Noting that a quorum is present, I hereby call this regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of Katy Independent School District to order.
Katy ISD · Regular Board Meeting Agenda
Katy ISD Regular Board Meeting, September 23, 2024
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In this meeting
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- 0:00 to 10:18 1. Call to Order
- 10:18 to 14:54 3. Recognitions
- 14:54 to 18:10 4. Oath of Office
- 18:10 to 41:43 5. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
- 41:43 to 48:17 9.20 Consider naming part of a facility at Cinco Ranch High School in honor of Coach Gary Derks.
- 48:17 to 48:50 6. Closed Meeting
- 48:50 to 50:15 7. Reconvene from Closed Meeting
- 50:15 to 1:01:25 8.1 Katy Independent School District Education Foundation Annual Report.
- 1:01:25 to 1:40:27 8.2 Academic Presentation - Miller Career Technology Center – Providing RealWorld Experiences while Preparing Students for Successful Careers
- 1:40:27 to 1:41:41 9. Consent Agenda
- 1:41:41 to 1:57:12 10.1 Discuss and consider Board approval of nominating candidates for positions on the Board of Directors for the Harris Central Appraisal District.
- 1:57:12 to 1:59:43 10.2 Discuss and consider Board adoption of the 2024-2025 Maintenance and Operations Tax Rate and the 2024-2025 Debt Service Tax Rate.
- 1:59:43 to 2:01:03 11.1 Board Committee Updates
- 2:01:03 to 2:02:11 12. Future Meetings
Full transcript
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1. Call to Order
Today is Monday, September 23rd, and the time is 5 p.m.
Dr. Gorkorski, will you verify that we are in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act with regard to the notice for this meeting?
Mr. Perez, I do confirm we are in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act for our meeting tonight.
thank you uh and now we'll have the pledge of allegiance you bet so we have some special guests
with us here today uh from jinks elementary school we have parker levin fifth grader at maydale jinks
principals out there renee canalis parents stacy levin and jason levin has some siblings over at
tompkins high school addison and haley and parker has been a jinx jaguar since kindergarten he's
actively involved in church activities a member of Scout Pack 106 where he is
currently an AOL rank member of the safety patrol and the instrument
ensemble jam and Jags Parker is also a member of the Jenks choir which was one
of our four Texas elementary choirs invited to sing at the state music
conference this school year favorite subjects math and science and from mrs.
Davis and miss Adams Parker is an exceptional student who always strives
to do his best sets a positive example for others and goes out of his way to be kind to everyone
parker's positive energy is infectious we have no doubt he will continue to excel and make a
positive impact wherever he goes and from joe ellen busby parker is all around great kid he's
kind respectful polite and hard-working parker is an outstanding role model to others i know he will
do great things so in a moment we're going to bring parker up before we bring him up we want
to also introduce our seven lakes high school trumpet quintet who will be performing the
national anthem following the pledges so here from seven lakes high school along with their principal
carrie finneson and their music director john mays you have uh five seniors out there kai alcastad
Michael Georges, Zarek Halium, Jack Kenny, Brandon Petrino, and from their director,
a message here that tonight we have a very special feature for you. We are proud to present five of
our outstanding senior trumpet players from the Seven Lakes High School Spartan Band. These
dedicated musicians have been instrumental in our band program, making significant contributions
across multiple ensembles these five exceptional students embody the spirit
and dedication of the seven lakes band program their hard work and talent have
been integral to our success and have a left a lasting impact on our music
community so let's go ahead and invite our pledge leader up we'll start with
the pledges and then go to the national anthem
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.
I honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to the Texas, one state under God, one enemy
Thank you.
. . .
© BF-WATCH TV 2021
© BF-WATCH TV 2021
Good evening President Perez, board members, and Superintendent Gregorski.
My name is Parker Levin. I'm a fifth grader at Jinx Elementary. I've been a Jinx Jaguar since kindergarten.
My favorite thing about Jinx Elementary is how everyone is excited to come to school every day.
I'm so lucky to have so many great teachers over the past six years.
With their influence combined with the influence from my parents, I want to be a second grade math and science teacher.
I want to create fun lessons and experiments for my future students so they love math and science like I do.
I love helping teachers and others. Thank you for giving me the honor of representing my school.
I hope you have a wonderful meeting and a blessed year.
You did such a great job.
It was a pleasure meeting you when I was at Jinx Elementary last week.
You met me with your principal, and you were just very impressive.
And you know what I'm most excited about?
That you want to be a teacher.
Would you promise to come work for TDI State?
Right, Dr. Gregorski?
You bet.
Okay.
I love that.
And you're so positive, and everyone at school says that and thinks that,
and you're so confident here and takes courage just being in front of a group
right and you just did great because that's you're such a strong leader this
is such a certificate that we give to everyone who says this pledge at a school board meeting and there are not very many probably nine or ten a year and so congratulations on being one of the chosen
this very own piggy bank. Okay now we're gonna take a picture.
And your sister is in the conference band, right?
Thank you.
Congratulations.
Thank you so much.
laughter
not only later, not only much later. Congratulations for your success.
Everybody is really proud of you. You just gave it up.
A lot of work to do, a lot of practice, a lot of work to do today. Thank you so much.
I want to thank you. A lot of you, as well as Katie, I see you represent
KU really well. Thank you so much. You love the book.
Yes.
Yes.
3. Recognitions
As Mr. Perez makes his way back up to the dais here, I want to go ahead and move forward.
Next up, we have some recognitions we're going to take care of tonight.
And at this time, I'd like to introduce Rachel Ross, General Manager of Media Relations,
for our recognitions portion of tonight's meeting.
Good evening President Perez, Trustees and Superintendent Graborski.
Tonight is the evening for Seven Lakes High School to shine.
We are excited and pleased to recognize Alan Shue, a student athlete who won the Class
6A Boys State Tennis Tournament.
Here to introduce him is Coach Lance Carter, Executive Director of Athletics.
Good evening President Perez, Trustees and Superintendent Graborski.
Congratulations to Alan, his family, and the coaching staff at Seven Lakes High School.
At this time I'd like to ask that Coach Bramlett, Campus Coordinator Jimmy Hammond, Principal
Kerry Fennison, and Assistant Athletic Director in Charge of Tennis Kyle Green please come
forward to be recognized.
Thank you.
Thank you, Coach Carter, and congratulations, Alan.
This past May, the Seven Lakes High School UIL academic team won the state championship.
It was Seven Lakes' first academic state championship and only the second for KDSD since 2007.
The academic state champion is comprised of categories including the following, in which the team earned top honors.
6A Computer Science, 6A Speech Team, and 6A Spelling.
With us tonight are the three team members who are available to attend this evening.
Victor Liu, Anthony Lee, and Tejas Morali.
Joining them are Heidi Bruce, the journalism coach, Josh Andrews and Faith Claus, the math coaches,
Kaylin Kaebler and Bryce Piotrowski, the speech and debate coaches,
and Paul Stroud, the UIO academic coordinator and computer science and spelling coach,
and also Principal Carrie Finneson.
Thank you.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
All right, here we go.
And three, two, one.
Zero.
Three, two, one.
And three, two.
One more.
And three, two.
Congratulations.
Congratulations.
Congratulations to you all on this accomplishment.
And this concludes the recognition portion of the meeting.
I think this is a time where we ask if we have any scouts in the audience.
Any scouts?
We had a couple of scouts last week.
All right, no scouts and now we have some
4. Oath of Office
Yeah, we're gonna administer oath of office Henry God chief of police you'll come down and take care of that for us
Good evening, Dr. Gorski, President Perez, Board of Trustees. Tonight we have the pleasure of swearing in. Should have been two, but unfortunately one of them is not feeling well tonight, but we do have Jessalyn Vinko here with us tonight.
night. So also just in Vinko graduated from Cypress Lakes High School in 2019.
She then graduated from Lone Star College with her associates degree in
criminal justice in May of 2022. And also Vinko's family. There are law
enforcement officers, military and health care professionals which
influenced her decision to pursue community service. Also, Vinko's is the
second born of three girls where two of them chose law enforcement and the
and the last one chose to go into the medical field.
She then joined University of Houston Downtown's
Police Academy and graduated in April 15th of this year
and started here in KDISD shortly thereafter.
In this part, her sister doesn't know about,
Officer Vinko is proud to be able to work
alongside her older sister,
Officer Kayla Aldava,
who has always been her biggest inspiration.
So tonight to pin her badge is her sister, Officer Kayla Aldava, alongside with her parents also.
Raise your right hand.
You have to meet. I state your name.
I definitely do. You solemnly swear.
I will faithfully execute the duties
of the Office of Peace Officer
of the Office of Peace Officer
of the Acadian-Pendant School District
of the State of Texas and will
to the best of my ability
to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect, and defend
the Constitution and laws
of the United States
and of this state,
so help me God.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
5. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
At this time, the board of trustees will give members of the public an opportunity to speak
in accordance with KDISD board policy BED local.
local. As defined by board policy, speakers who signed up by 2 p.m. on Monday, September
23, 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 assigned to speak on non-agenda items, and
I believe all the speakers signed up on non-agenda items, will be allowed three minutes to speak.
If a speaker is not finished speaking at the end of their allotted time, the audio will
turn off. If speakers wish to share written material with the Board, please provide 10
copies to the Secretary of 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 551.074 and 551.08721,
the Board will not permit the presentation of personally identifiable information regarding
a student and will not discuss the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment duties,
discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee to hear a complaint or charge
against an officer or employee. Should a speaker wish to address one of these
issues they must do so through the appropriate local grievance policies
F&G local, DGBA local, CKE local or GF local. Our speakers will be called
forward in the order they signed up to speak. Our first speaker tonight is
Rishonow Dumbar.
After that, Yarrow Sledge.
Welcome.
Good afternoon.
I was inspired to address this board and parents after my son complained about being punished
because other students were talking during lunch.
When children are allowed during lunches, the school has a policy, the elementary school
has a policy of making all students remain completely silent during the next day's lunch
or for several days of lunch if their behavior continues.
My son is very quiet and his teachers usually have to convince him to be more vocal.
After discussing my concern with the principal, she explained the reason for this policy and
said, quote, we are a team here and he needs to take one for the team.
I responded to her saying he's not going to take one if he's not guilty for something he's not guilty of doing.
I told her this policy reminds me of what happens in our prisons, gangs, and is also a strategy used by child abusers.
I was unable to convince the principal to change this policy at the end of our conversation.
I thought in America, you were innocent until proven guilty.
I guess we lose our God-given rights and constitutional rights if we are children or if we're in the public school system.
During my conversation with the principal, she said, I was, quote, I was nice enough to open it up for you to have lunch one day a week with your son.
I'm sorry, but I don't blindly trust every teacher to be a nice person.
I've heard too many stories of teachers and principals abusing children in schools.
During COVID, schools were giving out vaccines to our children without permission in certain states.
I'm one of those parents who likes to stop by randomly to make sure the schools know I'm watching how they treat my son.
I'm also asking this board to allow parents to have lunches with their children every school day if they want
If they want the school also needs to change
I believe needs to change the policy of making parents come inside the building with identification when children are just a few minutes late
I believe this policy lacks empathy for parents
Most parents are in a hurry to drive to work and his policy cause could cause him to be late
I'm also asking you to address school traffic
I suggest the school investigate a way to speed up traffic. My suggestion to resolve this problem is adding more lanes
I know the school will probably say they don't have the funds
I say schools always have the money for sports and other things they esteem
But they never seem to have funds to accommodate parents
My final concern is regarding buses not picking up children who live closer to school
We live about a mile away from school
and if I was unable to if I was not able to drop off my children the school would
expect them to walk in this hundred plus degrees heat to save money this policy
lacks concern for the safety of our children board members please be aware
that I am NOT only bringing complaints I'm willing to personally help you
discover new ways to accommodate parents parents I have observed how the public
school system have ostracized parents from decisions made about our children
We are at fault for allowing others to make life-impacting decisions about our children without our input.
If we start making these schools get our approval...
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Our next speaker, Yarrow Sledge, followed by Lisa Lister-Brown.
Welcome.
Good evening, President Perez, Dr. Gagorski, members of the board, and staff.
Tonight I will be speaking for a junior high teacher who is not able to be here.
House Bill 1605 became effective fall of the 24-25 school year, introducing certain teacher protections.
The Texas Education Agency Frequently Asked Questions page for House Bill 1605
has specified updates to the Texas Education Code that protect teachers in the following ways.
For school systems that have adopted instructional materials that include detailed lesson plans,
teachers are not required to turn in weekly lesson plans, Texas Education Code Section 11.164.
Teachers cannot be required to use biweekly planning time to create initial instruction materials
unless there is a supplemental duty agreement with the teacher, Texas Education Code Section 21.4045.
Additionally, regarding requiring meetings such as PLC during protected planning times
as described in Texas Education Agency section 21.404, the frequently asked question states
the district may not require attendance at these meetings.
However, campuses like Adams Junior High are requiring teachers to turn in daily lesson
plans with nine components in addition to long-range planning documents with about 12
components.
components. Teachers must also complete six weeks calendars and weekly newsletters. This all appears to contradict the Paperwork Reduction Act and House Bill 1605. Teachers have also been required to attend multiple meetings during their protected planning time since the school year has begun. Based on these observations, staff would like to know what steps this board will be taking to implement the House Bill 1605 throughout the district to help ensure that all teachers receive essential support by minimizing the paperwork and
and safeguarding planning times thank you thank you very much
lisa lister brown followed by sarah adkins
my name is lisa lister brown i'm a kd isd parent and i'm addressing last month's board decision
to ban all books about transgender issues other than those that are against
transgender people in all our schools except in high schools where access to
such books is allowed with parental permission only even if the student is
over the age of 18. The justification for this censorship is parental rights and
protection of children. What I have learnt about the parental rights
movement is that it serves to privilege the views of a certain small but vocal
demographic of our society. It privileges the views of people who think, pray and
often look like they do. It silences and demonizes the rest. I'm shocked that
people think a book can turn a person trans. Let's get our facts straight. There
There is no record of a single KDIS student ever turning trans because of a book.
So why is this book ban so necessary?
Let's get real.
There is no scientific evidence to prove that a book can turn a person trans.
And frankly, there never will be.
Because it's a misconception to believe that a book can turn a person trans.
Or that people turn trans at all.
Nobody turns trans. A book won't turn a person trans. Trans people existed before books existed.
And it's never been a social contagion. Because the real trans experience is and always has been a biological reality, not a trend.
One person can't turn another person trans because, and this is because, people are born trans or they aren't.
It's about what happens in the womb. There is no choice in it.
Some people realise for themselves early in life that they're trans, some people realise it later on.
Some people may never realise it and they sadly never live authentically the way God intended when they were knit in the womb.
But trans is the way some people are made, not what they turn into, not what they choose to be.
If people only believe what transphobic people say, they will never understand this fact and their perceptions about what trans is will always be wrong.
For those who only believe what transphobic people say, you'll never understand how harmful
book bans like this are to children and their education, and they will suffer while you
are not ironically announcing how protective of children you are.
This book ban is nothing more than an attempt at thought control, and I'm not alone in
condoning it.
Thought control and prejudice is un-American.
Please stop it.
Please reverse it.
Thank you.
Sarah Adkins, followed by Jared Burton.
Welcome.
Hello.
My name is Sarah Adkins.
I'm a Caney resident and the mother of two elementary age students.
This is my first time speaking.
I'm very nervous.
Please bear with me.
As a concerned parent, I need to start by speaking on my personal upbringing in order to achieve my point.
There was not a moment in my childhood where I doubted Jesus' love for me,
thanks largely in part to my parents' example, devotion, and faith.
I grew up with the joyful confidence that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
I grew up with the deep knowledge that I was specifically known in my mother's womb,
that I could go to the deepest, darkest part of the sea,
and I would still be known and loved for who I am.
Because I am made in God's image.
A relationship with God is a relationship with God.
Jesus was knitted into every fiber of my bones. My name is Sarah Adkins. I am a mother. I am a
Katie resident. I am non-binary and I am trans. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. The Katie ISD
book ban restricting literature that mentions experiences like mine may have the face of
protecting children, but that face is duplicitous and the impact is harm. The Bible tells me
that the kingdom of heaven there is no man or woman,
for we are all one in Jesus Christ.
It doesn't take high critical thinking to conclude
that the kingdom of heaven exists outside of the binary.
How weak is your faith that you let fear feed you lies
against precious members of your community?
Is your God not bigger than the binary?
The banning of books mentioning gender identity and the trans experience
is a denial of that love, redemption, and power that Jesus promised all of us.
It rejects the kingdom of heaven.
At no point in time in my childhood was I exposed to LGBTQ plus literature.
That did not change who I have always been.
No book can change who I am.
Simply put, the banning of books that speak on trans existence is cowardly, ignorant, and unchristian.
I am no threat to your children, and age-appropriate literature is no threat to your children.
You're limiting yourself, your community, your hearts, and your souls, and taking all of our children down with you.
KDISD, the damage you are doing to the community you are trusted with educating is shameful, unchristian, and un-American.
educate yourself educate our children do better be better thank you thank you
Jared Burton followed by Amanda beard
welcome good afternoon board my name is Jared Burton I'm a senior at Hopkins and
president of the school of sexuality and gender alliance club last month in a sorely disappointing
vote one which could only be explained by the vitriolic lies and pressure exerted by four
members of this board a discriminatory library policy was put into place it was absolutely
disheartening to see that certain members only voted a certain way in order to avoid the
harassment they would otherwise face by other members of supporters these kinds of indirect
intimidation tactics have no place in our schools and i hope that come election time in may
you will respect your opponents and run a more responsible campaign than what we
saw earlier this year. More on the policy, persuaded more by people ranting on
about prescription medicine and cultural Marxism or traveling speakers who give
the same speech to school boards around the state, the board showed its other
utter disregard for the voices of its students, its teachers, its librarians, and
the people who are actually affected by this policy. In the haste of trying to
read as many vulgar book excerpts as possible to create the illusion of an
actual point. People who supported this policy showed exactly why such a policy
is pointless. Before reading these excerpts they informed any parents that
they may remove their children from the room if they so please due to the
material that they'll be reading. Does that sound familiar? Before the policy and even
now parents can already monitor all of their kids library checkouts and prevent
them, prohibit them from checking out books with certain themes and content.
While I don't necessarily agree entirely with this approach, the option is still there for those who seek such a resolution.
If this room were a library last month, those speakers wouldn't have even been allowed to read those books out loud.
Instead, the best option was giving the parent the choice to remove their children.
This policy only provides the illusion of parental rights by creating a new problem and then offering parents a solution.
With that said, I'd like to shift my attention to Ms. Cuzzella.
A couple days after last month's meeting, you reposted a tweet by the Libs of TikTok account on your official KDISD Facebook account.
This tweet praised a speaker who came here from out of district and put the spotlight on this room to a national audience.
For those unaware, Libs of TikTok is a social media account run by Chaya Raichik who highlights wokeness, especially in schools.
Last year, this same account made a post falsely claiming that a local LGBTQ plus affirming institution was directly linked to and part of KDISD, leading to a flood of negative comments and harassment on district social media pages, which led to KDISD accounts having to shut off replies because of the sheer volume of attacks.
In many cases, the people and places highlighted by Chaya Reichick are faced with harassment and bomb threats, including schools like ours.
Ms. Cuzela, shame on you. You could have very well put your students, the people you serve, in immense danger.
I am disappointed beyond words because I expect even you to uphold a certain level of professionalism, but maybe I give you too much credit.
You must do better, if not for the physical safety of students who may disagree with you, then for the approval of the parents who trust you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Amanda Beard, followed by Tana Weiss.
Welcome.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for granting me the opportunity
to address you today.
As a concerned resident of the Lakehouse community,
I stand before you to express not only my own sentiment,
but also the collective opposition
of our neighborhood regarding the proposed rezoning that
would designate lake house for elementary school number 48. allow me to draw attention to the
historical zoning changes our neighborhood has experienced when our community was first
established we were thoughtfully zoned for bryant elementary kd junior high and katie high school
many of us made significant purchasing decisions based on this zoning arrangement
choices that might have been different had we been aware of the subsequent changes to provide context
text. August 2021, we underwent rezoning to Haskett Junior High. August 22, our zoning shifted to
Robertson Elementary. August 2024, we were rezoned to Freeman High School and anticipated in August
2025 yet another rezoning looms, this time to elementary school number 48. Notably, the proposed
August 2025 rezoning would mark our third elementary school assignment within a relatively
short span. Consistent routines in a stable environment are crucial to the
healthy development of elementary age students. Predictable schedules, familiar
surroundings, and supportive relationships foster a sense of security,
enabling children to focus on learning, socializing, and emotional growth. Now let
us dive into the critical issues surrounding this rezoning proposal. First,
I'd like to focus on this traffic and safety concerns. Our neighborhood already
contends with traffic congestion during peak hours. The proposed rezoning would
exacerbate this issue potentially leading to gridlock near the school entrance and surrounding
streets it is essential to recognize that our neighbor neighborhood has limited exits all of
which lead to the same street already burdened by congestion the proposed rezoning would force us to
rely even more extensively on this congested route with no viable alternative pass from our
neighborhood to the new school safety is paramount moreover the safety of our children who would need
to walk to school cannot be overstated increased traffic poses risk to their well-being and we
cannot compromise their safety our neighborhood has faced numerous issues with clay road before
during and after its new construction yet there remains no safe path for our children to walk or
bike to elementary number 48. additionally existing schools in our area are already operating at or
above capacity elementary 48 as projected by enrollment statistics surpasses the enrollment
numbers of the elementary school we currently attend. Overcrowded classrooms
affect the quality of education, teacher-student ratios, and overall
learning experience. In conclusion, I urge you to consider the long-term
consequences of rezoning. Let us preserve the unique fabric of our community,
prioritize safety, and protect our property values. Together, we can find an
alternative solution that benefits both the education and neighborhood without
compromising either. Thank you for your attention, and I implore you to vote
against this possible rezoning thank you thank you very much our final speaker tonight is tana weiss
good evening dr gregorski and board my name is tana weiss i'm speaking tonight on the invitations
extended by the quad to radical right activists to appear and speak at our board meetings
people who do not live in our district, people who do not have children in our
district, people who do not have a stake in our schools, people who come in wearing
Moms for Liberty t-shirts, people who pose in front of our KDISD logo behind
you and fundraise off their social media pages because they've spoken against
whatever you invited them to speak against, people that I've witnessed two
two of you personally, greeting, shaking hands, and thanking.
It's despicable and beyond offensive.
Sadly, gone are the days where board members actually worked on agenda items
that benefited our staff and students.
Gone are the days where community members didn't have to watch board members
post disgusting videos, attacks on their social media of KDISD,
then declare they aren't responsible for any of it,
and it does not reflect on their board duties.
Gone are the days where board members didn't ask far-right activists to attack colleagues,
calling into question their Christianity.
I'm wondering how many of the Quad knows that Mr. Redmond actually launched a church
and was associate pastor at that church.
How many of you know he was a youth pastor prior to that?
How many of you don't care and just want people to attack him
so you can possibly elect another minion for your causes.
Creating committees to chair and sit on does not equate to action.
Creating controversial policies to discuss and debate,
what a hot mess those meetings descend into during those debates,
and then declare yourselves the victors, pun not intended.
Because you have the majority vote does not mean you are doing anything positive for this district.
You are destroying morale, destroying public trust in our beloved community.
Mr. Pres, you're up for reelection in May, and although you have started playing fun,
fair, positive school board games, this will not save you. The community sees who
you are for who you are. A far-right activist who got himself elected by
calling our teachers and librarians groomers, promising to rid our schools of
whatever you deem vile, and pandering to hate groups who sent out flyers
claiming that any opposition was woke, liberal, any other buzzword that makes people angry.
You have damaged the reputation of KDISD.
But more importantly, you have endangered students.
That is unforgivable.
The legacy you are leaving is one of danger, damage, and hate.
You are the problem, not the solution.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
This concludes the open forum portion of the meeting.
However, what I'd like to do, if trustees have no objection,
9.20 Consider naming part of a facility at Cinco Ranch High School in honor of Coach Gary Derks.
is to go ahead and consider item 9.20,
and that is to consider and vote on the naming
of a facility at Serenco Ranch High School
in honor of Coach Gary Dirks.
If we can do that before the closed session.
As something that's really special,
special, the naming of a portion of the facility at Katy Ranch High School in honor of Coach
Dirks.
This is in recognition of Coach Dirks' outstanding contributions to our district and his dedication
to Katy ISD and the students and community.
Board members will have a motion to approve this naming in the name of Coach Dirks, this
portion of the athletic facility. Mr. President, I move that we name a portion, a part of the
facility at Cinco Ranch High School in honor of Coach Gary Dirks. Second. All those in favor,
press your keyboard.
And it's approved 7-0. We have with us tonight
Tonight, Dinah Dirks and also his daughter, Brittany Coker, and husband, JD.
Great to have you, and congratulations.
Thank you so much.
I don't know if you'd care to say some words, and also we can take a couple pictures maybe with the board if you'd like.
Thanks for being here, and congratulations.
Congratulations.
Good evening, President Perez, trustees, and Dr. Grzegorski.
Thank you for honoring my father, the late coach Gary Dirks, by naming the Cinco Ranch
track facility after him.
This recognition would have filled my dad with pride, and it carries profound meaning
for our family, sorry, in reminding us of the enduring impact he had on so many lives.
Our family extends beyond just my mom, my husband, and myself.
it includes the countless individuals who were part of my dad's programs over
the years. His athletes, fellow coaches, and supporters were all integral to the
community that he built. By naming the facility after him you are preserving a
legacy that reaches beyond titles and accolades, honoring the spirit of unity
and excellence he fostered. This track will forever represent what my dad
believed in, the importance of hard work, dedication, and striving to be the best
version of yourself every single day. This facility also symbolizes the incredible opportunities that
track and field offered to my dad and the many athletes who flourished under his guidance.
It represents the countless hours of dedication he devoted to a sport he loved deeply
and the passion he inspired in everyone he coached. His commitment to nurturing talent
and fostering growth not only shaped individual athletes but built a community rooted in
in excellence and perseverance.
Personally, this facility will always
be a place where I can come to feel my dad's presence.
And for that, I am profoundly grateful.
This track was where we spent so many moments together.
And now he'll always be part of it.
Lastly, I want to take the opportunity to thank you again,
as well as the parents, athletes, and my dad's
colleagues for the unwavering support and dedication
to his programs throughout the years.
The commitment of this community has helped shape a legacy
that will continue to inspire future generations.
Thank you once again for bestowing this incredible honor on him.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Mr. President, Mr. President,
I'm going to personal privilege, please.
As the PTSA president during that time
and our son who was in the athletic department
during Coach Dirk's time,
He was an incredible leader, kind, helpful, always focused on students and so positive.
And you're exactly right, Brittany.
He's gone too soon, and his spirit lives there because of the incredible impact he made on athletes and his colleagues and parents.
Thank you.
Come up.
Take some pictures.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
6. Closed Meeting
Okay, well that now that concludes the open forum portion of our meeting.
The board will now convene in closed meeting as authorized under section 551.001 of the
Texas Government Code for the following purposes.
Texas government code 551.071, 551.072, and 551.129.
7. Reconvene from Closed Meeting
The Board will now reconvene in open meeting.
Today is Monday, September 23, 2024, and the time is 6.55 p.m.
On behalf of my colleagues, I welcome everyone to today's regular board meeting.
Each board member received the agenda and documentation for this meeting on Friday, September 20, 2024.
The board will receive information and recommendations from staff, administration, and 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 just reconvened from closed meeting in accordance with Chapter 551, the
Texas Government Code.
Any action arising from discussions in a closed meeting must be taken in an open meeting.
We will consider Item 7.1, consider Board approval of resolution to declare and designate
district property as surplus property.
I have a motion on this item.
COMMISSIONER WRIGHT- Mr. President, I move that the Board of Trustees approves of a resolution
to declare and designate district property as surplus property as
discussed in closed meeting is there a second second will not proceed to vote
board members please record your vote on the screen via your keypad emotions
carried 7-0 we now move on to reports we have first a report 8.1 I am 8.1 Katie
8.1 Katy Independent School District Education Foundation Annual Report.
independent school district education foundation annual report and our
presenters Kyle Stanso vice president KD IST foundation and also Karen mr.
president board members dr. Gorgor ski it's my pleasure on behalf of the
Education Foundation to direct this report to you in compliance with the
memorandum of understanding between our two organizations this agreement plus
our audited financials board of directors roster updated organizational
organizational chart grants at a glance documents and a complete listing of all teacher grants funded by the foundation over the past 12 years
Have been provided to you in support of this presentation
Leading our report this evening is Katie is D Education Foundation Board of Directors vice president. Mr. Kyle Stancil
Good evening
Good evening. The KDISD Education Foundation, as you know, is an independent nonprofit organization, a 501c3, governed by autonomous board of directors, many of whom attended our teacher reception this evening.
Our key objectives include adding measurable value to KDISD and our community, upholding
the highest standards in managing all funds and programs and ensuring excellent stewardship
of all assets, working in a timely manner that effectively supports district efforts,
and bringing together the entire school community to make strategic investments in KDISD schools.
Several years ago, the Foundation's board developed a strategic plan to elevate its
work.
This plan included a goal to secure a Foundation-funded staff position.
Thanks to sound financial management, steady donor support, and the success of events like
Fireflies and Food Trucks, Groove, and the Limelight Challenge, the Foundation is now
funding two staff members, a part-time supplemental position for clerical support, and a full-time
development director.
We are thrilled to have found that development director in none other than Ms. Janet Tice.
Ms. Tice's experience, historical knowledge of the foundation, and strong relationships
with community stakeholders positioned her as the ideal candidate for this position,
which she officially began in June of this year.
The development director plays a crucial role in identifying, cultivating, and soliciting potential donors for the foundation,
and is responsible for leading the organization's fundraising efforts, managing fundraising campaigns,
pains and fostering relationships with individuals, foundations, corporate sponsors, and KDISD
staff.
With this position in place, the Education Foundation's organizational chart strategically
divides responsibilities between the foundation-funded development director and the KDISD Partners
Partners in Education Executive Director Karen Lewis, with the two positions working in close
collaboration.
While the Development Director oversees all fundraising efforts and committees, the Executive
Director works closely with the Foundation Board of Directors as the District's liaison
liaison with the foundation, administers our teacher grant processes, and ensures alignment
of the education foundation's activities with Katy ISD policies, procedures, and priorities
set forth by Katy ISD Board of Trustees.
We believe that this division of duties will further enhance the work of the foundation
within district operations and throughout the community.
Our foremost mission is to provide inspiring imagination teacher grants.
This year, the Education Foundation awarded $455,000 in teacher grants.
As we commence our 13th year, we take pride in having distributed a cumulative total
total of 3.5 million in Inspiring Imagination Teacher grants.
In 12 years of grants, we have awarded 880 grants to 3,296 teachers, benefiting over
42,000 students per year.
Our success is largely driven by the remarkable backing from leaders in the Katy ISD School
district this board as well as our own board of directors and the kd community moreover our
foundation investors who commit to regular annual contributions play a significant role notably over
50 percent of our annual funds are sourced from these businesses and individual contributors
We are grateful to the KDISD Board of Trustees for your continued support of our Foundation's
work.
Special thanks to Ms. Rebecca Fox, who serves as your representative to our Board of Directors,
and to Dr. Gorkorski and his leadership team, including the Partners in Education team,
who are exceptionally supportive of our work.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I'll tell you what, it's just awesome.
Three and a half million in grants in 12 years,
455,000 this past year, just fantastic.
It's amazing.
It's a great organization, and it's also a really fun organization.
So I need to take advantage of all the opportunities to donate,
all the opportunities to participate in the different events,
fundraising events, which is awesome,
and they're awesome and you know it's a great great service to the community and
to KDISD so I really really commend KDISD educational foundation I was on
the advisory board or an advisory two years ago and it was like the most fun
of all but anyway any any comments or questions from other trustees mr.
Mr. President, I have a list of questions I would like to ask.
I told them I was going to ask a bunch of questions so they'd be ready.
Mr. President, I served as an advisor last year, and I just wanted to say thank you,
because you do a lot as far as maximizing the growth of the funds that Katie Education Foundation receives,
receives and thank you for your leadership in that because you're we're able to reach more students because of your time and
Commitment and gifting. So thank you. Thank you. It's an honor to be a part of the team. Thank you. Mr. President. Miss Fox
Thank you so much for being here. I look forward to this report every year and
as a founding
Judy Snyder Chris Crockett and I were like we need one of those education foundations
And so we told Superintendent Fraley and we went to visit some and just bringing that here just elevated KDISD and we wanted to give teachers an opportunity to have that creative opportunity that they don't get when they're doing curriculum, you know, constantly.
and seeing those big dreaming teachers come up with the most innovative grants
and to be awarded they feel like they've hit the lottery right they feel like
they're superstars as they are and I love how the Education Foundation
doesn't award everyone they choose the best they have all these scores that
make sure that the quality of the grant is solid and that it will serve students
and serve over time, not just consume the money and be done.
I've served on the committee of scoring one time, and it was too hard.
I was like, no, Ms. Tice, I can't do that.
I can't choose.
And being a constant investor is a joy,
because I know that that is going right back to classrooms and impacting students.
And it's the thing that sets us apart.
And $3.5 million, $455,000, is that the most we've ever done in one year?
Yes.
Right, it's so great.
And the MOU, the Memorandum of Understanding that we created at the very beginning is serving us well.
And to see that the foundation is becoming so successful that you're taking on your own ownership
and you're paying salaries for the people when we shared everything from KDSD in the beginning,
We knew it would happen, and watching it happen just makes my soul burst.
And seeing those teachers in that room at the reception today, it's like, they're why we do what we do, is just to encourage them.
and to sit around the table, Mrs. Teamee and Mr. Perez will understand,
and see all the board of director people who are all volunteers,
and they have three letters over and over and over after their names.
comma comma comma like you do and you give up your time to help teachers because that helps students
and it makes our community better and it makes it more desirable for people to be in kd and in kdisd
and so to see all of these very important super busy people say i'm in and namesakes out the wazoo
right everybody believes in it and teachers feel honored and i'm super grateful to mrs tice to mrs
Louis and to all of you. I just wanted to say thanks. Thank you. Mr. President.
So Mr. Stensel, thank you for coming and I just want to say too we do touch a lot
of the students at 63,000 out of 95 so that's pretty good but I just wanted to
say the best part of it is when we get to actually see the grant and work.
You know like when we are actually accidentally out of campus and the music
teachers and say you want to see the grant we got that that's really really
and to see the excitement and also the children really get into it they have
big celebrations I've been in a class before where they were awarded the grant
and then the kids all get it excited it's so good thank you thank you thank
you so much okay thank you thanks for the thanks for the report appreciate it
And now we move on to 8.2, which is a presentation regarding Miller Career Technology Center,
8.2 Academic Presentation - Miller Career Technology Center – Providing RealWorld Experiences while Preparing Students for Successful Careers
providing real-world experiences while preparing students for successful careers.
And our presenters are Kelly Carrillo, Principal of Miller Career and Technology Center,
and also Dr. Sane Bell.
Sane Bell, welcome.
Good evening, President Perez, Dr. Gagorski, and board members.
I am here tonight to kick off a series of presentations, academic presentations that will focus on different programs that we have throughout the district.
And to start us off tonight with this is Principal Carrillo.
And you see she has her Miller Career staff here with her to really showcase and highlight the great learning experiences that happen at Miller.
So turn it over to Principal Carrillo.
All right, good evening President Perez, board members, and Dr. Gagorski. We are very, very excited to be here tonight to kick this series off, talking all about Miller Career and Technology Center and all that we do to prepare students for that next step, whatever that might be.
First thing I think we really need to talk a little bit about is what is Miller?
I think sometimes people have a little bit of misconception about what Miller is, what Miller isn't,
and some people maybe have never even heard about Miller.
So we're going to start with a video. Hopefully it will play.
So, what is Miller?
Miller is a community, a home for creativity and craftsmanship.
Here we don't learn just to learn. We develop real world skills. Where passions and dreams become reality. To build our future into the life we want.
So what is Miller?
This is Miller.
All right, so Miller really is, when we talk about it,
Logistically, it is a central site, a central campus for career and technical education classes that aren't offered on a student's home campus.
They can be offered at this one site for 11th and 12th graders who come to us for half a day.
But obviously from the video, you can see Miller is so very, very much more.
We are a community.
These students on the next few slides you're going to see, they are our very first group,
a few members of our very first group of MCTC student ambassadors, which is a program we're
starting this year where we have representation from every one of our programs and every one
of our high school campuses.
When we do our recruiting events, they're going to kind of be our helpers.
When we're out on all their campuses, they're going to help have that student perspective
and talk to maybe prospective students about what they do and their experience at Miller.
So you'll kind of see some quotes from them and pictures of them while I talk about some general information
But we are a community. We are very very representative of the KDISD community and that's something we take very seriously at Miller
We always look at the demographics of our district look at who we're recruiting
Who were accepting into Miller and making sure that that mirrors what the district what the district has and it does
We're also a combination of obviously all of the high school students coming together with a like-minded cause
They're trying to figure out is this what I want to do for the rest of my life.
So we build that community. Our teachers do that in their classrooms every day.
Even further than in their classrooms, all of our teachers are very well connected to industry professionals still through CTE advisory councils.
So they help our students network too for whatever that next step might be, whether that's college, a technical school, or into a potential career connecting them with business partners.
partners. We are a home for creativity and craftsmanship. This is one of our architecture
students and in our first class that we offer at Miller in the architecture program, students
are actually connected with a real client. I say real, it's a job that is not necessarily
being built this year, but something that a person would like to build a residential
home. They have to give the plot of land, the area, and they give the student all the
the ideas for what they want included in that home. The student literally takes it from the
site plan all the way through the end of the year for design options and has to present their design
to a board of architects and then to whoever the client might be. And so they get to use their
creativity. They really get to hone in on those professionalism skills to working with a real
client, emailing them, talking with them in person, talking with them on the phone too. So just a
really kind of cool experience for creativity and craftsmanship. We are a place where students don't
learn just to learn. There's a mission. There's an end statement. There's something that that
student is really trying to accomplish when they're learning in our classrooms. As you can
see, Isabella was talking about our teachers being really involved. That's one really unique
thing about Miller. Based on us being a District of Innovation, or DOI, we're able to hire
are uncertified teachers who have a background in that particular field and then they're locally
certified based on their credentials. So for some of my teachers that are even going to talk tonight,
they have a background many, many years in the fields in which they are teaching. I'll talk
about criminal justice who isn't here tonight. My law enforcement teacher was a KDISD police officer
for years. My criminal, I'm sorry, my legal studies teachers, one of them was a probation
officer and one was a former lawyer. So we have teachers like that all across the building that
really provide unique experiences to students. At Miller, we develop real-world skills. We have
labs. We're going to kind of show some of those spaces then too, and many of you have toured
Miller, so you're very familiar with it. But students really get those hands-on experiences.
Our mission statement is to develop college and career-ready students through engaging
real-world experiences. And so that's what we try to do every day in our spaces.
Miller's a place where passions and dreams become reality.
This is one of our students, Gia Patel, who's in clinical rotation.
She wants to work maybe as a pediatric nurse, and she's going to be in the NICU in her first
rotation.
So she's going to really get to see firsthand, is this what I want to do?
Maybe somewhere else in the healthcare field as she does her rotations at the hospitals,
can kind of get to explore.
And we also exist, something we don't talk about often is we exist for those students
who come to us and realize this is definitely not what I want to do.
Perhaps they go into vet med because they love animals.
They have a heart for animals but realize, I don't want to have to deal with sick,
hurting animals that might potentially not make it, things like that.
So we really delve into what the career field is in each of our areas,
each of our programs.
And then lastly, we really do want students to build their future into the lives they
want with the experiences they get at Miller.
In each of our career programs,
students can leave with an actual certification or licensure.
So there's something that they can, if they want to go straight into the workforce, they can use that certification or license.
If they want to get into college to continue to pursue that further, they can work maybe a better paying job while they're in college or just have their foot in the door even to get into a college of their choice.
So lots of different opportunities.
And now is definitely the most important and most fun part of the presentation.
That's where my teachers are going to get to talk about their programs.
We are only highlighting five.
We have 19 programs.
I think each of you has our what we call our big book that highlights each of those 19 programs
But tonight we're gonna hear from all introduce all my teachers first
Automotive we've got Jason Hall Bison here with us one of our auto instructors for clinical rotations
We have two of our clinicals teachers here with us Jayla Verner and Laurie Conrad for culinary arts
We have our brand new teacher with us tonight Gabby Luckett
digital audio we have Nathan Van Der Rest to talk to us about his program and then lastly we have
our veterinary medicine we've got our team lead here to talk to us tonight and that's Ashley Bowen
so they're going to come up kind of one at a time and I'll flip through the presentation while
they're talking a little bit more about their program. So my program we have two two sections
One is Auto 1, the other is Auto 2.
In the Auto 1 program, the students will learn basic maintenance skills such as oil changes,
brake jobs, things like that.
Year 2, the Auto Advanced program, they will get into things, electrical power steering,
will do electrical suspension and engine performance.
performance. As far as hands-on experiences go, the students engage in a variety of hands-on
projects. They do things such as vehicle inspections, multipoint inspections, oil changes, brake
jobs. The second-year students will also do complete suspension rebuilds, four-wheel alignments,
and we've even done engine replacements. As far as certifications, we offer the
students the Automotive Service Excellence or ASE certification. This
consists of 10 different exams. The students are able to take 10 different
exams. They can pick or choose which ones they want. Achieving this certification
can significantly enhance their employability by demonstrating their
knowledge and skills to potential employers.
We do have an enterprise business.
It is a working shop.
It's called the Garage at Miller.
The students perform repairs and maintenance on customer vehicles, which are scheduled
through our auto shop aid.
Additionally, we handle much of the maintenance for the KDISD white fleet, which includes
the technology vans, the trucks, and even the ag trucks.
This provides the students with a range of hands-on experiences.
And we have a couple of success stories.
A lot of our students, former students, we have, they are working at dealerships like
BMW, Lexus.
I have one at Porsche.
One of our recent female students, she attended WyoTech, graduated top of her class and is
working at Sewell Mercedes.
80s additionally i also graduated from miller in 1988 i spent 25 years working for ford
and have come back to teach the next generation of auto techs
right next up is clinical rotations i'm jayla verner this is laurie conrad we're representing
clinical rotations thank you for having us clinical rotations is a one-year program
tailored for senior students interested in healthcare careers.
To enroll, students must have completed coursework in medical terminology,
principles of health science, and health science theory.
Our program is led by a team of five instructors with diverse healthcare backgrounds,
including two nurses, a paramedic, a respiratory therapist, and an exercise physiologist.
This diversity ensures students receive a well-rounded education from multiple perspectives.
Students gain both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience, preparing them to become EKG technicians and patient care technicians.
Our curriculum covers vital areas such as basic life support, vital signs, cardiac anatomy and physiology, and interpreting 12 lead EKGs.
Additionally, they develop crucial bedside care skills like phlebotomy.
We offer a blend of classroom instruction, skills labs, and simulations using state-of-the-art equipment, ensuring students are thoroughly prepared before entering real-world environments.
We are so proud to partner with local hospitals such as Memorial Hermann Katie, Methodist West, and Encompass Health, where students complete rotations in departments like the ER, OR, ICU, NICU, MedSurg, Radiology, and many more.
more. These hospital rotations are where students connect classroom theory to real-world practice,
and it's incredibly rewarding as instructors to witness those aha moments when it all comes
together. Our students are well prepared to sit for two national certification exams through the
accredited National Health Career Association. So I want to share some numbers with y'all,
some pretty amazing numbers we think since 2019 we have had 857 students sit
for the EKG technician certification exam with 846 passing that is an
impressive 98.7 percent program pass rate compared to the national average of
71 percent so our students do really well in this exam and that's not just
for high school learners that's adult learners as well for the patient care
technician exam since 2020 we have tested 807 students with 795 passing so
that's 98.5% program pass rate and higher than the national average of 75%
I wasn't planning on saying this but since we had a presentation on grants I
just thought I would throw this in there we really feel like our program has
benefited from 50,000 nearly 50,000 in grants the health science program and
and it's huge for preparing our students,
the equipment that we've been able to purchase.
These certifications enable students
to either step directly into healthcare roles
or use their accomplishments as a foundation
for further education.
Many of our students also secure employment
at local hospitals and clinics
while they're working towards their degrees.
We are constantly inspired by our students' success stories,
whether they're being accepted into their dream colleges,
earning scholarships.
We hear back from many,
and they attribute their clinical rotations experience to their educational advancement or landing their jobs
where they completed their rotations. Their achievements reflect the strength of our program. We love hearing back from them.
We love receiving photos on their first days of nursing school or med school or you know their first days first days of work.
What we do here at Miller is
truly one of the most rewarding jobs.
Brings us immense joy to be a part of our students journeys in KDISD.
Next up we have Culinary Art.
Hello, my name is Chef Gabrielle Luckett.
I am a first year culinary arts instructor at Miller.
Our culinary arts program is a two year program consisting of Culinary One, Foundations of
Restaurant Management, and Culinary Practicum.
So our first year students will first complete their Serve Safe Manager Certification.
This is a nationally accredited certification that is designed to ensure that managers,
their employees, owners, and anyone that steps foot in the food service operation,
has the knowledge to keep the public safe from any kind of foodborne illness outbreak.
Once they've completed their certification, we then move on to other units such as culinary math, knife skills, baking and pastries, meats, poultry, seafood, soup stocks and sauces,
and that's just scratching the surface of my class.
We set the foundations, cooking methods, food safety, and culinary essentials, and that
will become the stepping stones of our Culinary II practicum class.
So our year two students who are taking practicum in culinary arts will utilize their knowledge
and techniques and cooking skills to operate our three culinary arts enterprise businesses.
We have the Old Town Bistro, which is our student-run restaurant, open for breakfast
and brunch and lunch.
lunch. We're going to be opening up October 30th, Tuesday through Thursday. We have our
quick service counter that serves our staff, our students Tuesday through Friday, both breakfast
and lunch. And we also have a catering enterprise that you can order through our kitchen manager,
Ms. Chef Delaney online. We have had multiple students who are currently attending multiple
different culinary institutes around the United States. We do have a handful that are currently
at the Culinary Institute of America in New York,
and both in the cuisine and the pastry program.
Chef Alas, he is our practicum instructor,
is a proud Ella Miller alum.
He graduated the program.
He attended culinary school locally.
He was able to work his way around the culinary industry,
and then he ended up back here at Miller.
So we're excited for our program.
Thank you, guys.
All right, next up is digital audio.
Hello, I'm Nathan VanderRest.
I teach the digital audio program at Miller.
So my program is focused around all things audio. We start out where the students learn about the science of audio, the science of sound, how sound travels through the air.
Then they start learning about signal flow and mic setup. So things basically as simple as an environment like this where it would just be a few microphones, some screens, some live sound, all the way up to large concerts that might happen at NRG or any of the big stadiums.
So they start out recording their own projects.
They do it digitally on the computers with MIDI keyboards.
They're basically like little piano keyboards
where they learn how to compose, how to produce,
do things that people in the field
would be making beats for artists.
They then quickly learn how to record actual musicians.
I have a few musicians in my class
that come in and volunteer their time to record.
I also play music for them to record.
And they set up microphones for guitars, basses, drums, pianos
every single instrument you could think of. They learn how to mix, they learn how to
master, they learn how to get everything set up for full-on reproduction of
commercial music. In fact, a lot of my students have gone on to create their
own music. They have, I have one student that actually just signed a record deal
with Sire Records, it's a subsidiary of Warner Brothers Music. He's doing video
game music right now. He graduated back in 2020, first time I was here, so that's
pretty huge. All my students also get the opportunity to apply to be members of Miller
Video Crew, which is the AV department for all of the KDISD football games at both Legacy and
Rhodes Stadium. So any game you're at, anything you hear, anything you see up on the screen is
all my students as well as Ms. Thompson, our film teacher students. And that is a full student-run
organization. Second semester, coming back from the break, my students learn the other side of
audio which is post-production so that is things like podcasting that is things like editing audio
for books on tape for movies and television and video games some of the projects they do is taking
all the sound out of a movie scene and recreating everything from recreating all the footsteps
to all of the different explosion sounds all the different um movement sounds all the way to the
music itself and then lastly we end with full live sound which is what I was
talking about about the different venues this is the first year that we are a
two-year program it's always been traditionally a one-year program so now
we have the practicum in digital audio where it's much more of a project based
class where the students actually go out and they get clients on their own that's
what they're doing right now to bring in and record after school their particular
albums right and last we have veterinary medicine so I'm Ashley Bon I am one of
three of the vet med teachers at Miller Miller is a we have a two-year vet med
program the first year we are getting our kids ready to go into vet clinics so
we are teaching them skills like safety restraint medical terminology we're
teaching them anatomy and physiology they're learning lab procedures they're
They're learning surgical assisting, how to calculate and count out medications.
It's a very science-based course.
After that first-year course, our students then can go into the second year where they are interning at vet clinics three days a week.
And so this is really giving them the opportunity to figure out, is this a field they want to go into?
Or is it something that maybe they thought was going to be a lot of fun and a lot of puppies, and it's really not, kind of like Ms. Carillo said.
said. And so in addition to them figuring that out, we are also teaching them to be good employees.
So that's something that no matter what field they go into is going to be a benefit to them.
We also teach our students and we prepare them to become certified veterinary assistants. So they do
have to meet certain requirements. And the last two years we have had a 100% pass rate. So that
is something, sorry, that we are very excited about. We work very closely with our industry
partners and we have developed a curriculum that the Texas Vet Med
Association which is actually the state Vet Association reached out to us
because they felt like we were preparing our students so well that they are
collaborating with us and we are helping to create a statewide curriculum through
the Texas Vet Med Association because they want more programs run like Katie
ISD's so that is something we are very proud of right now we currently have
have students that are at Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and Kansas State in vet school. We have lots of
students that are currently practicing as veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and a lot
of other areas in the veterinary field. Oh, dog wash, sorry. So we do have an enterprise business,
so that is our Miller dog wash. We do that to help prepare our students. So like we said,
So we're trying to prepare them to go into clinics three days a week.
And one of the big things that our clinics asked for was they wanted those kids to have hands-on experience.
So by bringing in outside clients and outside dogs, our students are learning how to recognize behaviors, how to then restrain animals appropriately based off the behaviors they're seeing, which is something that our clinics have really appreciated because they come in with skills that a lot of other students don't.
So we work with about 38 clinics in the area, and they all have told us that when they see a KDISD student, they're going to take them over any others because of the preparation that we do with them.
All right, so clearly that was just five of our 19 programs.
There are stories like that for every one of our programs.
So how do people know about us, basically?
How do students and families find out about us?
These are just a few of our upcoming events that we're highlighting and I think you've got flyers in your big books as well
But we've got some upcoming fall family tour dates
This is something we started last year and we kind of have some big nights open houses things like that
But thought maybe we're not catching everybody
So we started this last year and are extending it through this year where we've got some Saturday dates and then after-school hours for families to
Come in with prospective students about 7th through 11th grade
I think this went out last week to our community.
We're filling up fast, but this is just one of the ways in which we are trying to recruit.
Our recruitment season does start the summer before, so we've already started our 25-26
recruitment this past summer, just because it's a lot to plan, a lot of different things.
Another upcoming event is our elementary.
We started this, I believe this will be our fourth annual Miller Monster Mash.
This is for our elementary age students.
We were thinking, how can we get families in?
How can we manage that though with the staff we have?
We can't tour every grade level.
So this is one night of free trick or treating, safe, indoors, where parents and elementary
age students can come through all of our lab spaces and get candy.
Our students are dressed up.
Our lab spaces are decorated in a kid-friendly way.
That way parents and students are associating positive things with Miller and kind of seeing,
oh, wow, I didn't know they had this lab or an auto shop or different things as they walk
through our building. And then lastly these are just two of our really huge
events and these are the traditional events we've had at Miller for many
many years and those are our preview nights. We've got a high school preview
night and then a junior high preview night in January and February and that's
during that course selection season when students are deciding what they want to
do and that can be as early as junior high. We want students deciding what they
want to do maybe if that's coming to Miller in high school so they can make
some course decisions early on so they can get themselves to Miller as 11th and
and 12th graders. But those are just a few of the things we've got many other opportunities.
And that is it for us tonight. If you have any questions. Thank you so much. So super impressive.
I mean, really, really appreciate the time and the report. So impressive. Do you put out
like a menu of items that the public could take advantage of, of services that you provide,
like for example hair and auto and for example I'm interested in the exercise physiologist.
Okay well we don't have that. We're not open to the public for that quite yet but we do have four
enterprise businesses. Yes and those communications has actually been pushing out our information
over the last probably about two weeks. Auto shop is open and they've been accepting business now
for a few weeks. Old Town Bistro will be opening soon at the end of October as Chef Rocket kind of
talked about salon opened last week with a soft opening and i think their flyer is going out
soon as well to the community um and then vet med y'all are having your first grooming friday
october 4th and those fill up really really quick too but that's been pushed out to the community as
already as well what about the dog wash dog wash open ready you can talk to miss bowen if you'd
like later but yes that's um out on our website if you want a book great great thank you comments
questions mr. president I want to piggyback on the dog washing so are that
how much is the dog wash oh that's a great question you want to talk about
the packages and do you deal with all kinds of dogs like we will take dogs
that need to be muzzled for nails but if they need to be muzzled the whole time
we do not take those type of dogs because this is our first year students
So we are training them how to handle these type of dogs, and they don't have the experience to handle really aggressive dogs.
We have two basic packages.
We have a spa package and a deluxe.
The spa is $20.
It's a bath, blow dry, hairbrush, nail trim, and ear cleaning.
If you want the deluxe, that's $25, and we will add teeth brushing and anal gland expression.
So how do you know it's a difficult dog?
If it's trying to bite me when we're getting it out of the car.
That is a difficult dog.
Or sometimes once they get in, if the kids are trying to get them out and the dog is lunging trying to bite them,
the students know that they have to close the door and come get me.
And we won't.
If they're trying to bite us from the very beginning, we usually won't.
And one last question.
How long can we leave it there?
No, just kidding.
Just during school hours, please.
Any other comments, questions?
Mr. President.
Ms. Falk?
MS.
Thank you very much for your time.
motivating me to put together a list of things.
When we talked about how much I want to talk about academics at all our board meetings,
and you reminded me I'm on the academic committee, and I was like,
that's right. So I put down a list and sent it to you and to
Mr. Redman and Dr. Grygorski, as we're on the academic committee, and then
they just put it all together we're going to see incredible things the whole year and so i love
this so much i love every one of you and all that you do you are changing children's lives
by giving them an introduction to something they wouldn't have in a comprehensive high school
and you're right sometimes they'll be like oh i want to do that oh culinary i want to do culinary
I want to be on Chopped.
I want to go on Food Network.
And then it's like, oh, the practicum is nights and weekends without my friends.
Maybe it's not, right?
All kinds of things.
But I'm the bistro's most loyal favorite customer.
And I do it because I'm just helping children get the experience, you understand.
And your prices are so reasonable.
It's wonderful to be there.
I love it I just love it all so much so let me I did write down things excuse me so um the
medical part please I'm sorry don't be offended by my language that mock ambulance oh my word
every time we take someone on a tour it's like watch this the lights and the whole I mean there
is a mock ambulance built into the wall it's incredible and the the table that you showed on
the video here on the pictures with uh with the cadaver you know they get hands-on experience
with that and being able to teach them how to you know do the do the iv thing and i know nothing
sorry but all of that and the children love it and they learn so much and you're right they go
to work at hospitals and they really um when the lamb system live action media broadcast system we
We named it LAMS when we got our new display board at Rhodes Stadium a while, many years ago.
And having students produce the advertisements, produce the entire thing, walking up there and hearing them go,
go camera two, ready camera three, get all of that, zoom in on this and all the things.
They get jobs at universities and across the nation to be able to run all that.
and they're like y'all only have three cameras we had five cameras in kdi i was able to run
a five camera system right those types of things are incredibly impressive people don't believe
that the commercials that are on that jumbotron are made by children it's you do an incredible job
automobile open to the public and everything has an external entry is that correct
And how do they find out what those are?
Just go to the website?
Yes, ma'am.
All of that information is on our website, all of our businesses.
And we work with communications, and they push out on social media and through email some of our different either recruiting events and or flyers for our enterprise businesses.
I love that.
So some of the programs are for college prep, right?
We have a manufacturing piece.
We have all kinds of things.
and a lot of engineering, a lot of computer stuff that's way over my head.
We have a lot of things preparing boys and girls for college. We also have a lot
of programs that prepare children for a certificate to be successful immediately
following high school, which is the best thing. And I'm always pounding the
table for more, more, more, so I don't know that we'll ever have enough room for
everything but when you change the trajectory change family trees by preparing children to
be successful incredibly successful and respected at their employers there are a couple of programs
that aren't waiting list and so i think it's because moms don't like we have a trades program
Can I go here? This is going to be the construction, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, something like that.
Yes, ma'am. You got it.
And a whole thing.
But it's not full because when it's time to have eighth grade parent night talking about making choices for your child's four-year plan,
no mom says, I want my child to be a plumber until they find out that they make more than teachers with a certificate at the end of high school.
When you can make $60,000 or $65,000, I think parents would be like, what?
Sign me up.
So do we have a plan, you know, like a marketing something to help them understand that?
When do they make those choices?
Really, I guess it depends for our programs when students are making those choices.
Some of our programs require prerequisites that students need to start taking right away in ninth grade.
So all of our health science, really, students need to be in principles and health science in ninth grade.
A couple of our other programs are vet med program, need to take principles of ag in
ninth grade.
Other programs like construction trades, which you're talking about, do not have any prerequisites.
So luckily we have time to capture students even in those ninth and tenth grade years,
and then they can start with us in 11th grade in construction trades one, and then move
on to construction trades two as seniors.
So we have a little bit more of an opportunity for some of our programs that don't quite
have as many prerequisites um to to gather students um it is a program that's growing
it's fairly new to us this is our third year having construction trades it's grown every year
we're almost full um but that's kind of one of the things in growing a program at miller it takes a
takes a little time and our our status i think when you know you've made it is when you get
tired that second teacher in the program and then third so on and so forth so we're hoping to get
there within the next few years that's great because my understanding is for every five
retirees of baby boomers for all for every five retirees there are only two people standing in
the gap waiting to take those positions so they're highly lucrative because supply and demand do you
have a um all right but maybe that very wonderful teacher could get the lambs kids to create a
commercial about it and send it to kids and parents and all that that's like look at all
the things you can do and and just the marketing of like don't think don't don't look down on being
an electrician yes like if you've ever been in a flood or a hurricane you know that's where that's
where it's great okay i love the marketing programs the monster mash elementary is fabulous
and all all of the opportunities you're giving because there's never enough parking and people
complain about the lines being long excellent idea on that thank you very much will last thing
I think will this video and presentation be on our website on the next day or two
so that I want to link it and send it out is that possible I don't know who definitely on
our website but we can yeah it's on their website okay thank you under what is Miller
all about Miller that's where this video is located and our students did create that
promo video for us and these and these flyer things are there okay great thank
you thank you so much for being here absolutely thank you any other comments
or questions mr. president I'll just say a quick I really applaud your outreach
and the things you're doing and creating more opportunity for the community to
come in I love that and I just when I walk around I've been to the bistro last
year loved it and did the tour today but the the Miller kids are very happy it
It just seemed very excited to be there, and I applaud you and your staff for doing what you do.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
It's definitely my staff.
Thanks.
Excuse me.
There are a few people you didn't introduce, maybe.
All right.
Yes, I'll introduce them as well.
We've got some other staff members here, too.
We've got really the real boss of the school here, and that's Kathy Smith, my secretary.
So she's in the audience.
Anna Perez, many of you have probably seen her if you've been on tour at Miller.
She is our admissions specialist and she's the only admissions specialist in Katy ISD and we are super proud to have her with us
She does a lot of our recruiting events and things like that works closely with our counselor on some of these things as well
So Anna's here with us and then my two assistant principals are also in the audience Eileen Paulus and Judy gray
We wear many many hats
We're a team of three and we have sixteen hundred students and so they do a whole lot
They are in classrooms. They're dealing with our wild parking lot.
You know, just dealing with everyday student issues.
So anyway, couldn't do it without them.
So it's a great group here tonight. Really proud.
Mr. President.
Thank you very much.
Can I say real quickly, when I was in school, Miller was just getting started.
So it was just kind of an idea.
But I just, when I look at the outreach, I'm pretty impressed.
And that means a lot of extra time on your staff.
and I just want to say thank you because not only are y'all educating our
students in really unique and great ways but you're also selling the program and
I just that takes a lot of energy so I just want you know I think our board
recognizes that and thanks you thank you mr. Perez may I have one more question
do you as my understanding that some of your programs use the Shaw Center when
they're not students in there we do actually and we had clinical rotations and emt were in
shaw center first week of school i guess second full week of school um and that's when they did
their basic life support so just it's a larger area um where the robots are in the open space
and so they're going back tomorrow i know culinary is asking if they can use this space so when the
space is available we definitely like to try to partner together um because it's just they're our
neighbor so okay thank you thank you so much yeah thank you guys so much for giving us the
opportunity the presentation great thank you we're now moving on to our consent full consent agenda
9. 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 on each item consent agenda items shall be grouped together under
into one action item.
All items shall be acted upon by one vote
without separate discussion,
unless a board member requests that an item be withdrawn
for individual consideration.
We have already withdrawn 9.20, which we approved.
So are there any other items that board members
would like to remove from consent agenda?
If not, I'll accept a motion to accept the consent agenda.
agenda president mr. Redmond I'm a board of trustees approves the consent agenda
right I'm sign point one through nine point two three except for items nine
point two which we've already approved okay if you everyone will now vote
pressing the keypad you know the drill and it's passes the motion passes 7-0
We now move on to, we have two discussion items.
10.1 Discuss and consider Board approval of nominating candidates for positions on the Board of Directors for the Harris Central Appraisal District.
One is the first one being to discuss and consider board approval of nominating candidates for positions on the board of directors for the Harris Central Appraisal District.
And the presenter is not Jamie Hines, but it's Chris Smith.
Well, just as a reminder, you have an opportunity to nominate to the Harris County Appraisal District nominees that will be on the ballot in November.
And at this point, I'll...
And we can nominate up to five.
We can nominate up to five.
Up to five, yes, sir.
Right.
And do we have any nominations?
Mr. President, I'd like to nominate Bill Frazier as one of the names that we nominate.
And I shared that information with the board.
Very well-qualified candidate.
He ran for out-large position.
He's a CPA.
He'd be great.
I love what he said.
He said it would be nice.
basically he's making the point taxing not over taxing our public so that when
taxing entities like us go out for new projects and related bonds they're not
over taxed and ready to support us so I liked some of those comments and he's
well qualified mr. president I'd like to nominate Martina Dixon she has been in
this position since simply 2019 and she's also a current school board member
and humble ISD she has a lot of experience with this position okay I
would also like to remind people that we can nominate more than one person we can
nominate up to five right so we're not limited well we're limited to five but
but we're not limited.
We don't have to do five.
We don't have to do five, but we could do up to five.
Okay.
Any other nominations?
Mr. President, I have some questions for Mrs. Cuzela.
How did you come to know Bill Frazier, and what do you think is super qualified?
Sure.
I'm a Harris County taxpayer and voter, and so I was involved.
In May, we voted for three candidates at large in Harris County to be on this same board.
It's comprised of three at-large positions and then these five and the chief appraiser.
So I met Bill Frazier, heard him talk as he was campaigning together with some other candidates.
Impressed by him.
He's a CPA.
Did you read his information that was shared?
Okay.
So I don't want to repeat.
He's a CPA.
Yes.
Has he served on any entity?
Does he understand the role of being an elected person on a board like that?
Yes, I would say so.
From what experience?
Everything he already shared with you in his letter of financial leadership.
Let's see.
Do you want me to read this?
No, I want you to.
A little bit about his bio, his CPAs, in terms of like I noticed like Texas CPA Association, that kind of thing.
He's a CPA, a qualified CPA.
I give 100% credit there, but has he served on an into an elected entity?
With this so I'm we're just comparing to
Martina Dixon who has been a school board member. She's current chair
Elected by her peers on the H cad board
She's highly qualified in finance her experience is listed bullets
until the live long day of all the things she's done and
And so she's been elected to many things.
She served on many boards.
She's very qualified at financial things.
She serves as the finance chair for their Humble ISD Education Foundation.
She was a school board member internationally.
She's Lone Star Investment Pool trustee.
She's Texas Commission on Law Enforcement commissioner appointed by the governor.
Texas Business Hall of Fame board of directors.
Ferris County Board of Directors I think mr. Mr.
I just a second. I mean we can nominate both of them
I know but but but what happens is do you know how many votes does it take to get this position?
What do you mean we're we're nominating individuals right I understand what are you asking I just don't believe that
We have to nominate to I think that when you look at the doesn't matter when
When you look at the two candidates, one is clearly qualified, one isn't.
He ran.
I do not agree with you.
Okay.
Excuse me.
He ran and was not elected by his populace.
His social media presence, he has 20 likes and 56 followers on social media.
He had all of those.
Can I respond to this?
No.
As soon as I'm finished.
Okay.
May I?
Okay.
So I'm just looking at his qualifications.
And when you, last month or so ago, when you said we should hire,
choose the most qualified person in spite of any of the background or qualifications
or you were talking about the EI, right?
And you said we don't hire someone based on who they are or what they do or that.
You hire the most qualified.
Exactly right.
Right.
And Martina is the most qualified of these two.
I don't agree, but it doesn't matter at this point.
Tonight we're nominating up to five individuals to be on a ballot.
You have your opinion and I have mine.
All right?
I don't want to take people's time to read what you've already read.
You should have read.
He's a well-qualified candidate.
Because he's a CPA.
Okay.
Mr. President, may I please say?
I do want to make sure.
Can I respond to one thing?
Having a presence on social media to be on the Harris County Appraisal District Board is, in my mind, of no importance whatsoever.
It was his campaign page.
It's incredible to say.
He was getting voted on by the populace, and he didn't win.
Yes.
So the people already said no to him.
Okay.
So then we're going to put him there.
I just believe that Martina Dixon is highly qualified.
Okay.
She didn't even run for an at-large position, so if you want to play that game.
She's already.
She did not run for an at-large position on the board.
No, she didn't.
Okay.
She's doing this direction.
Not sure what your point is.
And because she holds the position, I just want to, if we nominate two and we divide our votes between two,
our votes will will be divided and it takes 900 votes to win this seat
so for us to divide our votes and give half of our votes to someone who is not qualified
i just want to say uh miss kuzella i understand you did send us the thing but
we are our board is transparent and so although we have read the qualifications i think i mean we
We don't have to repeat, I mean, because you all have already said it.
So I'm just saying, you know, but to say that we've already been sent it,
it's not just about us seven.
It's about all the other people that are watching that, you know,
that we have good candidates.
I'm not discounting that he's not a good candidate.
I'm just making the point that nobody else has seen this information.
But the other thing I would like to say is I'm not denying that he's not a good person,
but are a good candidate, but what makes him, in your mind, better?
Okay.
I guess I'm going to have to read a few highlights from what we've already received.
Let's see.
First of all, his bio.
He is a certified public accountant since 1975, past president of Houston CPA Society.
He currently serves on the leadership council of the Texas Society of CPAs from 1986 through 2012.
Bill Frazier was the CFO for CBRE Capital Markets, nation's leading mortgage lender, provides equity capital for multifamily properties.
He's a member of the Senior Council of St. Martin's Episcopal Church, the treasurer, and a member of the Bishop's Committee of the Lord of the Streets and Episcopal Church, providing services for the homeless in Midtown Houston.
Serves on the advisory board of Camp Allen.
He does have board positions.
He's lived in Houston for over 50 years.
He's certainly vested in Houston and Harris County has been married to his wife Jean also CPA for over 51 years
Has two children two grandchildren
He has experienced financial leadership already I've already read that
If you have an aversion for him, that's why I just wondering what what is it in his
In his self or his personality or his resume that makes him better. So do you realize on the Houston?
Houston HCAD board, Harris County Appraisal District.
It involves a lot of financials, a lot of numbers, right?
Taxes and financials.
You need to be very financially sharp to be on this board to be of any use.
So I don't understand the belaboring of this point.
Why is he not qualified?
So what I would like to say is how can you say that of any use,
So you're you saying Martina hasn't been up any uses 2019 because you're talking about Bill Frazier
Okay, but you said to be to be of any use. Yeah, you have to have financial
Experience. Yes, she has that too. Okay, and so she has been grateful since 2009
No one's saying she's not but why is so but you want to take you want her him to be there rather than her?
So there must be something about him. That's better than her. I am nominating Bill Frazier for the H cad board
Board.
Mr. Smith, how many people do we, how many positions do we get to vote for as a Board?
I know we're just nominated, but when we vote, how many, I would rather vote for people that
we know than people that we don't know.
So what if we could nominate both and vote for both?
Do you know how many positions we get to vote for?
I do not.
A hundred and forty-five votes.
Yeah, it's a weighted vote, right?
It depends on the taxing entity, so it's hard to answer that quickly.
I don't recall that right now.
Okay.
A hundred and forty-five.
Let me ask you this.
I mean, is there anything wrong with us nominating two people?
No.
I mean, I don't think we're saying one's better than the other.
We're just nominating two.
Just nominating two people.
Yes, I disagree with that.
I think there is one who is clearly qualified, and we nominate two people.
The ballot comes back.
We split the vote between two people.
Now we have diluted our input.
KDISD is a respected district, and we've diluted our input, and maybe neither one would get elected.
You know, there's other people that will be nominated by other districts, and we could vote for them as well.
Right.
So we don't even know who else is going to be nominated.
And Martina Dixon represents all school districts that are not HISD, because there are several entities who get their own person because they have enough.
HISD is one.
And I just want to make sure that we are not making this decision about politics.
And I don't know Bill Frazier.
He looks like a very nice man. He's very smart. I
Understand he's a CPA and done all those CPA
incredible leadership positions
but he's a Republican candidate for an at-large position and
supported by
state Republicans across the state in that election where he didn't win and
Miss Dixon is is a
appointed by the governor same thing right to something different does
anyone object let me just one thing let me reject us voting for these two
together you don't want to do that mr. president may I please say so I just
looked something up you we can vote for not only can we nominate up to five
people we can vote for as many as we want to we can yeah I just want to make
so I just wanted to say that again please we can vote for as many as we
want we can divide the vote so that part I just wanted to let y'all know I mean I
don't know how we're gonna decide on this but I just wanted that to make be
clear that this is can be part of your decision making that you know I give
out she could vote she could vote you know everybody could vote differently I
believe mrs. champagne that when it's for this we could yes or no yes but when
and it's time to give our votes when it comes for a vote.
I think we have something like 145 votes, if I remember correctly,
and those we can divide 50 over here and 100 over here, whatever,
or we can divide them half and half.
And I'm just concerned that we will dilute our vote
so that neither one would get elected
because there are lots of people around the Harris County running.
There will be a lot of people on that ballot.
Okay.
I'm going to assume that most people want that we can vote for these, nominate these two people together.
So I'm going to ask for a motion for nominating Martina Lamont-Dixon and Bill Frazier for this board.
Mr. President, I move that the Board of Trustees approve of nominating Martina Dixon and Bill Frazier for positions on the Board of Directors for the Harris Central Appraisal District.
Do I have a second?
Second.
We have a second.
Those in favor?
Mr. President.
President.
Discussion before the vote.
I just find it that the hypocrisy of some people on this board continues to show up when you say one thing about hiring the most qualified person, no matter of any qualifiers.
And then we bring two that are this different.
It feels politically motivated to me.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.
Any other comments before we vote?
Okay.
Let's vote.
Press your keypad.
Chair Greg Musil.
It's approved.
The motion carries 7-0.
Thank you.
We now go on to 10.2, our last item, at least under the discussion item.
10.2 Discuss and consider Board adoption of the 2024-2025 Maintenance and Operations Tax Rate and the 2024-2025 Debt Service Tax Rate.
Discuss and consider Board adoption of the 2024-2025 Maintenance and Operations Tax Rate
in 2024-2025 debt service tax rate and Mr. Chris Smith is here and I
understand Mr. Smith that we have this here as a separate item because we need
to make a motion that reads a certain way the way we have it here and so we
need to vote on it separately from everything else. That is correct. That is
correct and as I spoke at Lake last week is recommended to the board trustees to
to approve a property tax rate of $1.1171,
which is .7271 for maintenance and operations
and .39 for interest and sinking.
In front of you, you have the order that I read last week,
and it does need to have the motion that says,
even though it is a .0023 tax rate reduction,
the motion does need to be read into the or before there was a motion i move that the property tax
rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of 1.1171 which is effectively a 2.38 percent
increase in the tax rate even though it requires that language it is a 0.0023 tax rate reduction
reduction, which would save $2.30 on a $100,000 home.
So we know that it's actually a tax rate reduction, but we're saying in our motion, which is effectively
a 2.38% increase in the tax rate because we're required to do that.
That is correct.
Okay.
And that is because the property values have increased.
Okay.
Do we, Board Members, are there any questions or discussion?
If not, I will entertain a motion for this item.
item mr. president I move that the board board of trustees approved that the
property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of one point one
one seven one zero zero which is effectively a two point three eight
percent increase in the tax rate do I have a second we will now proceed to
vote board members please record your vote on the screen via your keypad the
The motion is carried 7-0.
Thank you.
Again, that is a .0023 cent tax rate decrease.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
11.1 Board Committee Updates
As far as the information items, Board Committee updates,
we had, I believe everybody has received minutes from the most recent advocacy,
legislative advocacy meeting that we had.
We have
had a finance committee meeting the week before the work study meeting or the week of the
work study meeting.
Minutes will be going on on that, but it's basically reviewing, for example, the tax
rate, reviewing the financial reports that we reviewed during the work study meeting.
Do we have any recap?
Mr. President, I'm going to ask again, just as a person that has been voted on, by 9,000
people or more and I hear about this almost on a daily basis and a lot of these people voted for
you also and they want to see me on a committee that I can actually make a decision on and I'm
just asking you if you would please allow me to be to serve on a committee like that and I know
it is up to you but I feel it's my duty to ask on behalf of the constituents okay information
Do we have any?
MS.
No, I did not capture any.
12. Future Meetings
CHAIRMAN BRYANT L. All right.
Our next work study meeting is October 21.
No, that's 2024.
And then we have a regular board meeting on October 28, 2024.
And actually we have on October 8.
MS.
Team building on the 8th.
CHAIRMAN BRYANT L. Right.
Not mentioned here, but on October 8 we have a team building workshop that we're going
going to be doing in the afternoon I believe from 1 to 4 something like that on the 8th.
I don't think it's been decided where it's going to be or do we know if it's across the
street? Yeah, it's probably going to be across the street isn't it?
We have traditionally held it.
Yeah, we've typically held it there like we had the team building there before we had
the also the meeting on the strategic design that kind of thing we'll have that over there
probably at the Martha Aki building on October 8th it's open to the public
exactly absolutely so I'm giving the date and the time there being a further business
for the board this meeting is adjourned and the time is 8 0 8. thank you
Official documents
Agenda
The district's own agenda file, as published on its video page. 5 pages.
Board packet · 26 documents
The district's own backup material for this agenda, retrieved from BoardDocs. Each file was checked against the size BoardDocs states for it.
- Unemployment Analysis PY 2025.xlsx 12 KB
- 1 Financial Statements - July 2024 183 KB
- 2 Function Object Analysis - July 2024 214 KB
- 3 Construction Report- July 2024 697 KB
- 4 Tax Report -July 2024 44 KB
- 5 Check Register - July 2024 183 KB
- HCAD Board of Directors Nomination Letter 71 KB
- Resolution 108 KB
- September 2024 budget amendments 209 KB
- SHAW Center Expansion Board Presentation_public revised 2145 KB
- Bear Creek ES Katy Board Presentation Public - REVISED 3076 KB
- PE Addition - Ranking Sheet for Board 86 KB
- A101-2017_CSP_PE_Addition_WT_Exhibits 3040 KB
- ArchRef_PE_VLK_WT 181 KB
- B101-2017_HE SIP_S&G_Exhibits 8571 KB
- Water Line Easement (0.4436-Acre) 1660 KB
- Sanitary Sewer Easement (0.4436-Acre & 0.2958-Acre) 2740 KB
- CP Easement for ES #47 1775 KB
- CP Easement_ES #48 3226 KB
- FINAL REPLAT_ES #48 892 KB
- Water Meter Easement (0.0086 Acre) 1664 KB
- Water Line Easement (0.0052 Acre) 1640 KB
- TAX RATE order 2024 110 KB
- HCAD Resolution SIGNED 738 KB
- MIN_8_19_2024_Board_Work_Study_Meeting.pdf SIGNED 1026 KB
- MIN_8_26_2024_Regular_Board_Meeting.pdf SIGNED 1392 KB
Motions and votes
Recorded actions
MOTION 001 · AGENDA 7.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves of a resolution to declare and designate District property as surplus property as discussed in closed meeting.
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 9.1
UnknownIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the design associated with the expansion to the Robert R. Shaw Center as depicted in the design presentation prepared by Stantec Architecture dated September 16, 2024.
MOTION 003 · AGENDA 9.2
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the design associated with the renovation to Bear Creek Elementary School as depicted in the design presentation prepared by Stantec Architecture dated September 16, 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 9.3
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards a contract to The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company for the building addition to Pattison Elementary School in the amount of $5,715,000 and approves the total cost not to exceed $7,390,050.
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 9.5
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards an easement for the water line and sanitary sewer line easements with Municipal Utility District (MUD) #465.
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 9.6
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards to Harris County Municipal Utility District (MUD) #534 a water meter and water line easements, as depicted in the attached easement documents associated with Elementary School #47.
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 9.7
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC a blanket electrical easement associated with the construction of Elementary School #47 as depicted in the attached easement document.
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 9.8
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC a blanket electrical easement associated with the construction of Elementary School #48 as depicted in the attached easement document.
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 9.9
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves a revised plat for Elementary School #48.
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 9.10
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the delivery method updates for various projects in the 2023 Bond.
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 9.11
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's July 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 012 · AGENDA 9.12
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's September 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 013 · AGENDA 9.13
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the 2024-2025 claims administration by TASB Risk Management Fund for unemployment compensation.
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 9.14
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the Self-Insured Health Plan for plan design and premiums for Plan Year 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 015 · AGENDA 9.15
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the House Bill 3 (HB 3) 5-year goals and targets for the district, elementary campuses and high school campuses.
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 9.16
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District Performance Objectives.
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 9.18
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees authorize the superintendent to form a naming advisory committee for the purpose of proposing a name for Elementary #47.
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 018 · AGENDA 9.19
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees authorized the superintendent to form a naming advisory committee for the purpose of proposing a name for Elementary #48.
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 019 · AGENDA 9.20
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve of naming part of a facility at Cinco Ranch High School in honor of Coach Gary Derks.
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 020 · AGENDA 9.21
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees grants approval for the superintendent to prepare, sign, and submit an application to the State Commissioner of Education for a class size waiver exception.
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 021 · AGENDA 9.22
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees observe business days under the Texas Public Information Act.
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 022 · AGENDA 9.23
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves of the minutes for the August 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 023 · AGENDA 10.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the attached resolution nominating candidates for positions on the Board of Directors of the Harris Central Appraisal District.
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 024 · AGENDA 10.2
PassedIt is recommended the Board of Trustees approve the property tax rate of $1.1171, which is effectively a 1.28 percent increase in the tax rate. And, further recommend the Board of Trustees approve the Order adopting the Maintenance and Operations tax rate of $0.7271 per $100 valuation and the Interest and Sinking tax rate of $0.3900 per $100 valuation for the tax year 2024, as reflected in the Order for a decrease in the actual total tax rate of $0.0023.
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 |