. They can either get it retail
or they can have it home delivery. As you will see, retail
went down a negative 14 percent. Home delivery
went up 14.2 percent.
That is good, and that ties back to that number that I showed you,
virtual medicine, when a person is able to get that 90-day script, we encourage home delivery.
And the also benefit to that is keeping employees in the classroom that we don't incur substitute
costs or other ancillary costs that may be associated with that person or that teacher
or staff member leaving the campus. You will see our rebates went up by 23.5 percent, which is
is really good and the other costs relative to the program were in a good place.
Continue with the pharmacy description.
What we have achieved, I mentioned the pre-authorization process saved us about $9.2 million.
And if you'll pay attention, we've also, I've mentioned before about the pain management,
trying to control the opioid crisis that we've seen.
What we did was we limited, we were sawing in the beginning, just it was a beginning phase where people were getting a 30-day fill.
So we said, wait a minute, we have a crisis on our hands, people getting addicted to those drugs.
We want to make sure people, if they need them, they get them.
But what we did was we reduced it from a 15-day to a 7-day script.
And if they need it, the doctor calls and re-ups the medication.
So you're not wasting pills, but you're also keeping people healthy by not getting addicted to those drugs.
The next point I want to bring out, which is really good, is in plan year 2016, our PMPM was $80.98.
Plan year 23 was $88.79.
So over a period of five or six years, we've almost had like a little over a 1%, 1.2% development trend on pharmacy.
So we're trying the best we can to keep inflation against drugs.
I already mentioned the pharmacy rebates.
The Save on RX program saved us money.
These are backdoor discounts that we can get further deeper in terms of rebates with the manufacturers.
We increased our generic fill rate by 1.7, and then we decreased the specialty medications by 17.6%.
Let's talk a moment about TRS active care.
Each year I try to give you an update, the alternate plan that is available to districts across the state.
Just last week, this is really sort of hot off the press, if you will, TRS announced that in our region, Region 4, they are regionally based priced.
There's 12, I think 12 or 13 different regions they price out.
They will be increasing premiums by 9%.
They're out of pocket across the same plans will typically go up about 7%.
So it's a double whammy there.
Now, what's also interesting is if you're out in West Texas and you're on the HMO, you
will see a 17% premium increase.
And if you're in South Texas, that will go up to 27%.
And as I've mentioned before, in fiscal year 2022, TRS got a funding supplement by the
state for $638 million, and for 23-24, $588 million.
TRS also announced that they will be offering to its retirees dental and vision beginning plan year 2025.
Now, let's talk about the funding for just a little bit further.
With the 9% increase, it is projected, and these are very gross numbers,
that they're still going to need more funding from the legislature to fill that underwriting hole.
plus the 9% premium increase.
And I would remind you all again that KD,
any of the other districts not participating in the self-insured,
that did not participate in KAISD or self-insured
or have a guaranteed cost program,
did not receive any extra funding to support the health plan
of the employees of this district.
district.
This is just a slide for your review of area districts that are self-insured and TRS districts
in our area.
I would bring up, I think I've mentioned this before, the ACA value, which is based on how
good is my plan?
It's based on the Affordable Care Act formula, and we're right in the mix of 76% value, which is a good value for the plan.
This is a very interesting slide.
I mention TRS to you every year, and I also mention that our plan,
we were required to compare our plan to TRS each and every year. In October, am I
correct, October of 23, we were made aware that our plan is now compared to the
state of Texas employees, the ERS system. And I've put together a slide of the
plans that are comparable to and I guess the takeaway that I want you to look at
here is if you look under the column of ERS you can see how much richer the plan
is for the state of Texas how more funding is given to those to that plan
compared to district plans and we were we did the math and we are in compliance
with comparability for our plans but just to point out that it's a little
much richer plan for employees in the state of Texas.
So let's talk about 2024.
Last August, when I came to you,
based on our loss projections that Inns Group had put together actuarially,
we had projected a loss to the plan of a negative $7.4 million.
Through March of this year, we are at a negative $1.8 million.
or I'm sorry, projection-wise, it would be 1.8,
and we're actually at a 2.0.
So we're right in, I guess, right where we thought we would be,
and I'm very optimistic about April's numbers as well,
and we're starting to see some stabilization, if you will,
in terms of that projection.
And I would just say that we're battling inflation,
inflation, and it's a tough go, but we're pulling some levers to make sure that we beat
that.
Plan migration.
We have three plans, and last year we pulled some levers to move employees to a more consumer-driven
health plan, and this exhibit will show you that we had a significant migration from the
POS-2 down through the ACO and then moreover to the high deductible health
plan. These are consumer driven health plans where under the high deductible
employees can acquire an HSA, a health savings account, and they can put money
back pre-tax for that purpose and hedge their hedge their bet in terms of large
losses to their families.
We put together a little exhibit, and if you'll come comment on this, some census demographics about where we see our group of our age and our employees, and what does that mean in terms of risk exposure?
Yeah, the most important thing up here is the demographic risk factor, and this is really key to tie in to what our strategies are around migration analysis, which are the levers we pull that are supposed to drive members towards the high-performing networks.
The three big trends that are going on in the market right now are tightly managed pharmacy, direct primary care, which is what we have in place, and then moving people into the high-performing networks.
So if you look at this population, the demographic risk factor, a one is the norm.
So we use this because our whole job is being able to do the loss pick into the future.
So by understanding the population and what their health risks are, this is really the high-level 30,000-foot view of where we think the population is trending as far as their health.
and then we start backwards from here.
So what are we doing currently?
We are continuing to have the dependent verification process
where you must validate any life-changing events
and that your dependents are set by the rules to be on the plan.
GLP-1 medications, I talked to you a moment ago
just about the Ozymic issue of the world
and the other GLP-1s, we put controls in place for that.
Looking toward January of 25, we will begin to evaluate putting an RFP together for our ASO provider.
We'll go out to the marketplace to evaluate what programs are out there to help manage our health plan.
And this will be basically the mark, the networks, and what pricing that looks like for us.
Something that we're really proud of that we've been able to, that's driving that increased virtual medicine is engaging membership with Healthcare 360.
And this is a program where we reach out to employees with chronic diseases.
diseases, and one might be diabetes, and making sure that our employees are being educated
and are counseled on, is this medication working?
Is there another more affordable medication for you and the health plan that will take
care of what you need?
But if you need other drugs, we'll make sure you get them.
And that's being driven with our virtual medicine provider, ReadyMD, and it's a very successful
program.
Very proud of it.
Cost savings.
What have we done to lower costs to the plan members and to the plan?
This year, we just kicked off this month, eight, nine days ago, a new benefit plan administrator.
That's going to save us $605,000.
We carved out some pharmacy administration, saved us another $232,000.
We eliminated some consulting fees and some communication pieces.
So total hard cost savings for plan year 24 is going to come in at $1.345 million.
And every little bit helps along the way, and these are just some of the big numbers that we were able to pull down for you.
So what are our next steps?
We will wrap up, we will begin looking at, from an underwriting perspective this month,
what our numbers are through the first four months and start determining what we were just discussing about the loss pick.
and starting to see where the plan stands.
And I'll come back to you in July with some plan options that we're looking at,
and then later on in the summer putting together what we look at in terms of premium,
plan design, and what's going on.
So I would entertain any questions if you have any.
I have a question.
Did I see that for this plan, I don't know if you're looking at 23
or we're looking at plan year 2024,
24. We're projecting a loss of about 7.6 to 8 million kind of range. Is that where we're at
right now as far as like what the year looks like? And the year is like January 1 year, correct?
Correct. The loss pick that I presented to you last August was a 7.4, and we're at,
that loss pick right now would be a 1.8, but we're at actual is a 2.0. And I'm very
looking at the high numbers with April, I think we're going to be right on target,
maybe being a little bit ahead of the projection.
So something to keep in mind is we try to build momentum through up to maybe June of cost efficiencies,
and then when people are off, they begin to have those surgeries during the summer months.
We hope to build enough momentum to kind of carry us through the end of the year
and hope that our large losses aren't as severe as we would hope.
So it seems like we're on target with that projection.
Right now is where we stand through March.
We're pretty close to being on target, yes, sir.
The other thing I wanted to, by the way, great on the savings,
$1.3 million you said for this year.
Correct.
It's fantastic, you know, doing that.
And I wonder if you could look at that slide again
that compares us with some of the other districts in the area.
Sure, let me get back to it.
Yes, sir.
What is your takeaway on that, just kind of looking at this?
Well, the takeaway on this is, number one, TRS is continuing to spiral out of control,
very unpredictable.
Premiums are continuing to rise.
eyes. If you will notice on the TRS piece of this, the Tier 4 under the POS model is in sunset.
They're not allowing new employees into that. They have for the past three years. I feel pretty
certain about that. And I mean, for a family under TRS, they would be paying $2,300 a month
in premium to pay for that and it's it's it's unpredictable it's expensive and
it's a it's a risk the other self insured it's basically a function of how
much is contributed to those those tears and and what their loss experience is
Some of them have different networks than we have, and some of them, it's a district
philosophical where we want to put our money deal, but I still think from a value standpoint,
like I said below, we're at a 76.1 of the districts that I'm bringing to you, and these
are the largest districts in our area that we try to compare ourselves to from a value
perspective, you know, richness that we can somewhat get to. We're at the top of
the heap, maybe greater than just right under HISD. But I would also add
too is that something that we've seen happening in the marketplace is that
participation, we were for the last up until two years ago maybe, running at a
a 67 to a seven, almost 70% participation rate. We're down to a 60 and 61%. And I
think that can be attributed to the fact that, uh, during the covid period, we saw
a lot of people, uh, migrating to our plan and we're starting to see a leveling
off of people leaving to seek other coverages, uh, for various reasons. Um,
So that was an interesting takeaway this year in terms of migration that we were talking about.
I will say this.
When we, two years ago, we started the dependent verification process.
And that was a strategic design because, quite frankly, spouses were driving a big spend on our high-dollar claims.
And we wanted to make sure that and I think I said this to the board that the people that could be on the plan
were allowed to be on the plan so we were able to tighten the
legitimacy of some of those people maybe getting off I had had hopes of a
At least a two or three percent we came in like maybe five or six percent of
Peeling off people on the plan
plan, which saves the plan money. It's just making sure that it's fair and it's equitable to everybody.
Thank you. Any questions? Mr. President and Ms. Teeming. Mr. Dallman, I just want to say thank you so much.
I've gotten to spend some time with you going over these numbers, and I know a lot of this is not,
we're in a tight economy and insurance isn't what it used to be. However, it's so much better than
what i have being self-employed with with our company and um not that that makes it perfect but
i just want the public and our board to know how creative you have been and looking at all all
different avenues of ways to save the district money but also save our employees money and it's
important and and it's important to me because uh when when i was um gosh before i had my daughter
Judy scarce at Taylor High School called me and asked me to fill in a whole semester for a half
a day for a teacher whose husband had well it's just a bad situation and so I went in and and I
said well I will do it but I would like to have Katie ISD insurance and she made it happen for
me so I know and I'm grateful to the district for that and it takes a lot of time and effort for
what you're doing and i just i just want you to know that i thank you and i and i see them that
i know it's not maybe what everybody would like right now but i i think you're making strides in
helping our our people and our staff and i that helps our students so thank you very much thank
you for the compliment mr president mr redmond uh thank you mr nalman i had a question and i may not
understand what i'm looking at so if i'm wrong please just tell me okay uh on so on this slide
the district contribution PEPM, does that include like the $20 million loss? Do we average that out
to put that in there or is that just the number we know we're going to donate at the beginning of
the year? No, the fixed contribution that we provide in terms of premium is $385. This number
reflects those deficits that if you'll recall we did not pass those deficit
years those in 21 and 22 we did not fully pass that deficit on to plan
members and if that been the case the premiums would have just been
astronomical but that that number reflects the the fixed PEPM plus the
deficit that the district funded. Gotcha. Thank you. Mr. President? Yes. I have a few
questions thank you for your presentation and I would just like to
also say thank you for all that you do and I know I haven't necessarily met
with you individually but I can just see for month-to-month all that you do and I
really appreciate that so I wanted to find out though on with the well we
could say on this page real quick the one that we're on one of my questions is
is why is Houston so much cheaper?
Is it because they have more people involved?
I think that's a conscious decision in terms of putting more resources
into the PEPM that they contribute.
They contribute more?
They contribute more.
Okay.
That's the only explanation I can give you,
and there may be another embedded in the math in that,
but that's primarily what the reason what it is okay and then also under here i just wonder
from plan to plan whenever they have the employee plus spouse and then you have the employee
plus family it's not that much difference in cost to the person especially when you go to the mhaco
i'm just curious because the employee plus spouse is 822 the employees plus family is 824. so for
For $2 more, they can insure their entire family?
Or is that because there's a difference?
Tier 2 is employee plus spouse only.
Tier 4 is employee plus spouse plus children.
And we try to, when we look at these premiums,
we try to look at where the losses are occurring
and try the best we can to underwrite those tiers
tiers to, in insurance one of the things that we've tried to do is try to break even and
that's where we try to get to that point of where's that sweet spot that we can charge
enough premium to garnish what we think the loss pick would be and make that tier as best
as we can to that break even point as we can.
Does that make sense?
Okay, so that's just, yes it does.
So, can I can I go on with my few questions I have? Let's see. Oh, on this comparison page. I think that it would be good if somehow we could. Is this on the website in our website someplace for employees to see?
No, it's not. And I will tell you this, this is sort of a moving target because each one of these districts will be posting new premiums over the next few months because of different fiscal years and such. So it's a very moving target and it would be hard to update those on it.
Well, the reason why I ask that is because I'm sure that I'm not the only board member that gets these questions.
I get questions about our, you know, why is the cost of ours so much?
And it would be nice to be able to point them to something to say, you know, in comparison to our neighboring districts, you know, we're on target.
You know, we tell them that, but they can't see it.
it. So we do try to, uh, every time employees go through, um, new open enrollment with our HR group,
we try to educate them on, on the plan, the offerings and where, where we stand against
different districts as best we can at that point in time. And it's a lot of people that have been
working here for a while though. You know what I mean? It's not someone that's just been newly
hired it could be someone that's here for 10 years or something and so I don't
know we just get a lot of those questions okay and then let me see there
was something else Oh the one last thing I wanted to say on the demographics page
I'm just curious so in the traditionalist we have three employees
but we have 24 participants.
Let me get...
I just think that's...
So does that mean they're family members?
No, those are individuals.
Here we go.
Those are individuals in that age band.
But there's three employees.
Right.
Who are the other people?
Those would be their dependents.
That's what I'm saying.
So they have, those three people have, so they're average pages.
They're very productive 80-year-olds.
I know, that's what I'm saying.
They're 80 years old, so I could see them each having a spouse,
but I don't know how they could have that many kids.
Well, to be rather frank, the Affordable Care Act went into effect when?
I was going to say six, but it broadened the number of dependents that an employee or a
person may allow.
I mean, it increased it depending on up to age 26.
Yeah, but if you're 80.
Yeah, it happens.
That's a lot of kids.
I know.
I can see that.
A bunch of 80-year-olds.
I mean, I can see one or two, but in other words, there's eight kids each.
And also within that, too, something to think about is not only you have, you know, court-ordered dependents that somebody may have to do adopted children or foster care or any number of circumstances.
So that could be included in that number.
Okay.
It just seems hard.
Grandchildren.
Yeah.
People that age.
Yes.
Okay.
That's all I have.
Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
Mr. President?
Yes, I'm sorry.
Go ahead, Ms. Cuzela.
Hi.
Thank you very much for the wonderful report and that cough savings at the very end.
That was exciting to read.
That is in the plan oversight, right?
That 1.3 savings?
That's the plan oversight that's going down by 1.3?
Yes.
Awesome.
Okay.
I have a question on slide four for 2023.
I was just curious.
You may or may not have already answered this perhaps in a prior meeting, but I just need
need to understand the annual projection.
Was that a loss of $5 million?
And the year-to-date was actually a $13 million loss.
Can you talk to that?
Why was that?
That's over double projected for 2023.
Yes.
Because what happened is, and here's the reason why.
If you think about what happened during COVID,
health care, you had COVID-related issues.
people got really sick from that disease yeah but also the the big cost factor
was the I'm gonna call it the boomerang effect people did not get treated for
their annual checkups and things of that nature so it just continued it was like
okay what was laying in the under the deep deep water and it surfaced up and
that's you think that's primarily oh there was a lot of pent-up demand even
on musculoskeletal because if it wasn't a life-threatening situation you had a meniscus
problem or a back problem you had to put that off so one it was people just not getting their
primary care done it turned into tertiary really bad care i mean that's episodes of care but then
there's a lot of other things that people could live with maybe it's a hernia that needed to get
changed so we saw a long-term trickle-down effect of cove that we're just now starting to come out
of well i just would have thought your projection would have been higher than well when we when we
did the projection we really had no way of being able to what what that because this was new to us
okay so this is year three but okay if you're still chalking it up to coven that's what i
wanted to know we're still we're coming out of it and i hate i hate to bring up the c word but
it's it is what it is okay okay um and we oversee three plans or there's pl sorry three plans that
are um and that's six million uh is that per overall right the oversight costs are roughly
six million for these three plans that we offer and we offer is three plans and industry standards
why three have we ever looked at two because it's six million costs to oversight overseeing
if you look at the the the plans we have the memorial harmon aco which is very consumer driven
We want to give employees that choice to stay within that network.
The high deductible health plan, which allows employees to take control but yet still have
access, and then the POS is just an open access.
This is making sure, as I mentioned earlier, is that we're in compliance from a compatibility
standpoint now with the state of Texas.
We had to be in terms of TRS.
Up until this point, the comparable plan for the POS was TRS Active Care 2, and that's still ongoing with them.
So that is the historical purpose.
Prior to this last, in 2017, we had four plans, and we eliminated one plan.
because they were beginning to look too much alike and we developed the memorial
Herman ACO to combine two plans into one okay all right so short answer you think
we're in good shape with three plans I do and we've and we will as we go over
the summer months we will look at and evaluate all three plans that's just
part of our normal due diligence that we that I'll bring back to you later on in
July and August okay thank you very much well mr. president I agree thank you
very much can we look at slide 10 Express Scripts data slide 10 online
when you say peer who is that how what does that mean a group of peers or that
is higher ed in K through 12 in their book of business got it okay when we go
to 13 this area district comparison data why is sci-fair still at trs look at those numbers i
wonder why they haven't self-funded at this point i i can't answer that uh like everybody used to be
trs almost everyone went to trs and you couldn't get out and now you can and so i see that fort
bend and lamar and houston are self-funded and i mean the numbers are um you know senate bill 14
1944 allowed districts to leave and there were I think just at about 50 districts that elected to leave
TRS
So they're they're seeing a void in terms of
participation there
And I'm I think maybe that's kind of maybe leveled off
because mainly
the districts that left were
were, I can't speak to the exact number, but most of those were somewhat larger districts.
These numbers are double or more than what we pay. So, I mean, it was wise for us not to do TRS
from the very beginning. And I agree with Mrs. Champagne. I would really like to see something
like this online. It could be current-ish, right? Because we hear from teachers all the time saying,
saying, well, my friend in Fort Bend only pays this much,
and they have the co-pay of this much,
and it would be nice to be able to look and compare.
I don't know if that would answer the questions,
but it would be nice to have something there.
I wanted to look at 14, slide 14.
Why?
Oh, the state of Texas.
Let's just all work for the state of Texas
because those prices are incredible.
incredible. Is that because they have so many employees or is that, who is that?
That people who work at University? State of Texas. DPS, Parks and Wildlife, people that work in Austin.
That's how that is funded and you know there are two funding sources. TRS is funded different than the State of Texas.
It doesn't come out of the same pool, but it works differently as I understand.
And it's just much ripper plan.
Probably because of the number of employees, or maybe they just contribute a whole lot more to it.
They contribute a lot more.
Sure.
Because when you look at those numbers, that's exactly what it is.
Okay.
Got it.
Well, good for them, I guess.
Thank you.
Any other questions?
Thank you very much. Really appreciate the information.
11. Consent items
We're now going to move on to the full consent agenda.
A 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.
The board shall be furnished with background material for each item.
Consent agenda items shall be grouped together under one action item.
All items should be acted upon by one vote without separate discussion,
unless a board member requests that an item be withdrawn for individual consideration.
This per BE legal, BE local.
Are there any items, any of the consent agenda items,
that board members would like to remove from the consent agenda?
I would like to remove one, please.
It's 11.2.
Consider board approval of the May 2024 budget amendments.
Okay, so we're going to remove that one for a question and to vote on it separately.
Hard question.
Okay.
Mr. President, I also have a question on 11.2.
Okay.
All right, well, let's go ahead and we'll go ahead and ask the question.
And then we'll move on the rest of the consent agenda.
Okay, so my question has to do with something that I have not seen in the budget,
which is do what is the budget that we have set aside for the our outside
council that we've hired the board hired what is the budget for that
magic in the legal oh is it in the legal I don't I don't have that in my it's not
in my budget it is does there is outside council fees that fall under the
superintendent's budget the general superintendent's budget we have been um to the extent that we use
outside counsel for the board we have been paying at it from those funds so it do they
is there a limit to how much we can spend on that on that lawyer i mean we have general limits i
think of three to five hundred thousand dollars in that area we never we never get far that far down
But you're talking about things related to construction and outside law firms that you use outside law firms generally
Different firms are our
Attorney that we've hired mr. Brush. He is within that
300,000 so we kind of have a limitless amount of money to spend on him up to 300,000
Well, we have again we have an outside counsel budget and to the extent that we've used him which has been very limited
thus far, it would have come out of that outside counsel fund.
Can I find out how much we've spent on that attorney?
You can.
I can get that number to you.
I would love to have that information.
And also, could I get a breakdown of what the expenses are for?
Absolutely.
So, because I know that there's various things that he might be doing that I'm not aware of.
As a board member, I'd like to know that information.
I get the board invoices for that. That's not a problem.
Yeah, and I think one thing to be aware of is that that firm does other work for the district.
Correct, but we have different billing codes from that firm.
It's pretty easy to go in and figure out what is board council and what is construction council.
All right, thank you very much.
Ms. Cozzella?
Thank you, Mr. President.
I just wanted to have clarification on the Amendment 22, which was an amendment for $800,000 more to cover for the rest of the school year to transport homeless students.
And at the time, I did not realize how many students, nor did I know what, remember, what was originally allocated.
So just to be clear, we're spending $1.9 million for this school year with this budget amendment of $800,000 to transport 431 homeless students.
Is that how I understand?
Is that correct?
Yes, ma'am.
So the 431 is a total number of kids transported this school year from different time periods.
Not all 431 are current.
Okay.
Okay, but this school year, we had 431 cases of transport for homeless students.
Yes, ma'am.
And we spent, with this amendment, if it's passed, of $800,000, we will have spent close to $2 million transporting them.
Yes, ma'am, and that includes until August 31st of next school year.
Okay, I just wanted to clarify that. Thank you.
And then I think, correct me if I'm wrong, we get reimbursed only $100,000 of that.
I'm going to defer to Mr. Smith on that. He's got the right number on that.
We do receive about $120,000 of McKinney-Vento funds that come from the federal.
Those are not spent on these expenses.
Those are not applied to this expense.
Those are other homeless expenses that those go to.
And then private transportation through the funding formulas with the state does generate around $50,000 or $60,000.
dollars that goes towards it but but that's it right so that's two million then that we could
be putting in the classroom or into our general fund because we're not being reimbursed for that
correct that is correct okay that's why i wanted to highlight that and be very clear it's just 432
homeless kids okay thank you thank you uh board members i will now entertain a motion i'm sorry
I just want to have one more clarifying question. That's 432 kids or 432 times that they're transported?
No, ma'am. It's children.
Children.
It's kind of hard to explain because it's a really moving target.
These are 431 kiddos that at some point this school year have been transported on a car service or on a bus or whatever.
It could be one student was on the service for a week.
It could be one student was on that service for three or four months. So it's it's four hundred and thirty one individual kids
Mr.. President may ask clarifying question
Are the students generally on there like an entire school year or is it generally a temporary?
While they're like I said, it's such a moving target and miss gazelle. I saw your questions today
It's it's so hard to nail down what actually causes it because again, you'll have one family who's on it for a week
There may be four kids in that family and and we're not charged four times
Because of one car and then other times you'll have one student who might be on it for you know for a longer period of time
McKee and her team do a great job trying to manage it all and and you know and really trying to do what's best for
Kids, but it is an expensive proposition when we're talking about taking kiddos
uh to and from sci-fi so not only are there kiddos that live in kdisd who's
who's whose district of origin is outside so they we may take them to their school we also have
kiddos that are living outside the district that that we uh that that then we partner with that
school district to to bring them in so um lots of lots of moving pieces and it is an expensive
proposition while expensive it's still um because i asked the very questions last week about that
if it's a long-term process, it may be best for the student to find a transition thing,
opportunity, but if it's short-term, it really is just better for kids to be near their friends and
to have some consistency in their lives, and so if it's a few weeks or something, I understand.
Yeah, I will say, to clarify, the 432 kids, those are kids that are McKinney-Vento homeless kids
that qualify for kdisd and get transportation into the district that does not include the kid that
may be homeless that lives in kdisd that we have to transport to sci-fair which is why ted's saying
that numbers really we could probably get it to you but it's a it's a changing number
i see that nikia coy has walked up i wonder if she has some things that do you have anything you
you want to add to this to help us to help us understand it better on the needs of the children
in long-term versus short-term.
And I just want everyone to understand
that as far as school of origin,
the presumption is to be made
that the school of origin is in their best interest.
It specifically says we cannot look at distance
or the time of the commute as a sole rationale
for that best interest decision.
But we do have communication with campuses.
if grades start to fall, if students are absent habitually,
we definitely do have those conversations with parents
and looking at if it would be in their best interest
to kind of go to school closer to where they are.
Just thinking about sometimes it's one thing
if a kiddo moves once,
but sometimes they move three, four, five times in a year,
and to have to go to three, four, five different schools,
that's kind of where that burden happens with those kids.
Mr. President, a follow-up, please.
So it's not really something that we have much say over.
Like if they're habitually absent,
we're sending a car and it's coming back empty,
maybe some of that. But for the most part, this is a federal law that we do because we're required
to. It does. And, you know, the McKinney-Vento grant program, we have social workers that reach
out to families if there's lots of absences. They do try to figure out exactly why there are
absences. There's people in our department now that have been added to the no-show list. So if
If a family hasn't shown up for their ride several times in a row, the social workers are reaching out to them.
And then we're also talking about trying to have more communication with those outside districts so that they are aware of their no-shows.
And so just try to make a collaborative effort to reduce costs.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Anything else on that?
I will now entertain a motion for the consent agenda.
Mr. President.
Mr. Redmond.
I move that the Board of Trustees approves the consent agenda for items 11.1 through 11.12.
Do I have a second?
Second.
Second.
It is moved and seconded that the Board of Trustees approves the consent agenda for items 11.1 through 11.12.
We'll now take a vote.
If we could use your keypad.
And the consent agenda is approved 7-0.
We now move on to the...
Mr. President, before we move on, I would really like to call a point of privilege before we move on to the next item, if that's okay.
What is that about?
It was in relation to some comments that I made last week.
I didn't want to pull it out of consent and address it because we already talked about the individual item itself.
So I'd like to make comments towards some of the issues that have sprung up from our prior board meeting.
I think if it's in response to the open forum, I don't think we can do that right now.
Okay.
12.1 Discuss and consider approval of a compensation increase for the 2024- 2025 school year.
We're moving on to discuss and consider approval of a compensation increase for 2024-2025 school year.
And I'm going to go ahead and get the discussion rolling on that.
And I know that everyone is anxious to hear about raises,
especially in this difficult environment that we're in.
And we know, I know how important it is to, that we take care of our teachers and staff.
They're so critical to our success.
Last week we had on the agenda a report by Mr. Smith on the status of the 2024-2025 budget,
and update that he gave us appreciate that the budget work is still in process
with final approval to come by the board in August not on the agenda last week
where compensation increases that was because the board had not yet had the
opportunity to hear from mr. Smith ask questions and discuss where we stood on
the budget I felt it was premature to discuss or commit to a specific number
on raises last week.
Additionally, as I stated, the Board,
through the Finance Committee, needed to,
I felt, a bit more homework.
This past week, Ms. Teamey and myself
had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Smith and staff
as a follow-up and to clarify certain items
and ask additional questions,
and thank you, Mr. Smith, for your time,
and Mr. Hines and Ms. Rios.
And so that's why we have the,
and so we have the compensation issue about raises on the agenda for this week.
And we know that every dollar of raises puts the district into deficit as it uses our fund balance.
Fortunately, we have a healthy fund balance, which provides us with some flexibility.
I think as we look at the numbers in this current year that we're in,
and the next fiscal year there's some good news based on some of the things we heard from Mr. Smith last week,
First, as he discussed in the work study meeting last week, instead of incurring an 8.1 million
deficit this year for the official budget, which we have in front of us, the official
budget for this current year, it appears we have a good shot at actually breaking even
or slightly positive for the year ended this year in August of 24.
Part of this comes from underspending vis-a-vis the budget.
So this means we'll be starting the year roughly with $8 to $10 million or so ahead in fund balance versus a projected budget.
In other words, we won't have eaten into the fund balance this year at all, which is great.
That would help to more than offset the use of fund balance of $7.6 million, which is the deficit that's currently now in the budget for next year, for this coming year, $7.6 million deficit.
So starting out plus in terms of not using general fund balance would actually help in maintaining our fund balance healthy throughout next year.
year, which means it looks like our fund balance as a percentage of operating expenses will
be around, I think, somewhere around 34 percent starting with the year, which I think, again,
is a very healthy fund balance.
Add to that the great budgeting work that Mr. Smith and his staff do, it looks like
there's also some upside for next year, 2024, 2025, again, due to potential underspending,
including potential student gains and enrollment and a charge settlement, which may be received next year after a formal appeal.
So these items, these are all good things as we look at raises.
These items increase my comfort level with where we'll be at at the end of next year, all of which are the potential, it appears,
and again this is all it appears in calculations etc of which all of which
are the potential to wipe out the projected deficit for next year and
possibly generate a positive income for next year before raises after taking
everything mr. Tima and I learned from our meeting last week which again was
very helpful and appreciate this very capable staff and the time we spent with
them, I'm actually comfortable with proposing a raise of 3% across the board, not 2%, but
3%.
You may recall last week it was suggested that we adopt a 2% raise, and I was not ready
to commit to 2%.
Every 1% raise costs $7.3 million.
Now, 5.4 million of that, or 74% of that is for teacher pay, which includes teachers,
ICs, art facilitators, and librarians and nurses.
This group is like 7,500 employees.
However, for an additional 600,000 per 1%, we can cover all hourly employees.
And an additional 550 includes positions like counselors, LSSPs, LSSPs, social workers,
workers, etc. So the total cost of raises then would be right at 21.9 million versus
the 14.7 with just a 14.6 with just a 2% raise. So even with this, to me it appears that our
fund balance as a percentage of operating expenses may still end up around 31, 32% for
next year at the end of next year which is still healthy so in this environment
with still a stubbornly high rate of inflation that we're all living with it
would be great if we great if we can in this environment approve a 3% across the
board for all teachers and staff and it is part of our strategic plan with
regard to staff recruitment and retention so I really would like to
to throw that out, propose that,
that we look at the 3% raise across the board
because I think, thank goodness
for the great financial management
that we have in this district.
We have a healthy fund balance
and even another 7.3 million,
I think, shaves maybe 0.6 or 0.7% off our fund balance,
something in that neighborhood.
So I think it's something, you know,
we have that flexibility and it's something uh that we should try to do mr president uh
miss teaming are you i'm sorry are you done yes i cut you off no that's fine okay um well i just
wanted to say thank you for your work as a former cfo i think those that skill set has helped us
get to this point where we could do something that most districts are not doing right now
Spring Branch is eliminating entire departments.
CyFair, I just want to say CyFair in the community impact,
my husband and his sister-in-law are CyFair graduates.
And on April the 30th, they stated that staff reduction is inevitable
when almost 90% of the budget is allocated to personnel, which ours is 88%.
And that was by Leslie Francis, Assistant Superintendent for Communication and Community Relations.
And she sent that in an email on April 29th.
And these are the positions that are being impacted in SciFair.
Budget reductions, 50 librarians, 320 teachers, 66 campus paraprofessionals and support staff,
staff, 150 district and campus level administrators and professional support staff, 60 operations
positions and 21 maintenance positions.
So not only are we not eliminating, but we are giving a 3% raise.
And again, that's because of the work that the finance, the finance team, Mr. Smith and
his team have given us so much time to look at the numbers, to ask a lot of questions.
I apologize for all the meetings, but it's because they've been willing to work with us.
And I just kudos to y'all.
I appreciate your time.
And we are very comfortable with this.
And I'm excited that we are a district that is giving raises instead of eliminating.
So, Mr. President.
I move that we give a 3% raise in compensation to all KDISD staff for the 2024-2025 school year.
Do I hear a second?
Second.
Okay, let's go ahead and we have a motion and we have a second
to vote on increasing salaries across the board by 3%.
Mr. President, this is the time for us to also ask questions.
So I have a question.
What, so I have a comment first.
First, I know, but please, no heavy sighs here, but when I came to this board 18 years ago,
that board that I joined had been already building a fund balance, right,
putting things away for times when it was going to be tough.
And since that time, boards have continued to add to that as we go.
And so I think that's certainly the difference between us and Cyphair.
Maybe they don't have that to look at the way we do.
And for it to be 34%, 35% is really healthy.
And I appreciate you recognizing that, Mr. President.
Last week when Chris Smith said that we had contributed, I believe, to the fund balance last year, he said $26 million.
And I thought, well, that's 3% right there.
If we wanted to go that much, but not sure that that would be acceptable.
I am very happy to hear you say 3%.
And I'm happy that we can give our hardworking staff that.
My question is, what exactly did you learn from last week to this week that you weren't ready to be there last week?
Well, so basically, it's a matter of asking questions about what might be some positive surprises in the budget,
what might we have in there that could help us get comfortable with approving a deficit
and then approving a bigger deficit with raises, things that could come our way both in the year we're in
and in the year that we're budgeting.
So basically to get comfortable with just the overall scenario and they shared with us
some of the some of the possible negatives, but some of the possible positives and we just
Increase our confidence level in terms of that. Hey, we can we have enough flexibility and there's enough good things out there
That could that would help us in terms of maintaining a healthy fund balance even though
We're gonna run a big deficit for a while this coming year
And knowing that the legislature is going to meet in January and hopefully get a quick turnaround on releasing those funds to us, I feel comfortable with that too.
I wish that those conversations would have happened here and your questions would have happened here so we could all hear them.
And maybe in a more transparent way that I appreciate the committee, but when two people hear something and then we hear it a week later.
And and I might just also say that when you were hesitant last week
And you said you wanted time to do more homework. I
Appreciate that but I wanted more time to do homework on the gender fluidity policy and it was denied
So I just want to once again point out the hypocrisy of what's good for thee, but not for me
This is finance our Finance Committee. We meet at least once a month with
Mr.. Smith and his staff. Thank you very much. We meet prior to every work-study meeting
This week this month we met twice work-study meeting and then before the regular meeting because again in the work-study meeting
He presented for the first time he's presented other variations of the budget earlier
But he presented for the first time what it was looking like
So we had a good presentation from him last week
That was not the time in my view to jump on and say yeah, we're gonna do
If we had if we had done that we would now be approving a 2% raise
Okay, so I wanted to take the time to drill down a little bit more ask a few questions. We took I think one hour
meeting to ask more questions and just get more comfortable with a few things and then we're able to increase our comfort level to recommend
3% and and hopefully everybody's comfortable with that and we can get it done
What questions couldn't be asked in this meeting last week? Well, because I maybe I'm slow. I need to sit down with
with an Excel spreadsheet, I need to ask questions,
I need to write down questions, and not do it right here.
I didn't have all my questions ready for in the meeting.
It sounded to me like you were ready to, you were done.
I asked the superintendent what he was comfortable with
and he said 2%.
So, and I know he's very familiar with the numbers.
And I know that you meet with them every month, and I didn't understand why one more week.
Do you have an issue with what we did?
I don't understand what the problem is.
Yes, I have an issue with the fact that you said you needed more homework when you meet with them every month
and how you didn't know what the numbers were.
You know what, Mr. Perez, I'm just thankful that we are able to deliver a 3% over a 2%.
I am as well.
I am as well.
I didn't understand the more homework.
Are we ready to take a vote?
I have a thing to say too.
So I'm on the finance committee, and so the week before that,
I know I couldn't come this week because actually I went out of town on Wednesday,
and that was kind of a last-minute meeting,
and I tried to schedule all the meetings in advance.
But the week before that, we met with them for, well, I left early,
but I heard it was two and a half hours.
And so that's a really long time,
and actually the information that we get isn't different from what we get here.
I know it's a deeper dive into it, obviously.
We don't spend two and a half hours with him here.
But I just want to state for the record that I feel that Mr. Smith and his team are very transparent.
No question.
Well, I just want to make the statement that his team is very transparent.
Any information that we need is always given to us in the board meetings.
And I feel like it's good for the community, not just for the seven of us board members.
So I'm not just talking about what we need to see, but all the whole community should be able to see and hear all the questions that are asked at each one of the committee meetings, actually, so that we're being fully transparent.
And I believe that that is actually a goal of yours, Mr. Perez, to be transparent.
Who's not being transparent?
Well, when you meet and spend two and a half plus another hour, three and a half hours on finance.
The idea with this committee is that it helps the board to do its work.
By having a few of the board members spend more time drilling down,
and it helps the board in its oversight responsibility,
and it's an extension of the board.
Obviously, just to do homework, do some due diligence, et cetera,
as boards need to do.
That's all it is.
All right, and just the last thing I want to say is,
Because no matter, you have a mile of money, no matter what you do to the money, you could
put it in different categories, you could put it over here, put it over there, but it's
still going to be the same amount of money.
I appreciate the fact that you came up with a 3%, because I think that that's a really
exciting raise to offer to people.
But the amount of money didn't change, no matter how many times you meet with them.
But I would say, what?
Well, here's the thing.
There's a budget and it's hard a lot of times for an outsider to kind of like understand what all is in the budget, what's not in the budget, what's in the budget.
Did we consider this? Did we consider that?
What's the upside? Could we see some good surprises?
These are the kind of questions we ask. That's all.
And they're being totally transparent with me, with us.
We appreciated that. They're very open with us.
And as we learned about some things, some risks, some good things, we said, hey, this looks good.
I mean, I think we have the potential to beat the budget both this year and next year.
So we feel comfortable with giving more in raises.
That's really what we're talking about.
That's the process we went through.
And I don't know what else to say.
Mr. President.
Mr. Redman.
Thank you to you and Ms. Teamee and Dr. Gorski for 3%.
I love it.
One thing we did in previous years was when they did the presentation last week,
they modeled a 1, 2, or 3% so we can just see.
It might be a helpful thing this upcoming year.
But I have one question.
Mr. Smith, in the past we've used your lose sleep at night gut feeling on moving forward
when it's coming to deficit budget.
you shared before about a 2% deficit that you would not lose sleep over it
while obviously still being conservative and respectful of our finances 3% budget
feel the same 3% deficit if we're going to our 3% increase leading to that
yeah I'll sleep at night okay I think that it's gonna make it that much more important that
Austin does what it needs to do to to get things back on track because they don't it's gonna make
it tough but I think they will thank you thank you we have a motion and we second and we second
Mr. President, last question.
So does the superintendent attend the meetings, and was he, Superintendent Gorgorski, you're 3% comfortable with the 3% raise?
You've done this many times.
Yeah, if this board is comfortable with it, I'm comfortable.
He attends the meetings as well.
well if I may mr. Perez if I could just seek some clarification before you guys
vote on this one because I heard a motion but it was a little unclear on
how we've done these in the past I just want to make sure in the past we've made
recommendations of a three or a percentage raise from the midpoint of
the pay grades I don't know if that's the intention of this board but I want
to make sure that's on the record accurately so when mr shuss does the compensation plan and does
those things that he'll bring forward in june to the board that he has those numbers accurate for
the board so yeah it was not it was not stated in the script that way but correct so but yes
whatever percentage rate the board passes tonight would be from the midpoint for the employees the
The other thing I think it would be wise that we consider when we do this raise for employees is, and Ms. Fox brought it up, that possibly the ledge could get together and do something.
I don't know if they will, and I have no idea of knowing what they will do.
But sometimes when the legislature does meet, they put raises statutorily into those raises.
So I think it'd be wise for us just to consider that if the state came by later and did something with dollars, that the raises we're talking about today would be included in the statutory required raise.
Because that could be a bit more devastating to our budget if we passed a raise and then had to do something statutorily.
Does that make sense to the board?
That's a good point.
We discussed that in our finance meeting last week.
Yes, we did.
Yep.
Mr. Dr. Gorski do we need we've had that written out into the motion before? Do we need to have something like that attached to this?
Or is just speaking it here good enough? I think speaking to it here would meet that requirement because now it's on the record and part of our record.
But I would also further recommend that when Mr. Schuss develops the compensation plan, that he puts that language in our compensation plan.
And then that way, when we adopt the plan in June, that would put it into writing.
into writing.
Okay.
So what I'm understanding is this 3% raise is a little bit banking on the legislature
to bring us some, to release some of the funds that they're holding, and so that will make
us more whole.
Is that correct, Mr. President?
So just like Dr. Gorgorski said, if they come back and say, give every teacher this much
raise, we're doing it preemptively.
so that they'll know we'll do it we'll give it to them at the beginning of the school year and
if they bring it in january or february retroactively we will have already included
it is that is that layman terms what you're saying dr gregorski i think that sums it up yes yeah i
guess my view is that if if uh nothing happens from this legislature then definitely the next
budget year obviously would be a real tough one okay and that and we're
counting on the state doing something particularly for the for the 2526 budget
year I'm based on what I see I'm I'm comfortable with where we are today for
this coming budget here in terms of coming out of the budget year in August
of 25 with a reasonable fund balance
as a percentage of operating expenses,
like in the 30s still.
But in so doing, I just want to completely understand
if the ledge releases money in January or February
or early in their session,
is that money going to go back to our fund balance
and replenish what we're taking out to give to teachers?
the three percent or is that going to go directly to teachers in addition to the three percent i
think what you're saying is that we're not double no we're not doubling up in terms of the three
percent plus whatever the state does just to be clear for the yeah i'd be cautious of saying we
can do three percent go into our fund balance to do that next budget year and then if any new
monies come in give that money away as well without knowing how many dollars are coming in
so that's why i say it's best to say any future raise we were giving is inclusive of what the
state would give us just in case not knowing what that figure would be but always the board could
decide with new information to do something different should the board want to do that
dependent on that new information mr. resident mr. Redmond so essentially if
they put new money to us we could increase it but we're not guaranteed to
do that if it puts us in a bad financial situation so we maintain being
conservative financially and not dig ourselves into a hole that future boards
have to take themselves out of and then we have to pass it on to our employees
but instead hopefully they come around and say we have to do a 10% raise and
and they give us all the money and don't put any strings attached to it.
I really thought they were going to come through this last legislative session,
but maybe this next time they will.
Okay, we will now proceed to vote.
Board members, please record your vote on the screen via your keypad.
The motion carries 7-0. Thank you.
13.1 Board Committee Updates
The next item is Board Committee Updates.
I just kind of gave you a quick update on the Finance Committee that we met the week before the work study.
And we met last week as well on the Finance Committee.
Ms. Grisella, do you want to mention anything on the Policy Committee?
Yes.
So for the Policy Committee, I just want to mention we haven't met since,
but we do have a couple of upcoming meetings on the next couple of weeks.
We're going to talk about the cell phone policy.
have a discussion on that and then a separate discussion on key takeaways from the discipline circles that Ms. Sherry Ashhorn did with our campus leadership.
That's all I have.
And the Academic Performance Committee would meet quarterly.
Our next meeting is July 17th.
Okay.
And I have a question.
I'm sorry.
Go ahead.
I have a question.
Our statement, I guess I want to say, is I remember when we started these committees,
I think when you first became president, well, we were talking about it, I think, before
you became president, and you and I were talking about it and saying it was a good idea to
have these subcommittees and all this, and I did too.
But now I'm having kind of second thoughts about this.
I know it's not my decision.
I know it's your decision.
You're the president.
But I just want to say that sometimes I think that things aren't very transparent with the community within these budget, I mean, in all of these committees.
I'm grateful to be on a committee, but a lot of these things used to be worked out and open from the dais.
And I think it lent into more community buy-in with that.
But if you're not interested in that, then I, that's not my call, that's your call, you're
the president.
But I just wanted to say, for example, for the policy committee, you know, we worked
on it together on the dais.
And sometimes it would take months and months to do, but we had buy-in from the administration,
from the community, and we, public people would come and speak at open forum.
And together as a community and as an administration with the superintendent, we would put together
other policies.
And again, with the finance committee,
I'm grateful to be on that committee,
but a lot of the information we do get here in the meeting,
and it is transparent to the public.
And if you have other questions or other ways to look at it,
I think that that could be another thing
that the whole community might benefit from hearing.
Because maybe they don't, you are a CFO,
so you see things in a different way than other people.
And maybe they would like to hear
your thought process on that.
And the academic committee, the same.
So I think it's a great committee,
but some of those things could also be
worked out and open
together.
I just wanted to put that
I appreciate the committees, I appreciate
the work and the extra time that people put into
doing that. I don't want to take away from
the value of that.
I just wanted to state
what I think about that. Thank you
for the opportunity to say that.
Mr. President, can I make a comment? I would suggest
what also board president Perez brought was our two meetings a month together
with these committees which is an incredible benefit for transparency and
for the public so we have and the public has a whole you as a board have Friday
before the work-study to look at documents ask questions at any moment in
time together then also at the work-study meeting then a whole week
after that before we vote so I think that's a beautiful way of bringing up
and discussing things as a board the committee's are extremely efficient I
think it helps us get work done more efficiently and we bring the product of
that committee to the public and to the board to discuss together okay so they
applaud you president Perez for also the two two meetings a month may I please
Please say something about that.
I had been wanting to go back to those two meetings,
but then you and I talked about that a lot your first year when you were new,
that that was a goal of mine to get the second meeting back
because we used to have that all the time in my first year.
I love the sigh.
But I just wanted to say that in the policy committee,
in that gender committee, the gender policy is the only one I can address
because that is a recent thing that has been brought up a hundred times during
my campaign and one of the misconceptions is that I had ten days in
between to do something about that well here's the problem I did email the
president but I can't talk to other people because I'd be breaking open a
meeting sack and I think a lot of people don't understand that if the three
people have already met and then we're also talking to the president I can't
then call also call mrs. Calhoun I can't call miss Timmy I can't call this
Ms. Cozella, I'm limited to the people I've already talked to and the president.
So there is a big misconception that we're able to do anything in the interim.
So we can't do anything other than what we've done at the work study,
and then we have a week between that we can email the president, which we could do,
and then we come back to the regular meeting,
and we can listen to all the people talk and have their input,
but we really can't do anything about it other than try to influence the president
in the one week in between, and that's all we can really do.
And you may also discuss it very well at the work-study meeting
and be prepared for that meeting as best you can.
And that's the best way to work it.
I think we could have contacted the attorney.
Okay, you know what?
Let's not go.
We're getting off topic here.
I mean, we're going back.
Okay.
Anybody else have anything?
I have a question, Mr. President.
So I just really am not trying to be difficult.
I'm just wondering, when are we going to get the data for the teacher survey committee?
Because we have been told that today is day 10 for a public information request.
I sent you an email on that, but let me answer that question.
It is my understanding that legal counsel is seeking an attorney general opinion about
whether some, we have a PIR, about whether some documents may be confidential and exempt
from public disclosure.
And separately with respect to your request as a board member, the information requested
is being assembled and will be provided to board members soon.
But with regard to the PIR, the legal counsel is seeking an attorney general opinion about
whether some documents may be confidential and exempt from public disclosure and which legal
counsel is doing that uh that is uh jonathan brush jonathan brush so why are we spending
taxpayer money on a second attorney when our in-house attorney has already spent hours and
hours gathering the data that was available i assume he was gathering his staff was gathering
the data that's within KDISD, the emails, all the things have been requested.
Why would we hire outside counsel to work on a PIR and spend taxpayer money twice?
In this particular case, I felt it was the best thing to do.
Why?
That's not really an answer.
That's all I'm answering right now in terms of the PIR,
because we're asking for an attorney general opinion.
And was our counsel going to do the same thing?
I'm sorry was was was Mr Graham going to ask for an attorney general opinion? I don't know. I believe he said he was.
So, so I understand not releasing that to the public until the attorney general has had it, but this board is entitled to information that everyone has. We're entitled to see all of that and not wait for an attorney general opinion. Okay.
Okay.
When will we see it?
It's in our policy.
It is forthcoming.
It is forthcoming.
I know, but we asked about it a week and a half ago or so.
And so we're not supposed to have to wait to get information as a board member.
We have equal access to all information.
So we don't have to wait for an attorney general.
No, you're not waiting on the attorney general.
What are we waiting on?
It's being put together.
If you already did the survey, why do you have to put it together?
It just seems like it would already be together.
I mean, it just seems, I'm sorry, a little bit fishy if you already did the survey, but it's not together.
You know, like the things weren't organized.
There's not like a kind of an organized file, something that's put together with these are the surveys that we did.
I saw the questions, by the way.
But this is the information that was compiled, and this is how we compiled it.
It seems like it would already have been done before the presentation was given.
And you've already sent things to the attorney.
Why can't we see what was sent to the attorney?
I don't understand how a presentation could be done if the information isn't compiled.
You will get that.
Okay.
Anything else on board committee updates?
13.2 Recap of Board member requests for information.
We have a recap of more member requests.
Did we capture any requests from the board?
Is that me now?
Yes.
Okay.
So I'm the new secretary, so I apologize if I missed a couple of things.
But Dawn Champagne had mentioned she wanted from Dr. Grooms.
I might not have noted this well because I didn't catch it quickly.
But a culture and climate, you had a culture and climate question.
And then you also asked for ruling averages of the percent of use of the survey.
from dr gregorski okay uh then also uh both don champaign and rebecca fox asked for uh i don't
know if this is a direct aspect of lance nauman for the health plan plan comparison to be shared
with staff or some sort of comparison to be offered for staff for us to use perhaps on the
website uh and then don champaign separately asked um how much was spent on the board's outside
outside Council I didn't get a time frame for that year to date or and as she wanted to know on what
and that's what I got for tonight
14. Future Meetings
okay uh we will have a uh the board will have a workshop meeting on Monday June 3rd 2024 and we
also will have a work study meeting on June 17th and we will have a regular board meeting on June
June 24th, 2024.
There being no further business for the board,
this meeting is adjourned.
The time is 1017.
Official documents
Motions and votes
Recorded actions
MOTION 001 · AGENDA 4.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees canvasses the results of the May 4, 2024, Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees Election as reported by the Central Counting Station and declares the winners of each position as follows: Position 6, Rebecca Fox, and Position 7, Dawn Champagne.
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 4.2
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees certifies the May 4, 2024 Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees election for Positions 6 and 7, whereby Rebecca Fox for Position 6, and Dawn Champagne for Position 7 were duly elected.
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 8.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees Board of Trustees authorize administration to approve action to non-renew the term contract of diagnostic specialist Robneika Hamilton after May 15, 2024.
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 8.2
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve of termination of a probationary contract employee, Stockdick Junior High teacher, Jesrick Levy, for good cause, effective May 13, 2024.
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 11.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve of the 2025-2025 School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) representatives.
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 11.2
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's May 2024 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 007 · AGENDA 11.3
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's March 2024 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 008 · AGENDA 11.4
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the Interlocal Agreement with Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) for the provision of occupational, physical, and music therapy for the period of August 16, 2024 through August 15, 2025.
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 11.5
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the Interlocal Agreement with the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) for specialized services at the Academic Behavior School West.
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 11.6
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the 2024-2025 Student Accident Insurance proposal for UIL Events as well as catastrophic coverage proposed by The Brokerage Store. This proposal is year 2 of a previously approved 3-year option.
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 11.7
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the additional department staffing needed to address growth for the 2024 - 2025 school year as recommended by the superintendent.
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 11.8
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the 2024 - 2025 Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) Second Appraisers.
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 11.9
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards a contract to Stewart Builders, LLC for the renovation to Bear Creek Elementary School for a fee not to exceed 2% of the cost of the work including pre-construction services totaling $25,000.
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 11.10
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the design associated with the classroom addition to Pattison Elementary School as depicted in the design presentation prepared by VLK Architects, Inc. dated May 6, 2024.
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 015 · AGENDA 11.11
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards a contract to Stewart Builders, LLC for the renovations to the Franz Road Storage Building in the amount of $1,000,000 and approves the total project cost not to exceed $1,449,800.
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 016 · AGENDA 11.12
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the minutes for the April 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 017 · AGENDA 12.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves of a 3 percent of the mid-point compensation increase for teachers and for non-teacher pay groups for the 2024-2025 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 |