Good afternoon. Noting that a quorum is present, I hereby call this regular board meeting of the board of trustees of Katy Independent School District to order.
Katy ISD · Regular Board Meeting Agenda
Katy ISD Regular Board Meeting, February 24, 2025
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In this meeting
The headings and the descriptions beneath them are the district’s own words, taken from its index of this recording.
- 0:01 to 10:55 1. Call to Order
- 10:55 to 12:37 3. Recognitions
- 12:37 to 55:15 4. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
- 55:15 to 55:41 5. Closed Meeting
- 55:41 to 57:22 6. Reconvene from Closed Meeting – The Board will reconvene from Closed Meeting.
- 57:22 to 1:27:47 7.1 Special Education - Focusing on Developing Essential Academic, Social, and Life Skills
- 1:27:47 to 1:33:10 8.1 Presentation on the 2023-2024 Annual Report to include the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR).
- 1:33:10 to 1:34:49 9. Consent Agenda
- 1:34:49 to 2:03:56 10.1 Consider update to Board policy CW Local.
- 2:03:56 to 2:10:53 11.1 Board Committee Updates
- 2:10:53 to 2:34:24 11.2 Recap of Board member requests for information.
- 2:34:24 to 2:35:01 12. Future Meetings
Full transcript
Automated transcript, not human verified. It is a way to find a passage, not a quotation.
1. Call to Order
Today is Monday, February 24, 2025, and the time is 5 p.m.
Dr. Gorski, will you verify that we're in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act with regard to the notice for this meeting?
Mr. Perez, I do confirm we're in compliance with provisions of the Texas Open Meeting Act for our meeting tonight.
I'm going to go ahead and jump right into our first order of business, which is Pledge of Allegiance.
And we have a special guest here today, Jonathan Navarro, a fifth grader from Exley Elementary.
See out there is Principal Thea Wolford, a parent, Nicole Navarro, student special interests.
Jonathan enjoys playing games with his friends, going for rides on the bike trails, and creating fantasy stories.
Jonathan enjoys challenging math problems and performing science experiments.
A couple of nice things from his teachers.
Ms. Capadia, Jonathan is always kind and always looking out for others, including his teachers.
He is such a hard and diligent worker, really does put thought into everything he does.
He's also very passionate about learning new things, and that positivity is spread through those around him.
And from Ms. Ramirez, Jonathan is brilliant and gifted. He is a team player and empathetic when it comes to working with his peers. He's committed to doing his best to reach his full potential. He is creative and has perseverance to perform well in school. Thus, this shows how great a role model he truly is.
But before we bring up the pledge leader, I want to also introduce over here to my left, if you see them over there,
Maid Creek High School Small Brass Ensemble.
Principal Lizzie Hearing, and they are led by Music Director Johnny Christian.
And our students with us tonight, looks like all seniors and one junior, but
Asher Little, Kenneth Bernal, Halen Windham, Dinah Wynn, Ashton Castaneda, and Paolo Chares.
and a quote from our music director.
Performing the National Anthem tonight will be the Maid Creek High School Small Brass Ensemble.
This ensemble is comprised of outstanding students in the Maid Creek High School band program.
They include drum majors, brass captain, and section leaders.
They will be performing an arrangement of the National Anthem written by lead trumpet and brass captain Asher Little.
So let's go ahead and bring up our pledge leader. We do the pledge and National Anthem.
You ready, Jonathan?
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which
it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all honor the Texas flag
I pledge allegiance to the Texas one state under God one invisible
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This time we're going to invite Jonathan back up.
He's got some remarks he's going to share with us, and then we'll do some pictures.
What's that?
I don't have to do that.
Mr. Smith, if you're looking for his remarks, I can give you a copy.
Good evening, President.
President Perez, Board Members and Superintendent Gregorski.
My name is Jonathan Navarro.
I'm a fifth grade student who has attended Exley since kindergarten.
Garden. Today I would like to tell you about my experiences at Exley and the
things I've loved about it. July 2021, first I would like to
thank all my teachers for helping me learn and grow throughout my time
here and preparing me for each grade level. I also want to thank my
principal and counselor for doing the great stuff they do.
One of my favorite things at Exley has been the field trips.
They were fun and unique, but also educational.
One trip was about history and science where we saw wells and learned how they work.
We also learned about plant growth and a lot more in science while there.
I really enjoyed the fun and educational labs at Exley.
My favorite was a magnet lab where we were able to use magnets to move cars.
My favorite subjects are math and science because math gives me a challenge and science
encourages me to explore and discover new things.
Lastly, I want to talk about how I love to read and write.
I love the fantasy genre when writing.
The stories are fun and interesting.
And my favorite book is Wings of Fire. It has a cool story.
I've made awesome memories and friends here and I'll always be grateful for my time at Exley.
Thanks for listening.
Thank you.
Right there.
Thank you for your time, your free time to excel in your craft.
Bless us tonight and I'm very excited that y'all are here and representing May Creek
High School so well.
So I'm just going to give you a little bow here along with your certificate.
is to express our gratitude to you and how very proud we are of you.
Can we get a quick picture?
Okay.
Yeah, you want to show your certificate?
Thank you.
3. Recognitions
Next up on the agenda,
we have a couple of recognitions.
These are new principals who started this school year.
I want to go ahead and introduce first, from Maid Creek Elementary, Miranda Cummings.
Where's Miranda at?
Appreciate you stepping into that role.
Did you bring anyone with you tonight?
Okay, who do you have with you?
Awesome.
Well, let me just say this before I move on with the next new principal.
You've got to kind of give a big shout out to Miranda,
who had only been on the job, I think, about 16 days,
and we closed her school one morning because we lost power
and had to relocate everyone over to Maid Creek High School,
so we appreciate their hospitality.
but that was probably not easy but we thank you for what you did in your
leadership for that one so thank you. Also up Nottingham Country Elementary
Krista Gillespie. Where's Krista? There she is. Welcome. Another brand new principal and
Krista who did you bring with you tonight?
awesome thank you thank you for coming
appreciate it everybody do have any scouts in the audience any scouts no okay we will at this time
4. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
the board trustees will give members of the public an opportunity to speak in accordance with Katie
ADIZD Board Policy BED Local.
As defined by Board Policy, speakers who signed up by 2 p.m. on Monday, February 24, 2025,
provided their first and last name and signed in 15 minutes prior to 5 p.m.
will be allowed to address the Board.
Speakers who signed up to speak on posted agenda items will be allowed three minutes to speak.
And also speakers who signed up to speak 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 for Board Services before the meeting begins for Board Members, the Superintendent,
Chief Communications Officer, and Permanent Record.
If a speaker has not attempted to solve a matter administratively through proper channels
as stated in Board Policy, the Presiding Officer's designee shall advise the speaker to seek
resolution through the appropriate policy.
Finally, pursuant to Texas Government Code sections 551.074 and 551.0821, the Board will
not permit the presentation of personally identifiable information regarding a student
and will not discuss the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline,
discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee or to hear a complaint or charge
against an officer or an 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 not be called in the order they sign up to speak.
The first speaker is Yarrow Sledge, followed by Teresa McMeans.
Welcome.
Good evening, President Perez, board members, Dr. Gorgorski, and staff.
I am here tonight to speak on the new namesake policy being voted on.
In a recent Covering Katie article, Ms. Cuzela was quoted as saying,
people put a lot of time and effort into the applications with letters of recommendations and a lot of news articles.
As the person who nominated the Cross family, I wholeheartedly stand by this statement, Ms. Cruzella.
I dedicated significant time and effort to this recommendation.
I followed the established rules and well-organized process, and the Cross family was selected.
It has now been stated that the nomination involved suspicious timing.
I have known the Cross family for 35 years and nominated them because I respect them and know that they would be exceptional namesakes.
The Cross family did not ask me to nominate them, nor did anyone from the district prompt me to do so.
I made that decision independently with no agenda in place.
Unfortunately, this situation has tainted what should have been a joyful and honorable moment for the Cross family.
These accusations feel like a personal attack, not just on them, but on me as well.
And I find that extremely disappointing and retaliatory.
Furthermore, the Texas Education Code prohibits the school's district board of trustees from using state or local funds to electioneer for or against any candidate, measure, or political party.
Texas Education Code Section 11.169.
This new policy seems to violate this code and seems unlawful.
To me, the real suspicious timing is not in the nomination, but rather in the introduction
of this policy.
If this policy is not tied to the upcoming election and will not affect it, then why
not wait until after the election to implement these changes?
We have many important challenges facing public education right now.
I encourage this board to use their time on discussions that will help our kids and staff be successful
Instead of creating policies to help further political agendas. Thank you
Theresa McMeans followed by Christina Borgstead
Good evening, Dr. Gorski, President and board members, and thank you for allowing us to speak with you this evening.
The vision statement of KDISD, Be the Legacy, represents the past, but it embraces the future.
My name is Teresa Jordan McMeans, a proud member of the Jordan High School
namesake family and the daughter-in-law of the late Garland McMeans namesake
from McMeans Junior High. The proposed policy changes concerning naming our
schools was disappointing and made no logical sense to me. It is difficult to
to see the need for such extreme changes, such as five years to wait after retirement.
I cannot imagine this is the direction that our board wants to travel when we all see
the incredible work and time and presence that our namesakes provide our children.
And the possibility of discrimination if you teach our children and bear the same name
as the namesake, you won't be considered.
Where is the legacy in that?
As a school that bears your name prohibits you from using your educational expertise to serve on the board, I would ask, I would hope, that these things be reconsidered.
On the rotunda wall inside Jordan High School, there is a quote from my grandfather.
I leave you nothing but my name. Take care of it. I truly hope that you will consider the name K-D-I-S-D and the names of all the buildings.
take care of their incredible legacy and what it represents to the future of our children,
grandchildren, and the district that we all love.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Christina Borgstedt, followed by Angie Waller.
Good evening members of the school board and Dr. Gorgorski. My name is Christina
Borkstead and I'd like to speak with you tonight about the proposed building
naming changes. Our KDISD vision statement is be the legacy. I would like
to think I'm a very small part of that legacy. I started kindergarten at Alex
Elementary after the name being changed to Wolf Elementary as a kindergartner in
August a few short days after turning five years old. I graduated from Taylor
High School at the ripe old age of 17 before heading off to Texas A&M. As soon
as i completed college i started my teaching career at kd elementary i've had the great
pleasure to serve my entire career in kdisd as a teacher instructional coach assistant principal
and currently as the very proud principal of fielder elementary i'm also the guardian to my
nephew who started in kdisd in kindergarten and is currently in seventh grade however and most
importantly related to why i'm speaking this evening is i was raised by a kdisd namesake
my late mom maydell jinks is the namesake of the beautiful and remarkable campus jinx elementary
My mom served the majority of her career in KDISD, starting as a German teacher at Taylor
High School and retiring as a director of other languages.
She did many things for KDISD, including starting the bilingual program under TEA mandate, writing
and receiving millions of dollars in grant funds for KDISD student programs, as well
as starting the parent centers, just to name a few.
She was granted the honor of being selected as KDISD's elementary number 39's namesake.
The greatest joy in life after her grandson Blaze was being the namesake of
Jeeks Elementary. I like to think I'm a little in there somewhere I would hope.
However when Blaze was asked as a four-year-old what his grandma's name
was his response was Madeleine Jeeks Elementary. That always got a laugh out
of mom. She volunteered, attended countless events, became grandma to the
kids and was a huge part of the culture of the school. Mom and our family have
made lifelong friends with members of the community and staff i even asked the former
principal mr troy kemp to deliver the eulogy at mom's funeral because of how much that school
meant to her our family still attends events at jinks elementary because it allows us to keep her
spirit alive with some of the newly proposed changes in the school naming policy my mom would
not have been given the opportunity of one of the greatest joys of her life why because she passed
She passed away a year and a half ago after a brief battle with cancer, and by me still serving and being employed in the KDISD, she would not have been eligible to be a namesake during her lifetime.
The thought of her not having been a part of something that meant so much to her is why I'm speaking tonight.
The impact the KDISD namesakes have had on me personally are a huge part of who I am today.
Mr. Wolf and Mrs. Stevens were my principals growing up, and the reason I wanted to become a principal in KDISD.
Mr. Tompkins served as a mentor to me as a young AP and told me I was like a daughter to him, and I absolutely adore him.
Olga Leonard and Bonnie Holland, some of my mom's dearest friends, were part of my upbringing.
They presented me with the most beautiful gifts when I started my school life.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Angie Walter, followed by Jared Burton.
Hi guys, my name is Angie Waller and I'm a proud parent of three KDISD graduates.
My oldest graduated from Cinque Ranch High School under the leadership of James Cross,
an exceptional educator who has dedicated his career to the students of this district.
I've also served on the PTA at Cinque Ranch High School and have known Mr. Cross for many
years.
KDISD is fortunate to have both James and Mitzi Cross as part of our
educational community and they have more than earned the honor of having a school
named after them Victor you yourself said yes to naming the school James and
Mitzi Cross Elementary but now you want to be pathetic and change the rules
because you're a coward you know that Mr. Cross will win the selection and serve
in position one so instead of facing him fairly you're trying to rewrite the
rules to protect yourself that is not leadership it's a spineless move this
upsetting new policy is nothing more than an attempt to undermine great
educators in our district requiring a namesake to be retired for five years
before receiving this honor would have eliminated 21 of our astounding
educators from consideration in previous years look out in this audience and see
all these wonderful namesakes that we have here tonight. Why impose an arbitrary waiting
period? And now you want to ban namesakes if they have family members with the same
name teaching in our district. That is just insane. Why punish families who have dedicated
their lives to education? Shouldn't we celebrate generations of educators rather than restrict
them? If this policy passes, this will eliminate so many of our great leaders
who have children and other family members working in our district. Why
would you want to exclude those leaders? Those are the leaders who have shown
true dedication by passing their love of education on to their children. What are
you so scared of? The community sees through this petty move. We see through
the last-minute rule change and we'll hold you accountable. Voters are done
done with your antics and we look forward to electing James Cross on May 3rd so that
we can get back to education and stop the childish, self-serving games that you four
spineless puppets have been playing since you joined the board. Three years is enough
of this nonsense. I urge you to reconsider this pathetic and cowardly policy, stop playing
political games, stop interfering in this election, do what is right for our district.
Thank you. And Mary Ann, next time put your phone away during the national anthem.
Thank you.
Jared Burton, then Tracy Malloy.
Hello Board, my name is Jared Burton.
I'm a senior at Tompkins and president of the School of Sexuality and Gender Alliance Club.
Last week, the Board posted an atrocious, sloppy, and frankly
pathetic revision to our facility naming policy. It was written in
such a specific way and at such a time that it could only be seen as a direct
attack against school board candidate James Cross. A set of revisions that if
passed in their original form at any previous point in time would have
disqualified many namesakes of current district facilities including my own
school. But why don't we take a look at the elephant in the room. You didn't wake
up last week and think wow our naming policy could really use some changes.
These revisions were almost completely prompted by recently designated namesake
James Cross filing to run for school board president. Within not even 48 hours, what was
essentially a hit piece was published in the Covering Katie magazine, not only condemning
his candidacy in the midst of his designation as namesake, but even going so far as to imply that
Mr. Cross is lacking in achievement and merit to even have had a school named after him and his
wife in the first place. The author also conveniently went on to praise Mr. Perez, even if implicitly.
So it's clear that this article ironically wasn't itself politically motivated.
Now, I've read both sets of revisions.
Ms. Cuzela, Ms. Calhoun, you recently complained about the time constraint and lack of parental involvement in the naming process, which is completely valid.
An honor like this should be given proper time for consideration and take the input of people from all over the community.
However, these grievances were not acted upon until you realized it could benefit you politically.
The concern of being a namesake while running for office is misplaced.
Saying that candidacy casts doubt on the intentions of the namesake while doing community outreach is like saying anything Mr.
Perez does in the next two months could be trying to sway the vote.
If anything, he already has the advantage of being the incumbent, so clearly name recognition isn't the concern here either.
I realize that many of the most controversial parts of this policy have been removed in the most recent draft,
but like we're taught early on, what's published is forever, so you can stop smirking smugly over there.
The point is that these are changes you were willing to pass, changes that if not for extreme and deserved backlash probably would have passed.
At best, these revisions are poorly timed and misguided, but I know better than to assume the best with this board.
I will call these proposed revisions what they are, a desperate, pathetic attempt at a grasp for power.
The only reason they were thought up in the first place is because you four don't know how to run a campaign against someone that you can't disparage and someone who, until they filed for candidacy, you respected.
You may have defanged these revisions, but the damage has already been done. Pass them or don't, but we'll remember your intentions. Thank you.
Thank you.
Tracy Malloy followed by Ann Russey. Good evening to Superintendent Grigorski,
President Perez and the members of the board. I am Tracy Malloy, president of the
Katy area alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and more importantly the
proud mom of two Katy ISD alumni. They started at Hazel Pattison Elementary,
they moved on to Garland McMeans Junior High School, and they are graduates of
James E. Taylor High School. I share the names of each school because the
contributions that these educators have made to these schools as well as the
educators in names that are in the other schools.
around the district speak to the value and appreciation we have for the work
they have done for our children yet the proposed KDISD naming policy will
change that therefore the members of the KD area alumni chapter of Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority Incorporated are standing in opposition to the proposed KDISD
naming policy our KDISD facilities are remarkable individuals who have made
exceptional contributions to our district and earned esteemed recognition
from peers, students, parents, co-workers, and community members. These individuals
have devoted their lives to elevating Katy ISD into an exemplary
school district and are deeply invested in its future progress. A namesake should
actively uphold and continue the legacy they worked so diligently to establish.
Marginalizing them by imposing restrictions due to alleged behavior
concerns seems paradoxical. Namesakes are integral to the district's foundation.
The new policy places all the power with the board who was elected for a
three-year term and removes the collaborative effort of the community,
staff, co-workers, and former students who know firsthand the reputation and the
character of these nominated, which cannot be ascertained in a short
three-year time period. KDISD depends upon property taxes of residents who
who should also have a voice in the process to preserve the level of transparency that
should be associated with any public organization.
Including families in the policy may have the potential to negatively impact those who
desire to remain in Katy to continue the legacy started by their loved ones.
Growing up, my grandfather taught us, in this life, you only have your name and your word
and you have to keep both of them good.
Surely, KDISD wants to embrace those whose names have been held in high esteem and accept
whatever service they choose to give to preserve the name and their contributions.
The superintendent is the most impartial person that sits on the board since his or her hiring
and firing is in the hands of the board.
So removing that position from being chair is confusing.
Emphasizing the determination of adequate support or credible opposition in public forums
forms, introduces subjectivity, and leaves the assessment criteria vague.
This emphasis should not overshadow the diverse voices and perspectives.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Ann Russey, followed by Patty Lacy.
Hi.
My name is Ann Russey.
Tonight I'm here to deliver a petition of over 350 signatures from KDISD stakeholders
asking you to table the proposed revisions to CW local until at least
after the May 2025 election. If the proposed changes are not directed at Mr.
Perez's political opponent then there's no reason to rush. I'm also sharing a
letter from a teacher who couldn't be here tonight.
Dear school board members, as a teacher with 13 years of experience all in KDISD,
a proud KDISD student from K through 12, and a current parent of a kindergartner
with two more children who will follow in their footsteps,
I feel compelled to speak against the proposed policy change
that prevents recent namesakes from running for school board
within the first year after being honored.
This rule suggests a disconnect between the recognition of a namesake
and their ability to serve the district.
In fact, I believe the two, being honored as a namesake
and serving on the school board, actually complement each other.
It shows that the district values the contributions of these individuals
and believes in their dedication to student success. There is no reason why
receiving such an honor should automatically disqualify someone from
contributing further to the district in a different capacity, especially when
their experience and commitment are undeniable. Furthermore, I'm disappointed
in the timing of this policy change, particularly regarding the nomination of
Mr. Cross. While I don't personally know the Cross family, I have listened to the
process of their nomination and know several people who do. It is troubling
that this policy change is being brought forward now seemingly to discredit
someone who has been honored by the district as his recent recognition
somehow disqualifies him from serving on the board. Mr. Cross, like all board
members, is simply answering a call to serve his community. It should be seen as
a strength, not a conflict of interest, that he is willing to contribute his
wealth of experience from years of frontline work in the district to the
board if anything this recent recognition as a namesake of a school should serve as a validation
of his dedication to our district's success not as a reason to undermine his political service on
the board the two are not mutually exclusive but rather complimentary our district should take
pride in having board members who are honored by their peers for their decades of service
because this speaks directly to their commitment to ensuring student success
Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you.
Patty Lacy followed by Claudia Turcotte. Hello my name is Patty Lacy and I've had
children in the district since 1991. Don't do the math. What I want to talk
about of course is 10.1. So in December I believe is when y'all voted to have
James and Mitzi Cross Elementary. Amazing family, great namesakes like so many of
our namesakes that are here and we were excited and he was excited and she was
excited, everyone was excited. Okay so y'all had no issues with that at the
time. I know two of you voted against it and that's okay but anyway so no one had
a problem. Then miraculously after Mr. Cross filed for his election it became a
problem. Some people might call it a coincidence. I call it election tampering.
It's foolish that you also did not ask any advice from Dr. Grooms or from Dr.
Grigorski. I don't remember exactly everything y'all talked about last week,
but we have an amazing staff. Dr. Grigorski has an amazing cabinet. We have
wonderful people that you guys can pull answers from and ask advice from simply
just by asking, right? And so there's a lot of experience on the board also.
Also, three of y'all have less than two years experience, and two of you are on this committee.
I don't understand why Rebecca, Lance, I'm sorry, Ms. Fox, Mr. Redmond, or Ms. Champagne were not asked to be on these.
It just doesn't make sense to me.
A wise person asks for advice.
I think it's foolish on your part.
But getting back to the respect thing, I was at a volunteer event, and let's just be nice to each other.
I know I've been telling y'all this for almost going on two years.
but when someone's volunteering be kind to them if they say hello to you say
hello back if they hand you a name tag say thank you just be nice it doesn't
kill you I promise you will not die from it you don't have to love the volunteers
you just have to be nice and kind which is what I hope all of our students are
anywho um let's get back to education okay I don't know how many policies y'all
pass it actually help our students but this for sure is not one of them that's
not helping at all. So let's be kind to one another. Ask for advice when you
don't know for sure what to do. I know that Miss Fox pointed out a bunch of
things that y'all did not know about so had she been on that committee, someone
with a little bit more experience, it might have been helpful to you. But let's
get back to education. Pause this unnecessary policy change. If it ain't
broke, don't fix it and don't try and rig it. Thank you.
Claudia Turcotte followed by Chansey Davis. Welcome. Good evening. I'm here
tonight to address agenda item 10.1 but first I'd like to just say thank you and
I appreciate you. I know you all make great sacrifices to serve our community
and from what I've seen in return you regularly get personal attacks of the
most hateful and unhinged variety. Many of them just being outright lies. Which
Which brings me to my agenda item.
I would like to thank you for putting in the time and effort to make sure that the naming
policy is the best it can be.
I know some of you, particularly Ms. Cuzela, have been viciously maligned and smeared for
your efforts.
And I personally am surprised that anyone would object to a revision in this policy
that seeks to give the community greater input, more transparency, and the opportunity for
committee members to thoroughly inform themselves regarding the different nominees.
I also see the wisdom in taking steps to ensure that even the appearance of favoritism or manipulation of any kind is excluded from the process.
From reading the policy as well as from the discussion in your last meeting, it is abundantly clear to me that any revisions to the policy would only take effect once it is approved and will not be retroactive.
However, for some strange reason, many people seem to be under the impression that this
will somehow affect current namesakes and or school board candidates.
For the record, this policy will have absolutely no impact on current namesakes slash candidates.
Hopefully that makes it crystal clear for those who have been misinformed or misled
to believe otherwise.
It's obvious to me that you're attempting to do a good thing.
You want to give clear guidance for the process moving forward.
As a KDISD parent, I'm grateful to you for your efforts.
Please be encouraged that many people see and appreciate all the work that you do.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Our last speaker tonight is Chancey Davis.
That's on the agenda item.
We have some non-agenda speakers as well.
Welcome.
Good evening.
members of the board parents and community members my name is Chansey
Davis KDISD parent and former KDISD teacher go rhinos I'm here tonight to
speak against the proposed five-year ban policy for school namesakes this policy
is being framed as fairness but in reality it's about limiting competition
and silencing respected community leaders who've dedicated themselves to
serving in kdisd take the cross family for example they are not just a name on a building they're a
family that has worked tires tirelessly to support students and teachers and staff in kdisd their
only goal is to serve yet this policy would block them from continuing to contribute in meaningful
ways. That's not fairness, that's exclusion. Myth number one, name
recognition gives an unfair advantage. If that were true, incumbents would never
lose elections. But they do. Voters don't just choose a name, they choose
leadership, trust, ideas. We don't bar former CEOs from serving on boards
because they're well known we value their experience the same should apply
here myth number two this policy is about fairness not politics if fairness
were the goal again the board would focus on better voter education not
banning respected community members why target only namesakes what about PTA
leaders former trustees or local business leaders with high name
recognition this policy seems to be just about control not fairness myth number
three it protects the integrity of the naming process naming a school after
someone is a tribute as you guys can see I mean the namesakes that spoke tonight
were phenomenal and it it should be about protecting them and it should not
be about a gag order against them it's like telling a former CEO hey we're
honoring you but now please stay away it makes no sense in conclusion the real
goal of this policy is in fairness it's about silencing strong challengers if
the board truly believes in fairness it should trust the voters not change the
rules mid-election to eliminate competition the cross family and others
like them should be celebrated for their service not punished for it I urge this
board to reject this policy and focus on what truly matters our students teachers
schools thank you
our next speaker is Tana Weiss followed by Rebecca Trahan
Good evening, Dr. Gregorski and Board.
My name is Tana Weiss, and I'd like to correct an error I made in last week's address.
I spoke about the dynamic duo that is the assistant superintendents of elementary school leadership and support.
I was wrong.
They are, in fact, a terrific trio.
Mr. Rassan Smith was appointed to this position in 2022.
I know Mr. Smith.
I thought he was the secondary superintendent.
I was incorrect, and I want to acknowledge that.
I also want to recognize Dr. Emily Craig and Mr. Chris Morgan
as this assistant superintendents of secondary leadership and support.
As my students say, bro, sorry.
Yes, I was called bro last week.
I adore high school students.
I'd also like to double down on my praise and appreciation for every employee in this room.
while I sit in the back and internally rage and sometimes externally as the
quad slowly tries to dismantle this incredible district policy change by
policy change each person in this room continues to concentrate on the
important things student safety student success this district has always been
lauded because of their priorities the quad has shifted this focus from
positive goals and outcomes to punitive goals and outcomes. Ms. Champagne, Ms. Fox
and Mr. Redmond continue to push the focus back on student success but they
are outnumbered and outvoted every time. I cannot thank these three enough for
continuing their efforts with clarity as Ms. Calhoun openly bullies Ms. Champagne
get to the point land the plane while Mr. Perez does nothing to stop this as Ms.
Ms. Cozzella condescendingly questions Ms. Fox and really questions condescendingly every presenter.
She just likes to save money, folks.
Oh, and how can we forget the quad inviting the out-of-district speakers to come and question Mr. Redmond's Christianity?
Good times.
After the surprise pointed changes last week to the school naming policy that specifically targeted the Cross family,
Oh and caught almost every namesake for the last 28 years in the crosshairs
I thought how did we get here these aggressive hateful spiteful board members are commandeering our district
I would also like to acknowledge all of the namesakes in this room if you are a namesake or you are representing family
Please stand up
I would like to acknowledge that there are 20 of them in this room. Please
continue standing if this new policy would have made you unable to be a
namesake. I would also like to acknowledge there are 10 of them. We are
better than the quad thank you
Rebecca Trahan is our next speaker followed by Shatina Smith I have a
terrible cold so can you hear me okay okay so good evening board on June 12
2023 governor Abbott passed the parental Bill of Rights these laws included HB
be 900, 1926, 1605, and 3803.
They cover parental rights to review library materials
and parental rights for parents to be
able to review their children's instructional materials.
They also provide teachers with instructional materials
so that teachers don't have to use their personal
or their planning time to create the materials themselves.
These laws also cover allowing parents to be the ones who determine
if their child should repeat a grade level.
I'm bringing this up tonight because many parents in our district
don't know that they have any rights,
let alone knowing about the Parental Bill of Rights.
So tonight I'm going to ask that the board mandate something that's going to cost the district nothing.
I am going to request that the board simply require each school to print out a copy of the Parental Bill of Rights in English and in Spanish
and post it on the front doors of each school so that parents understand their rights.
and also to give parents information on where they can report violations if they
are occurring. This will also protect parents because as parents if we see
teachers rights being violated we can know where to report them. I'm also going
to request that the district place a link to the Parental Bill of Rights on
the home page of the district website again in English and in Spanish
outlining what the parental Bill of Rights are and allowing outlining where
parents and teachers can go so that there is a violation and they'll know
where to go and they know that they have rights again it's not going to cost the
district anything all it will do is it will help parents it will help our
children it will help teachers and it will make our district stronger thank
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Shatina Smith.
My name is Shatana Smith.
I am a teacher and a parent in KDISD,
as well as a member of the Texas AFT Union.
I currently serve as a fifth grade self-contained teacher
on an elementary campus.
As a self-contained teacher,
I am responsible for teaching multiple subjects,
projects, language arts, writing, social studies, handwriting, math, science, to 20 students,
both general and special education. These students will soon be transitioning to middle
school, a significant step in their educational journey. However, I have concerns regarding
their readiness for this transition. Consider the following. How will these students who
have had limited experience with transitioning between classes adjust to a middle school
environment where they will have to navigate between multiple classrooms and
interact with a variety of teachers and authorities. In contrast, their peers with
block schedules have already developed the necessary skills for this adjustment.
The gaps in their learning are a great concern to me. As the only teacher these
students have, I am responsible for their performance on three STAAR Tests. This
This immense responsibility is compounded by the workload I carry, which often leaves me with little time to prepare during my designated planning periods.
Unfortunately, my planning time is frequently interrupted by meetings or professional development sessions, which further diminish my ability to effectively prepare for my students.
This raises an important question.
Why is it acceptable to squander the time of teachers who are already stretched thin?
As educators, we are entrusted with shaping the future, yet our time is often dictated
by decisions that lack logical reasoning and are at times violation of established policies.
Beyond my role as a teacher, I am also a mother of three school-aged children.
I too feel the strain of balancing my professional duties with my responsibilities as a parent.
More often than not, I find myself spending time away from my children, either preparing
preparing for the next school day, managing the numerous duties associated with my role,
like tracking and analyzing data for all subjects, grading assignments for each subject, creating
anchor charts, photographing them and printing them for specific students, and completing
other necessary administrative tasks.
I work both before and after my contractual hours to ensure that students' individual
education plan is honored.
Despite the substantial effort and dedication I invest into my work, I am not compensated
for the extra time required to meet these demands.
To address this issue, I propose that Katy ISD consider offering stipends for teachers
who are responsible for teaching additional subjects beyond their primary assignments.
Doing so would help alleviate teacher burnout, promote retention, and ultimately benefit
our students.
Thank you.
Thank you.
you Jennifer Schneidt snack sorry if I mispronounced good afternoon Katie ISD
board my name is Jenny Schneidt I'm a member of the Texas AFT Union I have
been an educator for 18 years 12 in Katie ISD I am one of less than 10 now
nationally board certified teachers in our district. I love teaching. I come before you today to share a message
regarding planning time on behalf of my fellow elementary educators.
For the past three board meetings teachers have voiced their concerns yet we have not seen any improvement at the campus level.
Elementary teachers need your support.
We are required to be on duty greeting students when our contract begins at 7 45 a.m.
and we supervise students until our contract time ends with dismissal duty.
Meetings are being scheduled during a majority of our planning periods.
The Texas Education Code 21.404 clearly states that each classroom teacher
is entitled to at least 450 minutes within each two-week period for instructional preparation.
Also, during a planning period, a classroom teacher may not be required to participate in any activity.
last year I tried addressing my planning time concerns with my administrator I provided
documentation of where I was assigned during my planning and I shared this with you today the
yellow blocks are the days where I was provided a planning period there were multiple weeks where
I had no planning time out of the 61 days I only had 12 days with a planning period 12 of 61 days
That averages to one planning period per week.
Teachers cannot adequately prepare 25 hours of weekly lesson plans in one planning period.
KDASD usually soars above minimums, but KD is nowhere near the state minimum for planning
time.
Students suffer academically when their teachers aren't given enough time to plan lessons.
This is also a matter of teacher retention.
When teachers are consistently denied planning time, we lose valuable educators.
This is already costing KDSD teachers and more will leave if this pattern persists.
This is not a difficult or costly problem to solve.
Behind my planning time documentation you will find a list of suggested solutions to
these problems.
The first solution could be implemented tomorrow at no cost to the district.
It would also be the most impactful because it would give elementary teachers instantly
back two planning periods every week at no financial cost to the district.
Please listen to the brave voices of the educators who stand before you month
after month. Please ensure that our state protected planning time is restored. This
is not just about teachers, it is about the future of our students and the
continued success of KDISD. Thank you. Thank you.
5. Closed Meeting
This concludes the open forum portion of our meeting. The board will now convene
in closed meeting is authorized under section 551.001 of the Texas Government Code for the
following purposes. Texas Government Code 551.071, 551.074, and 551.129.
6. Reconvene from Closed Meeting – The Board will reconvene from Closed Meeting.
Good evening. The Board has just reconvened from closed meeting. In accordance with Chapter
551 of the Texas Government Code any action arising from discussions in a
closed meeting must be taken in an open meeting motion mr. president I move that
the board of I move that the Board of Trustees approved contracts for
employees who are being recommended to receive administrative probationary
administrative term staff member probationary and staff member term
term contracts as discussed and presented in closed session.
Do I hear a second?
Second.
It is moved and seconded that the Board of Trustees approve the administrative contracts
as discussed and presented in closed session.
Let's go ahead and take a vote.
Press the keypad.
The motion carries 7-0.
I welcome everyone to this evening's regular board meeting.
Each member received the agenda and documentation for this meeting on Friday, February 21, 2025.
The Board will receive information and recommendations from staff, administration, and the superintendent
on these agenda items and 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 of the Texas Government Code, any action arising from discussions in a closed meeting must be taken in an open meeting.
7.1 Special Education - Focusing on Developing Essential Academic, Social, and Life Skills
Our first item is a report, item 7.1, Special Education, Focusing on Developing Essential Academic, Social, and Life Skills.
And our presenter is Dr. Gwen Coffey, Assistant Superintendent for Special Education. Welcome.
Thank you. Good evening, President Perez, Dr. Hraborski, and board members, and thank you for letting me come talk to you tonight about my very favorite subject, which is special education.
We're going to talk specifically tonight about how special education focuses on developing essential academic, social, and life skills for students and what that looks like in KDISD in specific.
So first, we're just going to start with a really easy question, you would think, which is, what is special education?
So special education is a specialized approach to teaching that provides individualized support
and services and instruction to students with disabilities.
It's designed to meet the unique learning needs of students who may have cognitive,
emotional, physical, or developmental challenges that impact their ability to access the general
education curriculum.
Special education is guided by laws, both at the state and federal level.
specifically the individuals with disabilities and education act often
often referred to as IDEA or IDEA which guarantees that students with
disabilities will receive the right to a free and appropriate public education
and we love acronyms and special ed so that's called FAPE in their least
restrictive environment LRE special education can take place in a variety of
settings including general education classrooms with support resource rooms
or specialized programs depending on the students individual needs
needs. Special education refers to a range of services that can be provided in different
ways and in different settings and there is no, and this is critically important to understanding
the world of special ed, and we've got many special educators in here including most of
my team, there is no one size fits all. You cannot say there is a one size fits all in
special ed which makes it the hardest thing to do I think in many ways in public ed and
also the best thing because it's incredibly individualized based on the needs of students.
So this graphic walks you through kind of the special education process from start to finish,
illustrating the sequential steps that have to occur and are involved in identifying,
evaluating, and supporting students with disabilities. You have to suspect a disability
at the start and then a referral is made for testing and evaluation. This referral could be
made by the school, it could be made by a parent, it could be made by an outside provider. There's
a number of people but a referral is made to the district following that referral an
evaluation is completed depending on the type of referral dictates the type of evaluation
and that evaluation then determines whether or not a disability is present. I
want to pause for just a minute because those specific steps are part of the
evaluative process that takes place at the start of the students determination
for special education and also it's part of an ongoing monitoring that happens
later but we all know about special education teachers and paraprofessional
staff we talk a lot about those individuals but we have a number of
individuals that are also critically important in this part of the process
for example, our educational diagnosticians, our speech-language pathologists, we have
school psychologists, and we have our facilitators.
And all of these individuals, we have special education clerks, we have a variety of different
kinds of assessment staff and related services staff, which we'll talk about later.
All these individuals come together to assess students to determine, is a disability present?
And then the IEP team comes together to determine if there's an eligibility for special education,
meaning is there a suspected disability and do you require specially designed
instruction to address that disability moving into the bottom part of this
process you come into what we call an ARD meeting or an admission review and
dismissal meeting where an IEP is developed as a part of that based on the
individual child's needs we look at where that child's going to receive
their services and then this is an ongoing process that continues through
as the student moves through school and and updated evaluations are completed so
what does this look like in Katy which is really what we all care about what a
special ed look like here so this graphic illustrates the growth in Katy
I see special education numbers over the academic years beginning in the 1516
school year up to our current ratio when I made this PowerPoint which by the way
it's probably probably added a few since that point so you can see in 1516 we
we were at 9% and we have dramatically risen.
And there's a variety of reasons for that.
We've added students, and so just by numbers,
of course, some of those students are special education.
And there have been some changes in state law
in the way that we interpret special education in certain areas.
Dyslexia is a great example that has caused a significant rise
in the number of students that are receiving specialized instruction
through special education.
So in KDIC, we have a variety of special education supports and programs.
This is my favorite part to talk about.
But before we can really get into that, we need to talk about what is LRE.
LRE is a word that is used very frequently or an acronym that's used very frequently when we talk about special education.
LRE is determined on a case-by-case basis.
It stands for least restrictive environment.
During this process, when we're determining and talking about a student's placement,
a multidisciplinary team of professionals comes together with a variety of expertise,
including the student's parents because parents are an integral part of this process.
And they talk about what the students areas of strength, the students areas of weakness are, they determine goals, appropriate supports.
From that point we can talk about what are the options where these supports can be provided.
And that would be the student's least restrictive environment.
The term environment and least restrictive environment kind of makes it sound like it's a place.
But LRE is in fact not a place.
It is not just a location.
It refers to a particular setting where the child can receive what they need as outlined in their LRE
So you can have a child that's in a variety of settings because that's what they need in reading or math or science or social
Skills or whatever it may be. So LRE is not a place. It's it's the overall setting that the art committee determines
As such as you can imagine we have to have a placement continuum
And so this is a general graphic showing you kind of what the least restrictive placement could be, the one that is the closest to general ed without any supplementary aids or supports.
And then it kind of moves through to what the most restrictive would be, which would be like a hospital or a residential facility.
What we're going to talk about tonight in KDISD almost completely takes place in those first two boxes, general education and special education.
We do have some specialized ones that kind of come over into the other side, but most of them are in those first two boxes.
A few more words that I think you have to kind of understand to understand what we're talking about.
Supplementary aids and services.
These are first line, if you will, supports that we put in for students in whatever environment they're in to try to support them in that environment to gain access to their curriculum.
General ed curriculum or it could be a modified curriculum.
These are things that we want students to be able to have within that environment to help them be successful before we would consider moving them to a more restrictive environment.
Supplementary aids and services, if not successful, are generally what we, that's the data we rely on when we start looking at whether they need to move to a more restrictive setting.
The other conversation that I think we need to have before we can move into settings is the difference between accommodations and modifications.
These words are used a lot in special education and they don't mean the same thing.
and people sometimes get confused with what they mean.
So an accommodation generally is there to change how the student learns the material
without altering the learning expectations.
Accommodations provide access to the general education curriculum by removing barriers.
An example might be an audio book or extended time on a test or preferential seating.
Ultimately, the student is expected to meet the same academic standard as their peer.
A modification changes what the student is expected to learn by adjusting the curriculum or performance expectation.
Modifications alter the level of difficulty, complexity, or scope of an assignment or assessment.
And that could be, for example, modifying grade level expectations.
These changes result in a student being assessed on a different standard than their peers.
So it matters that we understand these two things because that will directly impact where we're educating students.
students. So let's talk about our academic continuum. We're going to talk about an academic
continuum and a behavioral continuum in KDISD. Academic continuum, there's two big boxes that
are represented on the screen. The first kind of big box is predominantly takes place in a general
education classroom with support in that classroom, supplementary aids and services, accommodations,
or modifications. It's on that less restrictive end of the continuum. You can have a student in
a general education with accommodations, a general education classroom with modifications,
or a general education with accommodations and modifications and maybe they get pulled
out to a resource for some targeted intervention or learning.
Resource is a special ed setting, but often those students are coming back into the classroom
to receive additional learning in the classroom setting.
So this can be one or all happening at the same time.
The second box talks more about specialized programs.
these students are going to access a specialized program in a classroom
setting so ECSE which is early childhood special education structured life or
structured cap in looking at these more specifically ECSE is a specialized
educational environment designed to support young children typically ages
three to five who have developmental delays or disabilities this provides
individualized instruction therapy services and structured learning
experiences to children to help develop essential skills in the areas of
communication motor skills social emotional development and cognitive
abilities KDISD currently has 55 monolingual ECSE classrooms and 13
bilingual ECSE classrooms it's a lot right structured life skills a life
skills classroom is also a specialized educational setting designed to support
students with moderate to severe disabilities in developing the essential
skills needed for independent living, social integration, and future employment.
These classrooms provide individualized instruction tailored to each student's
strengths, needs, and long-term goals. Some key features of a life skills classroom
you're going to see focus on functional academics, daily living skills, social and
communication skills, they participate in community-based instruction to practice
practice their skills in real-world settings,
vocational trainings, and there's a lot of collaboration
with families and specialists.
A life skills classroom prioritizes practical,
real-world learning to empower students with disabilities
to achieve greater independence, confidence,
and success in their daily lives.
KDIC has 46 life skills classrooms at the elementary level
and 47 at the secondary level.
Structured CAP.
is a program that applies the principles of applied behavior
analysis, or ABA if you've heard that term,
in an educational setting and is designed
to provide systematic individualized instruction
for students.
I do want to clarify that KDISD does not provide ABA therapy.
We are an educational institution,
and we teach education to students.
But ABA is a broader theory, and we
can take the principles of ABA and apply them
in an academic setting to support students.
So key features of CAP would include individualized instruction.
They do some discrete trial trainings, some visual supports in a structured environment, functional communication training, behavior support, social skills support, task analysis and independent living, and data-driven decision making.
Again, in this classroom, there's a lot of collaboration with families and outside providers at times.
This structured program maximizes student engagement and minimizes barriers to learning and fosters independence.
KDISD has eight E-CAP, which are early childhood, 40 Y-CAP, which would be the elementary, nine
J and six H-CAP programs at the secondary level.
In moving on to our behavioral continuum, what I would say is the calculus that is applied
to make decisions regarding special education students and IEP meetings is much the same,
but the focus in this particular spot is more on the behaviors, sometimes ahead of the academics.
I do not want to give the impression that we ignore academics, but very often student
behaviors need to be under control before we can teach academics.
And so that's what this behavioral continuum looks like.
Again, disciplinary aids and services in general ed.
And I have to tell you that you could have all those other things from the general ed.
You could have accommodations, resource, and modifications, and you could have behavioral
supports, behavior goals, and a behavior intervention plan.
You could have all or a few, but those take place generally in the general education classroom.
And then again, we have specialized program classrooms and the BLC coming in the spring of 2026.
In looking at the ACIP program, ACIP classroom is designed for students who benefit from highly structured evidence-based program that provides intensive individualized instruction in social skills, coping strategies, replacement behaviors, and academic development.
This program also integrates best practices and ABA in social learning and universal design for learning to equip students with the necessary skills to function in their LRE.
The goal, of course, of these programs would be to generalize those skills to the academic environment and also to the community.
We have 20 ACIP classrooms at the elementary level and 12 at the secondary level.
RISE is built on the belief that students with emotional and behavioral challenges can achieve academic success when provided with structured, individualized behavioral supports in the general education setting.
This program integrates evidence-based behavioral interventions, targeted instruction, and coaching to help students develop self-management skills, successfully engage in learning, and to reduce maladaptive behaviors.
The RISE program fosters a structured, proactive, and inclusive learning environment where students
receive the behavioral and emotional support needed to thrive academically and socially.
By integrating evidence-based behavioral practices, coaching, and individualized interventions,
RISE empowers students to develop self-regulation, resilience, and success.
KDIC has at least one RISE classroom at every secondary campus, and a total of 41.
Adaptive Behavior Program.
The Adaptive Behavior Program is a specialized educational setting designed to support students
with significant emotional, behavioral, and social challenges that impact their ability
to succeed in a general education environment.
These classrooms provide structured, individualized instruction and behavioral interventions to
help students develop self-regulation, social skills, and functional independence while
still progressing academically.
It's a highly structured therapeutic learning environment that equips students with social,
emotional, behavioral, and academic skills needed to successfully transition into less
restrictive settings and real-world environments.
KDIC has 10 AB classrooms at the elementary level, and currently BTP is the secondary
equivalent of AB.
As discussed, BTP, secondary level adaptation of behavioral program, but it is specifically
structured to address the unique challenges faced by older students. This
program provides a highly specialized environment where they receive again
targeted interventions, individualized strategies, and comprehensive support to
foster social, emotional, and academic growth. Through a structured and
therapeutic setting, the BTP ensures that students with significant behavioral
needs can develop the skills necessary for success in both academic and social
contexts. Under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, related
Related services are a wide array of supportive services provided to children with disabilities
to assist them in benefiting from special education.
Many times people don't know that we provide all of these services as a part of a student's
IEP to ensure that they are successful in their general ed or whatever their least restrictive
setting may be.
Specifically, the IDEA defines related services as transportation and such developmental,
corrective and other supportive services necessary for a child with a disability to benefit from
special education.
The need for related services is typically considered during a student's admission, review, and dismissal ARG committee meeting as the committee reviews and discusses the evaluation and assessment data.
Related services include, but are not limited to, those that are listed here on your screen.
I do want to note that speech has an asterisk next to it.
In Texas, speech is also considered to be an instructional service.
A multitude of providers deliver these specialized services to our students.
special education includes a range of specialized programs designed to meet
the diverse needs of students with disability and I want to provide a very
brief overview of five key programs and support students with unique learning
communication and transition needs first Katie ISD hosts the regional day school
program for the deaf or the RDS PD the RDS PD provides specialized educational
services for students who are deaf or hard of hearing programs are designed to
support language development, auditory training, speech therapy, and sign language instruction
based on a student's individualized needs. Students may receive services in self-contained
classrooms, mainstream settings with interpreters, or a combination of both depending upon their IEP.
Most of you are familiar with ECI Project Hike. We are one of only two school districts in the
state of Texas that hosts this program, and this serves infants and toddlers, so birth to age three,
with developmental delays or disabilities.
Services focus on early intervention strategies in areas such as communication, motor skills,
cognitive development, and social-emotional growth.
And families play a key role in the home-based or center-based therapy, which may include
speech therapy, occupational therapy, and parent coaching to enhance child development.
Homebound services, homebound instruction is provided for students who cannot attend
school due to medical conditions, surgeries, or extended illnesses.
This is based on a very specific set of criteria that has to be reviewed through their ARD
committee.
A certified teacher delivers instruction in core academic subjects at home or in a hospital
setting, and the goal is to ensure continuity of education while supporting the student's
transition back when medically appropriate.
Nonpublic day schools are day schools for students whose needs cannot be met in the
public school and for whom the ARD committee has made a recommendation that we seek a nonpublic
day school.
This occurs when a specialized school is required to provide the necessary supports and interventions as outlined in the IEP.
18 plus programming, again, most of you are familiar with that. We've talked quite a bit about it.
But this is for students to support students with disabilities who have completed high school credits but continue to need instruction in life skills, job training, and independent living.
These programs focus on vocational training, community-based interventions, daily living skills, and self-advocacy to prepare students for employment, college, or independent living.
Each of these programs plays a crucial role in providing special education, early intervention,
and transition support to ensure that students with disabilities receive the services that
they require in order to be successful in the school and beyond.
So this is a very quick overview of the tremendous work that KDICD does on behalf of our students
with disabilities.
I am happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
just one quick question is in terms of the different levels or categories you
want to call it that of students requiring additional that have needs
which ones are the ones that are more likely to be served by the new behavioral
learning center those that access the behavioral continuum specifically that
second box and even more specifically probably the the adapted behavior
programming the BTP some of our some of our students that are in some of our
more highly specialized programs so of all of our students I mean we're about
18,000 now give or take as in perspective I would say that within a
given year because students you know come and go within a given year we could
serve anywhere from two to three hundred would you agree with that miss Lane
Green at the BLC thank you it's amazing that we're closing in on 20% of our
enrollment in special education so very intense area and needed area sounds like
absolutely any questions mr. president steamy and dr. coffee it's okay if you
don't know this I don't put you on the spot but I I'm pretty sure some of your
ASAP teachers applied for a Katie Education Foundation grant and won it
last year oh I think that's correct okay yes because I will get my team over here
Yeah, they do the work. I saw the the grant and I just want to thank your team
Yes
And then those answers for applying because I was they were so excited and I could really see that it
Was tools that they were going to benefit absolutely them and their jobs, but also the students so absolutely that was exciting
second thing and
From what I remember when I was touring Memorial Parkway Elementary
we actually receive as a district do do we not receive students from outside the
district for our deaf program yes we are the fiscal agent for in a shared service
arrangement for the RDS PD how many districts six oh see I thought it was
royal ISD but it was six okay well that's information I did not have and of
course I think they help offset some of that cause they pay tuition yes but um
And kudos to your team for pulling that off.
And thank you, Memorial Parkway Elementary.
And did that move to West Memorial Elementary, or is it still going to be stationed at Memorial?
It's still there.
We have Memorial Parkway Elementary, West Memorial Junior High, and Taylor?
Taylor.
Taylor.
Okay.
My alma mater.
Yeah.
Okay.
And then lastly, you know, not all SPED teachers, not everyone probably knows this, but not
not all SPED teachers are recognized by the state of Texas as the teacher of record.
Correct.
Okay, and so I just want to say I think the board would agree with me.
Thank you for all of your staff,
especially the ones that are not recognized as the teacher of record,
because in my first year of teaching, I had a very challenging student,
and I had a special ed teacher in my classroom the whole year once we realized I was above my head.
And I learned so much from her, and it really helped me,
and it helped all of the other students limit the distraction.
And so that student could learn, and then the rest of my students.
And it really gave me a skill that I did not have as a first-year teacher.
I just didn't.
Our teachers are quite remarkable.
Yeah, so thank you to your whole staff.
Absolutely.
Other questions, trustees?
Mr. President?
Ms. Champagne?
I would like to also echo, and thank you for saying that, Ms. Teamey,
what she said about your staff.
but obviously y'all are doing something right because there's so many more
special ed kids coming from all around I know people who actually move into their
entire family to live in Katy to get the special education that they need and I
wanted to recognize to a lot of our namesakes that are here that are so like
mrs. Holland just got awarded some an honor of seven in the ark and so
So congratulations.
And then we have Amy Cannell who was, helped start the Best Buddies program and the ARC
also.
And then we have the Schaffers, I don't know if they're still here, but they're with the
ARC.
I think so, yeah.
Alright.
And then we have Elaine Robertson who, the Deaf Education.
And then we have Mrs. Aki with the Project Tike and...
Jeannie Coleman.
Jeannie Coleman, yes.
Jeannie Coleman has Coleman.
So, I mean that's probably the majority, that's got to be over half of the namesakes that are sitting in there.
So, I really, and they're still sitting here.
And they're still sitting here.
So, I appreciate you all and all the contributions that you did from the past to give us this platform of where we are at this point.
And so, I really, really applaud that.
And then I just have one question.
That page that you showed with all the different color blocks, it was not that far back.
This one.
The related services.
Do we provide all of those services?
Yes, ma'am.
We provide every service on here.
That's awesome.
That's all I wanted to know.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Mr. President.
Ms. Fox.
thank you for the presentation i love academics being brought here and shining for all of our
people who watch you know and and care about about these things your staff i mean there are no words
there are no words we all well i'll speak for me i know the sacrifices that you make
like the physical sacrifices that you make the emotional sacrifices that you
make to the detriment of your self-care your own families your home your
personal time because your hearts are so big and your talents are so wide there
are no words to describe how much you mean to me and I've been to many
many campuses and seen many of you in action, but I'm telling you that going to the summer
school programs this year, the junior high one and the elementary one, changed me in
a way that I still have very strong memories and things I learned and being at those programs
and staying like most of the day and going into classrooms and seeing actually what you
you do instead of my usual like, you know,
cheers and hi of campus tours.
It changed me.
And I'm so excited about the new programs that we have.
And it won't fix things.
It will give us better resources to provide for our students.
And I'm thrilled about that.
Mrs. Champagne did exactly what I was going to say.
Mr. Schaefer, Mrs. Robertson, Ms. Campbell, Ms. Aki, Ms. Coleman, because I'm very
blessed to get to spend time with them up close, have helped me understand all
the challenges and what happens and what do these, I mean I talked to all of you
about the programs that we were voting on and Mr. Schaefer was the director of
special ed when I first came, you know, to KDICD as sat in this chair and he's
world-renowned right everybody wants Fred Schaefer to work with them and he's
we know it's it's a fact that's a fact to be embarrassed if you want man what
and and you sped read through that I mean I could ask you a question about
every single thing and learn something new so I won't first at the time here's
Here's my question for Dr. Gorgorski that someone asked me this week.
The new, what's the name we use for we're going to grow our own teachers that we just
started with Tracy Stroud, right?
That program, could we have one for special ed?
That's what they want next.
I've got Mr. Schuss over there.
So when we started the program and get approval on that, we had to start with just one thing.
We can add one thing annually and I believe Mr. Schuss, I don't want to speak if I've got that incorrect.
Next year we add special ed?
Yes, we're looking to add special ed next year.
We've still got some work to do before we can do that, but we're going to attempt to do that.
Because my understanding is we're very short special ed teachers, extremely short,
which puts an even bigger burden on you and your shoulders.
I'm so thankful to see you guys all here.
We're here every month.
Come back.
Mr. President.
Mr. Redmond.
Thank you, Dr. Coffey.
I learn something new every time you present, but I still can't memorize all of the acronyms that are up there.
Okay.
Takes a while.
So if I just smile and nod, I love what you're doing, but I don't understand all of them.
I just had two questions.
The first time I've heard non-public day schools, what does that look like?
Like, do we actually pay for our kids to go to, like, specialty education for them?
We do in certain circumstances.
It's very unusual.
I believe we have six students right now that are utilizing that service out of 18,000.
So it's very, very unusual.
There's a variety of reasons why a student may require that.
But generally, the needs of the student are highly specific.
And it is in the student's best interest to access a unique school such as a non-public day school where they specialize in that need.
Because if you have one student out of 18,000 that does, you want to be sure that student's receiving what they need.
And it makes more sense for them to do that in that environment.
And then I have one follow-up question.
Sure.
Does the state of Texas give us enough money to fund our entire special ed program?
Absolutely not.
Neither does the federal government in case you were wondering.
So if you're asking, you may say it may be a great thing for us to communicate our needs
to our legislators, especially during this timely session.
Yes, I will be there this week.
I was there on Thursday.
There you go.
Other questions?
Thank you very much.
Thanks for the presentation.
Thank you.
8.1 Presentation on the 2023-2024 Annual Report to include the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR).
Our next item is 8.1, which is a presentation on the 2023-2024 Annual Report to include
the Texas Academic Performance Report.
And our presenter is Natalie Martinez, Executive Director of School Improvement.
Thanks for coming.
Thank you.
Good evening, President Perez, school board members, Dr. Grigorski.
Tonight, I'm here to guide you through the annual performance report and hold a public hearing.
The date on screen is correct.
The annual performance report is regarding the 2023-2024 school year.
There are eight components of the report, with the largest being the TAPER, or Texas Academic Performance Report.
The timing of the annual performance report is driven by the release of the TAPER.
TEA releases that in January, which is why we come to you now.
Many of these requirements are brought to you in updates throughout the year, including updates on star and EOC performance, financial reports, hospital three progress measures.
Because you've seen the updated information throughout the year, we won't go back in time to review the old data, but I will be able to answer questions should you have them.
This full report is on the KDIC website under the research accountability and assessment website, and you'll see annual performance report there on the bottom left.
Section 1 is the Texas Academic Performance Report, which is compiled by TEA for each
campus and district in the State of Texas.
This document includes data from PEMS and reports on state assessment data, student
group performance, staff and programs.
Typically you would find an accountability rating here, but ratings are still on hold
pending the lawsuits against TEA.
Section 2 is our financial standard report. This report is given to us by TEA and is a year behind the annual performance report.
But with frequent updates from our finance department, you are aware that KDISD earned a first rating of an A, which is superior achievement.
achievement.
Section three is the district accreditation status.
student performance is a key indicator in the accreditation system. TEA
suspended the assignments of accreditation statuses for the 23-24
school year. Our last status was 22-23 and we were accredited at that time.
Section 4 is our campus performance objectives. These plans are approved by
the board each year. Campuses monitor their own progress on a quarterly basis
and plans are posted on the campus websites.
Our special education determination status is meets requirement,
which is the highest rating.
This rating represents the special education integrated intervention determination status.
Section 6 holds information on criminal or violent incidences by campus,
and the section 9 holds the prevented prevention and intervention policies used
to protect students incidents reported are at level 4 and level 5 within our
system and numbers are masked for instances with 10 or fewer students at
particular campuses section 7 includes data on students performance once they
leave KTISD and enroll in higher ed this includes two-year and four-year schools
It shows their GPA from their first year of college and the number of graduates.
Finally, Section 8 references our board-adopted House Bill 3 goals, which report out on elementary reading and math as well as high school CCMR.
The board adopted these goals in July of 2020, if we're referencing this year, and we report progress to you all twice a year, January and July for reading and math, and also in July for CCMR.
I'm not sure where that came.
There we go.
Section 9 has additional statute requirements, including counseling information,
and then the policies regarding our violence and intervention.
And Section 10 is our glossary given to us by the state.
Again, this full report is in the Research Accountability and Assessment website
site on the left hand side with the annual performance report.
Any questions?
Thank you. Any questions, trustees?
So I guess we have homework and that's to go on the website
and look at the annual performance report. I think you're pretty updated throughout the year.
So yes, it is available to you, but all of the reports that we give to you
throughout the year are meant to keep you updated as things come out
and not so far behind like this report is.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
And the next item is actually a public hearing on the annual report
to include the tax academic performance report for 23-24,
but we don't have anyone signed up to speak on that.
9. Consent Agenda
We'll now move on to the full consent agenda option,
which is a consent agenda which shall include items that were discussed and
considered at the previous work-study meeting as well as items of a recurring
nature the board shall be furnished with background material for each item
consent agenda items will be grouped together under one action item all
actions shall be acted upon by one vote without separate discussion unless a
board member requests that an item be withdrawn for individual consideration
That's BE Legal, BE Local.
And previously I removed the item on CW from the Consent Agenda, so that's not in the
Consent Agenda.
So Board Members, are there any other items that need to be removed from the Consent Agenda?
If there are no questions about the rest of the Consent Agenda, I will now entertain a
motion for the consent agenda although i have a motion uh mr president i move that the board
of trustees approves the consent agenda for items 9.1 through 9.18
do we have a
we have a motion and a second uh go ahead and vote by pressing your keypad on the consent agenda
The motion carries 7-0.
10.1 Consider update to Board policy CW Local.
We'll now move on to consider a discussion and action on the Board Policy CW Local.
I want to make some comments on the policy before we get into a discussion or before
we go further with it.
as there have been some misunderstanding, if you will, of the policy and also of some of the revisions, if you will.
Initially, it was discussed by the board in December that CW may need to be re-looked at or looked at in terms of just improving the process.
process. Principally, the focus is to include more community members in the naming committees
and allow more time for the naming committees to review the voluminous material presented.
So the policy committee met. We also met later on with Dr. Regorci and Mr. Graham from a
legal perspective, and the initial draft was presented at last week's work study meeting
for review and discussion and then the full board engaged in in the discussion
and additional comments received over the course of last week both from
trustees and community members and this is the way the work-study meeting is
supposed to supposed to work where we discuss things openly we present it and
we receive comments and then we approve it or make revisions for the regular
meeting and that's what we're doing right now is basically I think on Friday
a revision to the initial draft was was posted for everyone to look at this last
Friday that's because of the open meetings act the entire board cannot
meet privately to draft a policy and I also met earlier this week or last week
with dr. Gorski and mr. Graham to review the revised draft I also want to state
clearly, I think I said this last week, but it's also stated right at the top of
the policy, that the revised policy would be effective as of the day it is
approved. It's not retroactive, therefore it does not affect anything that has
occurred in the past, nor any namesakes. And so briefly I would just want to
summarize the principal changes to the policy and also what changed from
last week. For example, a former employee can be considered for naming if they're
retired or deceased. So the requirement that an employee must be
retired for a certain number of years, like five years, has been removed from
the draft. And the same applies to anything related to the family name, the
use of the family name. Again, no requirement that anyone be retired for a
certain period. Second thing that we focused on was that applicants are to be notified
when their applications have been received and if they're considered or not and why,
why they're considered or not. This does not exist in the current policy and there's been
some complaints sometimes received in the past about that they were not told that their
application was not being considered. Another change is that the naming committee
committee members are to be provided application materials seven days prior to the meeting.
These applications are lengthy with supporting reference letters and newspaper clippings
in some cases.
The other change is more parental voice from attendance zones.
The revised policy establishes a quorum requirement for a name committee to be valid.
It requires at least six committee members to participate, of which four shall be parents
from the new school's attendance zone.
This is what is in the revised policy.
And so also we add that the idea being
that board members and district employees
should not outnumber parents
and have a disproportionate vote or say
in the vote or in the policy.
And of course what's been added
that's been brought up tonight
is about the the person choosing to be a candidate for school board on the in the
same year that they were chosen if you will to to be a namesake or to to be
having a facility named after them again this is not apply to anything that's
happened in the past. It's only going forward. So the revised policy that has
been proposed does not change the criteria for namesakes nor call into
question the basis used for naming of facilities in the past whatsoever.
Finally, I want to add that over the past three years I've met and gotten to know
many of our grains namesakes I respect them and their contributions as
educators I've also seen their ongoing contribution as namesakes to our
district to the respective schools and to the students and I think that even
though I'm very comfortable with a lot of these revisions I think that given
some of the feedback that I've just recently gotten from namesakes with
with respect and some misunderstandings,
but also some legitimate feedback from namesakes.
I think that we should basically table
the approval of this policy.
I'd like to get additional feedback
from additional namesakes and make sure we incorporate that
in the policy.
So I'd like to table this approval of the policy
for a later date.
So actually, I'm making a motion that we do that, that we table the policy for a later date and including more input from the namesakes before going ahead with a final draft and vote.
I second.
Mr. President.
Go ahead.
I have a second from Ms. Fox.
I second the motion.
Now we have to have discussion.
Any discussion on the motion?
I'd like to add.
I agree with tabling it, but I know that the community has said can you just wait till later? I appreciate that but there are
Issues in the policy that do need to be addressed
There are gaps in the policy procedurally that do need to be addressed in order to make sure that this is as
clear and transparent and as
Available to our community as possible. So given that we can vote on this. Yes on the tabling motion
Can we postpone that and set a date to pick this up for after the election?
So if we're done with the election, if that's the biggest issue that I heard tonight and that we've heard through our emails, can we set a date to postpone this after we vote to table it?
I mean, I would say that I think we can decide when to bring it back.
I don't think we need to fix a specific date.
Mr. if after the election which again this is not really about this election is all going forward
right but if there's any question about the election or whatever then I'm fine with that but
again the whole focus of this policy revision was had nothing to do with the election because
it doesn't take effect this year whatsoever I agree with you and that was always clear to us
while we were in policy committee we said that multiple times this was not
going to end it we did not want to do that that was said again and again and
again this was just to shore up some gaps that we saw within the policy
specifically with the procedural way that this was going about that we
noticed I had never been on a naming committee so I saw some gaps I made it
known having said that my concern is is that we table it and then it just kind
of gets pushed to the side because obviously it's a hot button issue but it's one that needs to be
addressed whether it's a hot button issue or not there are things that do need to be addressed and
i am i want to be responsive to our community when they have issues i want to do that so my concern
is that we don't set a date and then it just never gets picked back up again mr president i'd rather
just leave it my motion like it is to be honest with you mr president any three people can add
something to an agenda so it won't get forgotten if three people agree to put
it on there mr. president I think that so when I read them the instructions
about tabling tabling is something that you have to have a specific date on
postponing you don't have to am I reading that correctly mr. Graham I
think when I read this it says you can't table you can't table without a date
Well, you can give a date or not a date.
When it's called, like to refer or to something else, but you don't have to.
It's the terminology, obviously, but we can, if you want to use postpone, that's fine.
But my understanding is that we can just table it, approve the motion, and table it until a later date, undetermined later date.
and I do want to emphasize that I think some of the some of the some of what we
heard tonight and in the community over the past week was that people hadn't
really looked at or focused on some of the changes that we made in particular
related to the five years etc waiting five years and so we received feedback
from both the board and the community
that that was not a good idea.
And so we made that change last Friday.
And I'm not expecting that everyone's on top
of like every board policy that gets published
or stay updated and read the policy itself.
But that was something that changed
that was made last Friday.
But I think given the feedback that we received,
particularly from the namesakes that we value so much
and value their feedback and respect them,
that the best thing to do is for us to table it until an indefinite date
and receive more feedback to make sure it's something everybody's comfortable with.
Mr. President, is this on board docs where they could read the changes?
Yes.
Mr. President, my question is...
The board docs, it's been on board docs since Friday evening, correct?
No, but I mean for the public.
In the public seat?
The public, yes.
Yes.
Since Friday?
Yes.
Mr. President, my question is why was it not available before our first meeting, not
available until we got here and then no one in the public could see what we were talking
about until the next day, but this one was available on Friday, the corrected one.
So because people were asking me and I was like, I can't talk about it until we discuss
it publicly and then it shows up publicly.
Right.
Well, I-
Why not the first-
Because I understand and I've verified this and you probably know this, that when the board is looking at a new policy or revised policy for the first time, like the first reading, the board has the opportunity in executive content to review it and discuss it.
And then it's made public the night of or the following day after the board has reviewed it.
And that's been practiced.
That's not me.
It's been practiced in the district to do it that way.
I'm sorry?
But the revised policy doesn't fall under that?
The revised policy, the board has already commented on it.
It's public.
Excuse me.
It's already public.
The board has already discussed it,
so therefore it gets put out in the public ASAP on Friday,
like Friday evening before the Monday meeting.
As soon as it's posted on the public agenda.
And it's posted.
Thank you.
Yes, it was posted on Friday.
Thank you for the clarification.
Sure.
okay mr president i have i have a couple of things to to say if i can so because we're
taking input i just wanted to um talk about the you ask us to send in recommendations yes and
i appreciate that you made i'm i sent nine and you changed three of them uh
so i kind of want to state these again because i've said them in public and i hope that they
they will be taken into consideration when whoever, the policy committee, when they decide to do it again.
So my recommendations were clearly state the revised policy does not apply to any previously named buildings.
And you did.
Do not put a retirement time restriction.
That's been changed.
And do not restrict a name from being nominated if they have family members working in the district.
So those three things have been changed.
I appreciate that.
I think that was feedback we've gotten.
I believe we should remove the restriction about becoming a school board candidate because I've been talking to lawyers who say this is unlawful.
There is an election code 141.101, which specifically refers to coercion of a candidate.
we cannot tell someone that if you're going to be a candidate you can't you
can't go forward in the nomination the other thing if you are a candidate you
can't tell the candidate you remove your name as a candidate or the name is
coming off the school that's called coercion it's against the law so I was
told I like the comment on that when you finish okay okay we'll come back to that
I think we should leave the superintendent as a designee. I'm just putting these into the record because you have them I
Think we should keep the committee process the same and the voting process the same
People come in they read all the documentation. We can take more than two hours. They read the documentation and then dr
Groom says without discussing it with anyone write down your top
I don't know, five or I might be forgetting, top five, and then put them in, and then she tallies them all up, and it's like, okay, here's how they go so far.
If no one had anyone, if that was not in the top five, can we move, you know, and then it goes down like that, and then we speak to each one that we cared about.
If one person voted for someone and no one else did, she's like, do you want to keep that on there?
Yes, I do.
Okay, we will.
That kind of thing.
It's a very good process of talking about it and then people saying here's what I really liked and you go back and you go
Oh, I missed that when I read it. It's a very very good process and it gives people
Ownership and buy-in instead of I think someone recommended an immediate vote of majority and it's over
So I like the process think it should stay
Getting the material seven days in advance
There are a lot of very wonderful people being nominated, and if people know that they weren't chosen, would that embarrass them?
Could it be a privacy issue?
I don't know that sending it out to everyone is a good idea, and would that be subject to PIR?
So I don't like sending it seven days ahead.
ahead I think we take as much time as we need have a second meeting if you need
my next one was trustee members assigned to naming committee should be a trust
must be a trustee for at least two years so they have an understanding of the
community values and people who currently serve as namesakes and how the
process works and what the expectation is from who our namesakes are now the
commit this is my biggest one the committee members inviting to the
the process you have six parents and two board trustees I and the principal these
six people while I appreciate have all the all the parents you want they just
moved here they're brand new they've probably lived here less than a year
they don't know what a namesake is who they are what the expectations are if
you don't know the name OD Tompkins from high school or Patricia Pato I don't
know how you it there's just something lacking when you're talking about the importance of it
um they when i served on a committee they wanted to name it after the their subdivision and
you know what a lot of questions can i have a point of clarification
are we tabling this or are we discussing this we're discussing it okay but if we're
tabling it then we're takin then we're removing it for discussion we're not
we're not we haven't even voted so are we not know we can do we're discussing
the motion we're discuss I want to do if we want to discuss it I want to
discuss an emotion we discuss we have a motion and we're discussing it we're not
discussing the motion she's discussing she's just having more than that so are
we we can continue discussing you can all continue to discuss we're discussing
mr. president for your ruling I am just reading this into the record for when it
it's taken up again that it's that it's go ahead and finish if you would because
last week I said mr. Redmond and I'd been saying things and you're like I
don't remember so I'm reading it here I didn't know her back thank you very much
so my suggestion committee members invited to the process to include two
trustees with at least two years experience four to six I put four
parents for the new attendance zone two people from the Katie improvement
Council, two from the Education Foundation, two from the VIPS Volunteers in Public Schools,
which are PTAs, and two longstanding namesakes to ensure we have a larger input and a broader
community-wide committee.
Besides parents.
And it includes parents, right.
The quorum to include three parents and a total of six people to hold the meeting in
case everybody can't come.
them. You have six parents and two trustees, I think. And then the last one, choose a timeline
for naming portions of facilities to once a year for building budgets for signage and
cost of these requests. Hold all requests for once a year committee to review the nominations,
convene the committee similarly to what we do now, hold the open forum. But in order
for us to build a budget it needs i don't know what timing that would be i would ask mr smith
or dr gregorski for timing so that we can build the budget to handle all that i inserted something
addressing that okay on the portion of facility okay thank you i want to address the uh what you
mentioned about the legality of it because we met twice with um mr graham and he i guess disagrees
with your assertion that it's unlawful,
because he basically said it's fine from a legal standpoint.
In fact, he was asked the question, what, about 30 minutes ago,
and you were there when he answered that question again
to say there was no legal problem.
So I'm not sure why he brought it up,
because he's now stated it three times,
two to the policy committee and one in our closed meeting.
I would just say, trustees,
I don't want to get too far off in the attorney-client privilege.
privilege my conversations with you both as a policy committee and as an entire board are
confidential by nature but I would not have approved edits that I felt like were unlawful
can I move that we actually take a vote on the motion that's been laid out such as tabling can
we vote well we have a we have a we need to move on this we need to move on tabling we need to
move on tabling at first so Rebecca has already seconded the motion did you yes I know Mary Ellen
I'd like to say a few comments and respond to some of what she was suggesting.
Yeah, we're now continuing.
Yeah, we're all getting down to the weeds on the actual policy, which is what I think Ms. Calhoun is concerned about.
Make a couple of comments if you will.
Yeah, I won't be as long, I promise.
She was talking about the voting process.
Many of the changes identified that we brought to this draft were identified in December.
after the two naming committees happened.
By the way, we do have other board members on naming committees.
Mr. Redman was on one, and Ms. Rebecca Fox, myself, and Ms. Morgan Calhoun.
So in the voting process, we had a very tiny committee for one school.
We only had two parents, two board members, and the future principal.
And in that, in what Ms. Rebecca Fox is saying that she liked, I don't agree with.
The votes were done with post-it notes.
We each had a unique color, so everyone knew how everyone was voting, right?
And in a smaller committee, that can provide, that can be persuasive.
I'll just say it that way.
We only had five people voting.
We had the principal and two parents who were very new likely to our district. I'm not exactly sure
We only had 45 minutes to read the beautiful applications of all these beautiful people. That's 500 pages
So for people who are new to the district
It's very important to give them ample time to read and appreciate the legacy the history and why?
All the wonderful people that makes Katie, right?
Right. So I firmly support giving the committee advanced time to read that.
How else are we going to educate our greater public about you all and people like you?
And I do not agree. I think once a name is eliminated, it should stay eliminated.
We should have a vote. And that's the way it is. Then we vote through the names.
That did not happen in our committee. A name was eliminated.
and all of a sudden it gets reinserted two or three times by a board member, right?
And so the parents were going one way, and we had a board member going a certain way.
I don't think that's appropriate.
We need to have the parents involved.
We need to have a bigger committee so that we can flesh out any kind of persuasion.
Okay, Ms. Cosella, you're back.
I'm almost done.
So, yes, I think the committee should be six people.
I think it should be parents from the attendance zone, the people who use the school.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you very much.
Mr. President, I mean, other people were allowed to speak.
So I just want to say, even though we may have discussed that in December,
we didn't say anything about the five-year requirement or the family name.
You're right about that.
Okay.
So we didn't discuss all those things.
There were maybe other things, but those were not amongst the things that were discussed.
And also, I just want to make sure that Dr. Grooms and her process understands, at least from my one point of view, that I appreciate all that you've done for the process.
I've been on naming committees before.
I've personally not ever heard of a complaint in the past.
So up until now, I think it's been great, and I really appreciate your work.
and it is a two-hour time period, and I didn't know some of the people either,
but, you know, not all of them are 20 pages long.
Some of them are five pages long.
Some had no pages.
So, anyway, I just want to make sure that you know from the bottom of my heart, at least,
that I really appreciate the process that you have sort of fine-tuned.
And also, the last two things, last thing, I'll combine it into one.
I would really appreciate if Dr. Grooms could be asked for her input the next time you want to revise this policy or actually ask any administrator that it works on whatever that type of thing is, whatever the policy is.
You ask someone, the professional person for the input, especially someone so valued as Dr. Grooms who has a lot of experience in that.
Thank you.
Let me just add, and I spoke to Dr. Grooms about this, that this was just a review of the process, a process we inherit.
and Dr. Grooms is carrying out and inherited,
and it's not whatsoever any kind of critique on Dr. Grooms
because she does a great job,
and it absolutely is not a critique on her.
It's just taking a second look at the process involved.
But anyway, I'd like to go...
Mr. President, can I ask one point of clarification?
The board is not supposed to be contacting the administration
without Dr. Gorgorski's approval.
Okay, we went through Dr. Grzegorski to work on this policy and he brought to the table
who he thought should be there.
All right?
And we have to honor that.
I'll just leave it at that.
All right.
I would like to not take a vote.
Let's go ahead and take a vote on the enabling of the policy.
I just do want to correct that Mrs. Cuzela misrepresented my actions.
I'm going to leave that alone.
What I want to say is it's just very sad to me that this process, which has worked for
for decades and has produced some of the finest namesakes we've ever had.
No question about that.
Right.
I know you've already said that.
But for it to take a turn this week and cause them hurt feelings or angst
and to take recent namesakes and rob the joy of that because it took a political spin,
that I'm really disappointed.
I appreciate very much, Mr. President, that you're willing to postpone it
until we can get all of this better done and hear more input from them.
I appreciate that.
I'm just really sad about how it turned very negative.
Yes, I'm disappointed also.
I agree.
It took such a political turn.
I absolutely am disappointed in that whatsoever.
And I'm also disappointed or surprised, if you will, I guess,
that the purpose of the work-study meeting was to put out there a policy.
Everybody can take shots at it.
shots had to give input and then we adjust we revise it hopefully to reflect
the input I heard additional input I heard additional input from the
namesakes that I respect and I want to get more input from them in terms of as
we go forward and we and we you know go forward with the policy so it's this
time let's go ahead and vote on tabling well we've taken the motion it's been
second it so we're going to vote on tabling tabling uh cw and so uh until until a uh
indefinite date what's that he had something to say oh i'm sorry mr redmond i didn't see you over
there i was simply safe if we wanted to get it to a place where you pass tonight i think from what
i've heard everybody say is increasing people on the committee is something that everybody believes
more representation is a good thing.
Having some form of more time with the packets
is beneficial to everybody on the committee.
It's respectful to our families and namesakes.
The notification when you're put on there,
I think was, I've heard positive.
The one I've not heard anybody say anything positive about
was having your name put on there
and then taking the name off if you decide to run.
So if it was something we felt like tonight,
we were able to make this work and make that happen,
I think those three things are things that in December I felt good about.
It's the other things that didn't.
And so as the committee reconsiders that in the next couple months or whatnot, that would be my feedback.
Okay.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Sorry I didn't see you or hear you.
Thank you.
Okay.
Well, let's go ahead and vote where we're tabling CW until an indefinite date.
the motions passed 7-0 thank you okay we have the next item is board committee updates and
11.1 Board Committee Updates
with regard to the the Finance Committee we did meet the week before the work-study meeting in
Mr. Smith and also with Hilltop Securities where they went over all the bond items that they discussed with us last week during the work study.
We also discussed the budget amendments, the financial reports.
So we had, as always, a very good meeting with the finance team and Hilltop Securities, the outside advisor to the district on board matters.
May I ask a question about the Finance Committee real quick, please?
Go ahead.
All right.
So I really appreciate their time and all that,
but is it really necessary for Hilltop to come there?
Because I felt really bad that he traveled all the way from Dallas
for the one little hour meeting, and then he came in real fast,
and then he had to catch a plane again to go back.
And I'm not trying to say that you're the one who invited them.
I'm just for future maybe I don't know if that was really necessary like he
could have just sent us the document we could have looked at it rather than
happen again we have we have Finance Committee meetings and mr. Smith is
there with his staff he can bring whatever staff he wants he can invite
whoever he wants and I assume that because the debt part of things is
really important the bond part of it and the bond issuances you wanted him there
to explain that to us we could have done a zoom or whatever
dr. good Gorski he can do that that's where it was to me oh you look like you
had something to say no okay I'm sorry yeah so it's up to it's up to mr. Smith
in terms of he wants to invite auditors advisors etc to the meeting obviously we
We'd love to hear from them.
And then, of course, we've had a couple of policy committee
meetings with respect to the policy we just discussed,
including the committee as well as the committee meeting
with Dr. Rogorski and, I believe, on the 10th or so
before the work study meeting, we
had a meeting with Dr. Rogorski and with Mr. Graham.
Thank you, ma'am.
Mr. President, may I please say something about the policy committee, please?
I'm sorry?
We're not voting on this.
I just wanted to say, so I appreciate what you said, Ms. Kuzilla, about Dr. Kurgorski
is the one who invites whoever it is to the, but while we're here on the dais, while you're
considering, you must know in advance what you're going to probably be meeting about,
but you could have some him or you know most of the staff is here you could ask
for their input at that time while we're on the dais I don't think so if it's on
the agenda well I don't think I point to cabinet members and ask them for if it's
on the agenda we do it all the time we ask questions we ask mr. Schuster
questions we asked mr. Graham questions huh I don't I mean they're not they may
not be prepared to be answered questions I think usually it's dr. Gorski who asked
them to jump in and answer questions I don't think if you could put this on the
agenda and have their input put onto it I don't think we that's normal practice
for us to require cabinet members on the fly to answer our questions but this has
has been normal. This has been normal practice in the past when we've developed policies in the past.
Okay. I've never done that. I've never asked a cabinet member to answer a question unless
asked by Dr. Rogorski. Mr. President, when we get to legislative committee, I'll go ahead.
prepare to give up if we need to the um so board uh we took a trip in uh january to the capitol and
met with all of our local representatives i think we've already updated on that but we've been going
back and forth that uh here in march uh there'd be a time to go to the capitol to kind of uh
partnering with the uh katie area chamber of commerce uh to go to the capitol and then in
In April, there's another date, just so you all know how we kind of landed on this, that each, I believe it's like the 19th of April.
April 15th.
There you go.
Where we've invited each trustee to go, given each trustee the opportunity to invite or recommend someone to go.
And then we've sent out a limited number of invites to our listening circle participants.
Just obviously the logistics of managing.
If you've been to the Capitol, it's an awesome experience.
but if we took 100 people, nobody's listening to us.
And so trying to find a way that we can have a small tactical crew that go in and
share what helps our kids the best.
And so that's kind of the way we're running it down.
Those dates where every trustee was invited,
every trustee has the opportunity to invite people.
And we reached out to listening circle participants, and
it's a first come first serve on there.
So it is a very limited number on those listening circles, but
We have presented that to communicate that.
So just wanted to make sure everybody knew about that.
I think that was a good trip.
Some cabinet members as well as the legislative advocacy committee went and spent a day.
And then now there's another one scheduled for April 15.
And then the one with the Katy area chamber in March.
In March.
And my experience, super thankful to the crew here that has had multiple meetings with those offices before we went in several times.
And what I was most appreciative of was it seemed to be a partnership this time, whereas in the past, I feel like when we've gone in, on our side, we had maybe not made the effort to really build those relationships.
and I felt like it was much more receptive to the school district and I
think I shared with someone it felt much more like a partnership this time and so
very excited about the opportunities during this session thank you can I make
a comment maybe they're a little more receptive because they didn't give us
increase our funding last year so they might be a little more receptive this
year because of that thank you very much
11.2 Recap of Board member requests for information.
Madam Secretary do we have any requests of information no but I can I make
requests based on the agenda of what myself I have a request as well okay I'd
like more information on the teacher planning time well that's what I was
gonna ask okay I would like to know how that's regulated and what's going on
We've had quite a few teachers come through and speak on that.
And the Academic Performance Committee, I would request if we could have some sort of
look at student outcomes and areas where we need to focus on and creative ideas to address
that.
That's very important to me and I don't see that, that hasn't been presented yet from
that committee.
And then I wanted to know specifics on the lobbyist that was hired out.
TASB is a lobbyist.
We have those priorities that we've already identified.
But what is Matthew Connor and his group, Arate, who was hired separately to be a lobbyist, what is he working on?
What is he presenting on behalf of the district?
I'd like to know that.
I'm a little unclear on a couple of things.
So if any trustee can help me out and put it maybe in a different context and send me that this week, I can certainly put anything together.
Trustees may recall we brought the item with Mr. Connor to the board as part of a budget amendment.
We got a 7-0 vote on that to go ahead and bring him on to help us this year.
also provided the board with, I think it was a two or three page document,
which is what we created internally in partnership with Matthew.
We told him what we wanted the scope of that work to be.
So I'd ask the board to go back and refresh that and maybe match that document up to any further questions.
If there's anything that document doesn't explain, then just shoot me an email and I'll be able to answer all those questions.
The other one that was teacher plan and prep time.
Once again, if you can give me any question related to that
or what you'd like to know, happy to answer any of that.
Actually, I was going to ask about that planning time as well,
because we've had several teachers come through over the last three months
talking about that, and I think I would like to know more specifics
on how we regulate planning time, how we respect planning time,
what the rules are that kind of thing to make sure that we that we respond or you
know if there's any opportunities or challenges that we can things that we
can do to improve that situation would be great yeah is there way we could get
a presentation on that and what's how that I don't know because it seems like
maybe it's more elementary focus it seems like maybe a lot of the teachers
that have come I've been on the elementary and I'm not saying we don't
want to protect secondary that's not what I'm saying but I'm just curious I
don't really understand fully how that works in the elementary level just
because I didn't teach elementary I have a better understanding for the secondary
so we could get that explained in a board meeting I think that might be
helpful certainly can put together any sort of presentation the board wants
once again I just asked can you send me what you would like to be in that
that presentation similar to questions.
I can tell you all right now,
the Texas Education Code is very clear
on planning and prep time.
Every communication coming out from the district level
that talks to principals and what's happening
on that campus, the expectation is to follow
the Texas Education Code on planning and prep time.
Beyond that, I'm not sure what kind of question to answer.
It's really hard to answer one offs of somebody who says,
on this campus this happened on this campus this at it's difficult when
teachers bring that into the board to resolve and I've never heard anything
about it you know I mean any teacher can reach out to me but more importantly the
teacher should reach out to the principal have that discussion and if
there's further clarification the needs of happen we can certainly address that
with our folks but I'd encourage anybody in our organization that we just sit
sit down and if something is of great conflict or something, let's sit down and resolve it.
I don't think I always need the board to resolve those issues if they're brought to our attention.
Got an entire team over there of assistant supes that, you know what I mean, I turn it over to
them and ask them to go onto the campus. And that's what they're expected to do. Their job
is supporting their campuses. And if I hear of something that's happening or troubling there,
If the principal's not resolving it, that team's expected.
And they know that.
They don't even need me to tell them.
They know.
Find out from the principal what's happened there and how can we sit down and support you.
They're experts.
They're fantastic principals, strong track record.
And they'll try to resolve it to the best of their ability.
And if they can't, they'll come ask me.
They can come ask Mrs. Hack or anyone else.
I've got a whole team of educators that even go up the list of folks who might be able to help them.
But, yeah, we're here to help them.
So anything you want to give me, we can certainly do that.
But we can solve a lot of problems ourselves, too.
For example, me personally, I don't doubt the capability of the principals.
It's just when teachers speak out to us as a board, it would be good to know, like, are we responding to them?
How are we responding to them?
And so we want to be responsive as a board and then just to know that it's being addressed.
Certainly.
And I wouldn't ever want a trustee to not be responsive to somebody.
I guess if I were given a recommendation on the fly up here, I would tell trustees, if you want to be responsive to folks who come up here, whether it be an employee or a community member, and you feel they need to be responsive, you just let them know.
I have one employee, superintendent, and I trust in him to go find the answers for that and report back to me.
So you just tell the person, hey, what you said tonight was important.
I heard you, and I want to get an answer to it.
talk with the superintendent, talk with your principal.
I'm gonna follow up with the superintendent
because I wanna know too.
And then I'll just take care of it from there.
So we can expect some kind of answer
that's fleshed out a little bit more.
Is that what I'm understanding?
Fleshed out answer that's a little bit more
to give us more understanding on what we've been presented
because this is the third time we've been presented this.
I just want a clarification that we are going to have something that's more in depth?
Yes.
So if you would like me to do a presentation on teacher planning and prep time.
You personally don't have to do it.
No, well.
That's not what I'm asking.
Yeah, if you would like me to ask my team to put together a presentation,
HELP ME UNDERSTAND BETTER WHAT YOU WANT IN THERE,
BECAUSE I'M NOT CLEAR WHAT YOU WOULD WANT IN THERE.
NOW, I AM AWARE OF, I THINK WE'RE UP TO A TOTAL OF FIVE
FOLKS, TEACHERS WHO HAVE COME TO THIS BOARD OVER THE LAST
THREE MONTHS WITH SOME VERY SPECIFIC THINGS THAT ARE
HAPPENING ON THEIR CAMPUS.
I CAN'T SPEAK TO THOSE THINGS UNTIL I HEAR ABOUT THEM,
AND THEN I SEND MY TEAM OUT THERE TO SAY, OKAY,
WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THAT TEACHER WITH THEIR SCHEDULE
that they're being pulled in a lot of directions.
I wouldn't know how to put a presentation together
that address a specific need from a specific teacher
with their specific schedule on a campus.
It's just unclear to me what we would do in a case like that.
Per the information request that we just discussed,
requesting additional information, I'll send you an email.
Just help me understand it.
More specifics.
Absolutely.
I'm sorry, Mr. President?
Ms. Champagne?
So I'm just curious, is it the law that you want to see?
Because there's, like you said, there's a law, right, or guidelines in TEA.
So we could just look that up, right?
Well, besides that, just their practices, protocols, rules, what have you, how they manage that.
Because there's a lot of demands, as we know, like art meetings, professional development, all that kind of stuff, how they juggle all that.
So just a little more information on it.
it but anyway that's the information request miss fox i have a request and maybe dr gregorski can
answer this off the top of your head i don't know but um teachers are asking us if the easter monday
is going to be a teacher off day it's already a student off day do we know if we yeah that's a
good question um mrs fox that comes up from year to year and we sometimes are able to amend our
calendar so it all boils down to you guys know how we got X number of minutes
state requires X number if we have extra minutes we can sometimes use those
minutes to go ahead and not have that day for instructional minutes which we
count those as but we're a waiver bad days to weather day yes so I have learned
that we probably have enough minutes to burn as many as three days we burn two
with the bad weather. If we think we're through the bad weather, anyone want to make, I think we
probably are. So an amendment to the calendar probably could be brought to the board for their
consideration in March to do that. I started thinking about that. We bring that back every
year. And then I started thinking about how can we do this better and let our folks know on this
kind of stuff. Maybe we just amend future calendars or all our calendars to make a statement in there
that says we have X number of minutes and if I don't have to use them for bad
weather it's just the expectation that it would turn into a teacher holiday
sorry a student holiday so it wouldn't impact them so let us play with some of
the language on that too then we don't have to have the unknown every year it
would be just here's how many extra minutes we have and then everyone could
kind of count days like I do and figure it out but that's good question it was
using both of the days right together that made everybody go oh yeah that
burned our days there no Easter Monday is what I told them it's been a while
since we've had to burn to yes we burned one in the past so we've always know we
had one in our pocket so let I'm gonna turn that over to mrs. hack come to work
on that for me this week and see we come up with I could probably get a more
definitive answer to the trustees but see if we can bring back an item but
that's for future calendars you believe that this year we'll have enough minutes
Yes, it was reported that we have, I think, enough minutes left for like one day and three minutes.
You can keep the three minutes.
It's something like that.
We only need one day for those teachers.
I'll keep the three in my pocket.
Because they have to arrange for child care for their kids, you know, and still come to work.
You bet.
So it's just a blessing for them.
And if they want to go somewhere, they can plan ahead.
Yep.
Okay, thank you very much.
You bet.
Thank you.
would like to address if i can mr president the request from ms kuzella about the academic
outcomes we get regular academic outcomes presented in this board several times through the
year and every time we have a meeting every quarter we only meet quarterly the academic
committee we bring a presentation and within that presentation they have a click here and you can
get to every school you can get data until you would secure every insomnia you ever had
so we have academic outcomes throughout this district available to every board member for
those who like dig down into data so creative ways to improve it i mean it's not creative it's blood
sweat and tears every day those teachers are pounding and principals are there trying to
to reach students and give everyone a better outcome.
So that they give their life to it.
I don't know what creative ways we could get
better student outcomes than pouring everything
they have into it.
So if you have a specific school or something
that you wanna ask about, but to insinuate
that we haven't talked about academic outcomes,
maybe you've missed a few of those presentations.
Well, I think you often say that we don't talk
about academic outcomes or student outcomes enough and we don't. It doesn't
appear that we do because of the fact that we get the quarterly presentations
and the individual board members are called upon to drill down on their own
on these links to get themselves up to speed. So that's how we're doing it so
we don't have as much detail in terms of nitty-gritty discussion. It's more
behooves the board members to drill down onto the information presented which is
fine that's how we agreed to do it that's how we're doing it we're doing it
quarterly there's a presentation quarterly and then and we can bring up
if we have no mistake we have questions about a specific item then we can ask
for a special presentation to be made on that item right which I'm asking you
know I'm asking for when I want to see academic things come here I want to talk
about new programs, what are things that are happening out there that we can look forward
to or what, you know.
I'm happy to talk about academic, we can do it every single month, I mean every single
meeting I'd be good with that.
I think that, you know, when I think about academic outcomes and student outcomes, I
basically think about how are we doing in, you know, reading, math, social studies, those
those kind of the core subject areas, those are the ones where we need to drill down into the data that's presented.
Is it just me, but it sometimes feels like some people are looking for gotchas.
They're looking for where's the problem, let's highlight a problem, what's the problem, and how are we going to creatively fix it?
when I'm talking about when I talk about academic things I'm talking about let's
show the shine that Katie ISD is doing for students all across this district
let's talk about the incredible successes and all those award and I'm
happy to talk about reading scores and all of those things STAAR scores all of
it but sometimes I feel like it's a it's negative yeah okay mr. president may I
please say something about this I I guess I'm a little bit confused about
something because when they when mr. Redmond and mrs. Fox and I believe
you're on the academic committee to start a meeting I don't know when that
was last summer or something but when it never like two years now almost a year
year and a half but whenever it was and i remember how excited y'all were that you came back and
you had that one page summary thing and there was a link and because we used to get like you know
the 200 pieces of paper with tiny writing and you know it was a lot to read you remember that
all right i even remember when you were still getting that we're still getting all the volume
volume but but I thought that the the plan that y'all had was so good you know
the cut that you know you condensed it and it became an easy thing to look at
and a link and you could go specifically and look at certain things like they
said and I don't really think it's a board members or a board obligation to
come up with solutions on how to improve academic success I think that we we give
that charge to the superintendent and his team to do that we can identify
areas that were concerned with and bring that to his attention but we're not
really supposed to figure out how to fix it well I think I think it's what it
behooves us as board members to be knowledgeable about how we're doing
academically and ask what can we do here what can we do there true but that's
what I'm saying like I just so I just work or I just want some sorry I just
want some clarification on on what your would you want the approach to be I mean
you are the president I realize and so I will be happy to do it how you want but
are we going to do the way that y'all started it where we go and look at the
thing and we find things that we want to bring to attention and get to other
people to help us get it on the agenda or whatever talk to you or do you want
it to go back to how it was where we are getting almost weekly information and so
I don't know which one you want I don't think I don't think we've stopped
getting information or reduced information I think is this any board
member on the information is presented any board member that has they've
there's something about that information that they want to know more about then
we can ask for additional presentations yes I agree what you're asking so that's
I agree with you, and I'm happy to do that,
but that's not what you have said last week.
I don't know last week, but the last time we talked about this,
and this week, it's more like you only want the academic,
you're only charging the academic committee to bring it forward
when any one of us could do it.
Any one of you could, absolutely.
So it's not just the academic committee's responsibility.
The academic performance committee is just meeting quarterly
with the teaching and learning team, the academic folks in the district
to get a summary, if you will, have a discussion,
and then the information is presented quarterly with a one sheet with links,
and any board member can open those links up,
and if they have questions, they can refer the questions to Dr. Agorski,
or they can ask for, hey, I'd like to see a presentation on a particular subject.
We want more information.
Mr. President, I'm sorry, this will be the last one.
But so when Ms. Cuzela asked for the more information, she could look at the specific thing that she wants and then let you know, and then you could put it on the agenda.
Well, can I?
All right, Ms. Teany.
Okay, so in my mind, what I'm thinking is, like, when I taught Algebra 1, we had students that really had a difficult time passing the Algebra 1 end-of-year exam.
And so what the district did is they invested a lot in our out this algebra one teachers and gave us block
Scheduling and that was a huge
investment so what I'm thankful for is if there's anything like that where the
district sees a hole or some areas of improvement I think that was amazing
that the district made that kind of contribution and to me as a teacher and
it led me to achieve great success with my students and so as a board member if
there's something like that if there's a hole or there's a deficiency or an area
where our students are struggling not because our teachers aren't good just
because that's just the way it is then I would like to know what the district's
doing so that I can cheer that on because and make sure we support that in
the budget so I don't I'm not I'm not looking for a hole or anything negative
I'm looking at hey if we have something this is what we're doing to fix it
because that's a positive that's not a negative that's that's a positive mr.
that for the record that's how I feel it's not a gotcha or anything negative
It's what can I do as a board member to help out a teacher in the classroom to help out a student?
And I'd just like to know where are the the areas we need to focus on and can we help and?
That's all
so to answer that we had curriculum instruction and
Assessment and accountability come and explain how they process through that work how they respond
How they have teams that go out to those campuses how we have a list how they're rated
what's required from the state, how we do it here in Katy, and the results of that.
And so we do receive those lists of what schools are on those, what are coming on
off the list, what are going on the list, how long they stay on the list. And so as
a committee we we put in the effort to have them come create and present
those documents to us so that everybody would understand what our policy, our
procedures happen to support those campuses. And so we could do that again
in but wanting more just like hey here's here's the answers of these five schools are struggling
and this is how we're responding more so than that because we do get the list already i think even
the tapper we presented tonight had some of that information in there uh that actually shows you
what what campuses need uh additional support some structure um you're talking about is it more like
you want class names you want like i i guess what i'm hearing from the committee is you do
do not suggest anything change everything should stay status quo and
and so if that's the case that's fine I respect that but it was one of the top
school districts I think I think I think status quo is not necessarily what we're
doing we're way above status quo just to just to what mr. Redmond saying is that
they do have like a SWAT team if you will that goes out I call it a SWAT team
all right that where they have teams that go out and try to shore up certain
certain areas, certain schools that need additional help to bring them up, that kind of thing.
And they track that very carefully, very closely to try to get improvement, if you will.
So I think, and I don't always do this, but it behooves all of us to, on the data that's
presented to drill down and like, again, if there's an area that we need, hey, this is
something we should focus on more, let's have a presentation about this and we should discuss
that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Then the one thing is when we have those quarterly reports come out, we go through and we look
and you'll see how today part of that was the TAPR.
Some of those are federally required or state required.
But also that we've not received any requests from those quarterly reports.
We look at those as the committee and say, hey, this is where we feel like that would
benefit our team, our board.
This is where many of our board's questions have come from, so it'd be good to present those.
So maybe that's an area we failed is that when we get that at the beginning of the quarter, we don't necessarily build out the entire quarter.
Because if there are more questions that people have regards to that specific information that's been given, that we can do that.
So that was a failure on my part to say make sure when you see that information
Let us know so that we can work with the team and they have enough time to give us adequate answers. Yeah
Thanks. Thank you very much. I think we spent a record amount of time on member requests for information
Which normally we go through pretty quickly
12. Future Meetings
Anyway, we will have a work-study meeting on Monday, March 24 2025 and the regular board meeting is on Monday, March 31
1 2025 there being no further business for the board this meeting is adjourned
hold on president we were gonna go back in the clothes that's right the final
session that's right adjourned it closed okay thank you so much everyone
there being no further business for the board this meeting is adjourned the time
is 10 oh three
Official documents
Agenda
The district's own agenda file, as published on its video page. 4 pages.
Board packet · 33 documents
The district's own backup material for this agenda, retrieved from BoardDocs. Each file was checked against the size BoardDocs states for it.
- Casualty Renewal - PY 2025 104 KB
- Property Renewal - Program Structure 1150 KB
- 2025-26 Property Renewal - Feb 2025 Board 26 KB
- February 2025 166 KB
- 2025 Resolution Expressing Intent to Defease Certain of the District's Outs(43614877 111 KB
- 2025 Order Authorizing Issuance of Katy ISD Bonds(43603179 359 KB
- 2025 Resolution Declaring Intention to Reimburse Project Expenditures(38939892 116 KB
- MFC - Tarkett USA - Flooring Replacements for SSE, SLJH, and BDJH 3696 KB
- Interlocal Agreement - Cinco Southwest MUD 3 1010 KB
- Interlocal Agreement - Cinco Southwest MUD 1 789 KB
- Interlocal Agreement - Cinco Southwest MUD 2 968 KB
- Interlocal Agreement - Cinco Southwest MUD 4 963 KB
- Aerial View of Wilson Elementary School Walking Track 379 KB
- 2 Function Object Analysis - December 2024 213 KB
- 4 Tax Report December 2024 56 KB
- 1 Financial Statements - December 2024 183 KB
- 3 Construction Report - December 2024 598 KB
- 5 Check Register - December 2024 182 KB
- AIA A133 - KatyISD_BCE gmp2_Stewart_Exhibits_RE 3318 KB
- Stewart Rec Letter_GMP Amendment2 105 KB
- A133-2019 Exhibit A_KJH GMP2_AB 3030 KB
- Arcadis Rec Letter_GMP Amendment2 197 KB
- BOT TL Presentation February 2025updated 2114 KB
- THS_plat_2025_ 1108 KB
- BoardDocs® Plus 2328AA 134 KB
- BoardDocs® Plus 2329AA 136 KB
- GoldStar Transit Contract 2025-2028 357 KB
- Pledge Leader Information - Exley Elementary 108 KB
- National Anthem Information 2.24.25 104 KB
- 23-24 Annual Performance Report 2.24 410 KB
- Katy ISD - CW(LOCAL) Policy Committe DRAFT 02.14.2025-Revised 02.20.2025 124 KB
- MIN_1_13_2025_Board_Work_Study_MeetingSIGNED 1045 KB
- MIN_1_27_2025_Regular_Board_MeetingSIGNED 1406 KB
Motions and votes
Recorded actions
MOTION 001 · AGENDA 9.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves an Order Authorizing the Issuance of Katy Independent School District Unlimited Tax School Building and/or Refunding Bonds, as Term Rate Bonds and/or Fixed Rate Bonds in one or more series; setting certain parameters for the bonds; authorizing a Pricing Officer to approve the amount, the interest rate, price, including the terms thereof; and certain other procedures and provisions related thereto.
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 9.2
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the Resolution Expressing Intent to Defease Certain of the District's Outstanding Bonds.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 003 · AGENDA 9.3
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve a Resolution Declaring Intention to Reimburse Project Expenditures.
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 9.4
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the District's December 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 005 · AGENDA 9.5
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's February 2025 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 006 · AGENDA 9.6
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the 2025-2026 Property Insurance Program
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
UnknownIt is recommended the Board approve the renewal of the Texas Association of School Boards(TASB) Risk Management Fund Casualty program for Plan Year 2025-2026.
MOTION 008 · AGENDA 9.8
UnknownIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves Amendment Two to the Stewart Builders, LLC. contract related to the comprehensive renovations at Bear Creek Elementary School for the Guaranteed Maximum Price of $15,996,085.
MOTION 009 · AGENDA 9.9
UnknownIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves Amendment Two to the Anslow Bryant LTD. contract related to the renovation and building addition at Katy Junior High School for the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) of 17,957,407.
MOTION 010 · AGENDA 9.10
UnknownIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the plat for Taylor High School.
MOTION 011 · AGENDA 9.11
UnknownIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the award of the proposal for a contracted bus driver service to GoldStar Transit Inc., in the amount not to exceed $88,866.50 per bus route.
MOTION 012 · AGENDA 9.12
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the proposed summer work schedule as proposed by administration.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| amy-thieme | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| mary-ellen-cuzela | Yes |
| morgan-calhoun | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
| victor-perez | Yes |
MOTION 013 · AGENDA 9.13
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards RFP 2328AA Print Shop Management of Katy ISD Printing Services to ImageNet to meet the immediate and long-term printing and graphic design needs for the 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 014 · AGENDA 9.14
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards RFP 2329AA Maintenance and Service for Katy ISD Copier Fleet to ImageNet to provide maintenance and repair services for the district owned fleet.
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 contract with Tarkett USA, Inc. for flooring replacements at Seven Lakes Junior High School, Stanley Elementary School, and the Beckendorff Junior High School CTE computer lab, utilizing Choice Partners No. 24/047TC-28 in the amount of $2,212,910, including accepted alternates 1–4, with a total cost not to exceed $2,404,076.
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 Interlocal Agreements with Cinco Southwest Municipal Utility District No. 1 ($15,000), Cinco Southwest Municipal Utility District No. 2 ($12,500), Cinco Southwest Municipal Utility District No. 3 ($12,500), Cinco Southwest Municipal Utility District No. 4 ($50,000), and Katy Independent School District to construct an asphalt walking track at Tom Wilson Elementary.
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 9.17
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees refund the Katy Rotary Endowment Scholarship.
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 9.18
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the minutes for the January 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 019 · AGENDA 10.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees postpone definitely the update to Board Policy CW Local until after the current Board elections on May 3, 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 |