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
Katy ISD Regular Board Meeting, August 25, 2025
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In this meeting
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- 0:05 to 1:13 1. Call to Order - Upon announcement by the presiding officer that a quorum is present, the meeting will be called to order. The presiding officer will verify that the meeting has been duly called and notice of the meeting has been posted for the time and manner required by law.
- 1:13 to 5:11 3. Recognitions
- 5:11 to 38:28 4. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
- 38:28 to 39:10 5. Closed Meeting
- 39:10 to 39:49 6. Reconvene from Closed Meeting – The Board will reconvene from Closed Meeting.
- 39:49 to 1:03:11 7.1 Teacher preparation and Planning Time presentation and discussion.
- 1:03:11 to 1:08:24 8.1 Discuss and consider Board approval of nominating candidates to fill an unexpected vacancy on the Board of Directors for the Harris Central Appraisal District.
- 1:08:24 to 1:10:12 9. Consent Agenda
- 1:10:12 to 1:32:41 9.1 Consider SB12 Resolution.
- 1:32:41 to 1:45:16 9.6 Consider Board approval of the proposed 2025-2026 Official Budget for Katy Independent School District.
- 1:45:16 to 2:15:41 9.9 Consider Board approval to award a contract for design services necessary for a new Opportunity Awareness Center facility.
- 2:15:41 to 2:16:09 10. Information Items
- 2:16:09 to 2:16:29 11. Future Meetings
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1. Call to Order - Upon announcement by the presiding officer that a quorum is present, the meeting will be called to order. The presiding officer will verify that the meeting has been duly called and notice of the meeting has been posted for the time and manner required by law.
Today is Monday, August 25, 2025, and the time is 5 p.m.
Dr. Gorski, will you verify that we are in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act with regard to the notice for this meeting?
Mr. Raven, I do confirm we're in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act for our meeting tonight.
Thank you. We will now say our pledges of allegiance. KDIC Police Officer Robert Lister will lead us in those pledges.
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 one and indivisible
thank you for those here in the board meeting tonight you may notice that we're all wearing
3. Recognitions
the same color it's not something that we have normally done in the past but tonight as a show
of our unity and support our trustees and surprisingly many of the staff joined in in
wearing the colors red and white for Katy High School. Not only focusing on Katy High School,
tonight we are, but for the entire year. Throughout the school year you're going to see us here at the
dais wearing different colors to support each of our schools across our elementary and junior high
campuses where they finish their K-12 journey. I want to share that each of our trustees play a
key part in those connections with those schools and the board over the course of the year inviting
each trustee to have the opportunity to share some background on each of the schools that they
represent and so tonight uh miss rebecca fox serves as our kdic board liaison for katie high
school and i welcome her to share a few words miss fox thank you mr redmond what a wonderful
opportunity to share the rich history and traditions of our high schools and
their feeder patterns with our community I want to recognize that some of the
educators coaches fine arts and other staff who helped build Katy high schools
legacy are here with us it's so good to see you on behalf of the board I want to
thank each of you for the decades of service you have dedicated to our
students and families. Your impact is lasting and we're so grateful to see you
and to honor you. Katy High School, founded in 1898, has grown from a small
school for the children of local rice farmers into a proud and vibrant part of
the Katy community. It's known as the home of champions for a reason. It serves
serves more than 3,300 students. Currently, 34 of its active staff members are graduates
of the high school. As you might imagine, the school has a strong tradition of excellence
with nine state football titles, two in softball, and one of the largest and most decorated
FFA chapters in all of Texas. Katy High School also prides itself on academic
achievement, offering a comprehensive curriculum complete with the wide range
of advanced placement and dual credit courses and consistently producing
high-performing successful graduates with deep roots and a strong spirit. The
The school continues to lead in academics, fine arts, athletics, and agricultural education.
Please join me in giving our educators and staff a round of applause.
Thank you, Ms. Fox.
Selfishly, 1999, graduated Katy High School.
get to experience all the things she said when we walk our kids through to
classes and see classmates that are there that are teaching as I look at
this group of people over here coaches that I had classmates that were there
teachers that I didn't have but they were there that I feel like shaped me as
a young man growing up and I'm honored that they get to shape my kids as well
So thank you all very much
For everybody else as we we will have to take this opportunity for each of our high schools throughout this year
To represent them and recognize them for the the difference they're making in kids lives. So again, thank you miss Fox
Will now move on do we have any scouts in the audience this evening?
We do not there being no scouts we'll move on to item 4.1 public comment at this time
4. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
the board of trustees will give members of the public an opportunity to speak in accordance with
kdisd board policy bed local as defined by board policy speakers who signed up by 2 p.m on monday
august 25th 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 speakers that signed up to speak on non-agenda items will be
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. The board shall not tolerate disruption of the meeting by members of
the audience. If after at least one warning from the presiding officer, any person continues to
disrupt the meeting by his or her words or actions, the presiding officer or his or her designee may
request assistance from law enforcement officials to have the person removed from the meeting.
If speakers wish to share written material with the board, please provide 10 copies to the
the Secretary for Board Services before the meeting begins for board members, the superintendent,
the chief communications officer, and permanent records. If a speaker has not attempted to solve
a matter administratively through the 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 the Texas Government Code Sections 551.074 and 551.0821, the board will not
permit the presentation of personally identifiable information regarding a student and will not
discuss the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of
a public officer or employee or to hear a complaint or charge against an officer or employee.
Should a speaker wish to address one of these issues, they must do so through the appropriate
local grievances, policies FNG local, DGBA local, CKE local, or GF local. Our speakers will be
called forward in the order that they signed of the speak we'll be starting with agenda items
and the first speaker is adrian moore followed by julie johnson
welcome hi uh let me see can you guys hear me thank you my name is adrian moore i am a senior
student at Morton Ranch High School and I am here today to talk about the
district interpretation of SB 12. You all make it very difficult to say that my
school board cares about me. You've shown time and time again that you care more
about the money in your pockets and the votes you receive each year than you
care about the health and wellness of KDISD students. The fact that you would
rather jump through hoops to try and interpret the law in a way that allows
allows you to further oppress and dehumanize trans students
shows just how little you view your queer students
as human beings.
I've been recognized by both the school district
and my family as Adrienne for half a decade now.
The entirety of my teenage life,
this has been my name, my identity,
both to myself and others.
Isn't a name one of the most fundamental rights
a human being is owed?
Stripping away someone's name strips away their identity.
And we all know who else liked to take away
other people's rights to their names. You may think this law serves to protect parents' rights,
but it does the very opposite. Two years ago, my mother signed written permission in meeting with
my principal authorizing the school's use of my name. It was bad enough for you all to require
that, but now to remove that option from us entirely goes against the law's ideals of
protecting parents' rights. This isn't about protecting students or parents or teachers
or anyone. This is about you all wanting to eradicate queer identities and we
aren't going anywhere. I was a trans child. I am a trans teen. I will be a trans
adult. I'm trans in sickness and in health for better or for worse for as long as
my name, Adrienne Moore, is spoken on this earth. And I hope you take some of those
words to heart and reconsider your interpretation of SB 12. Thank you.
Thank you.
Next up, Julie Johnson, followed by Bill Frazier.
Good evening, Superintendent Gregorski and Board President Redmond.
My name is Julie Johnson.
I am the parent of Adrian Moore, who's a student at Morton Ranch High School,
and I reside within the Katy School District.
district. Obviously a little bit emotional for me and I'm very, very proud of Adrian,
who you can tell is a very well spoken and strong member and an asset to your district
academically and socially. Adrian has been recognized as Adrian since seventh grade within
this district. I have many many documents including 504 plans, including theater or
music ledgers that state Adrian as the name. I also signed documentation with
administration of the school district so that my child could be addressed as
Adrian. But I'm here not only to speak on behalf of my child, I'm here about
parent rights. Your interpretation or how you choose today after today to
interpret Senate Bill 12 is important. Senate Bill 12 does not restrict you
from respecting parent rights. In fact, section 1.009, which I already shared with
you by letter, states that infringement of parental rights is prohibited. Nothing
nothing in the law, about five pages in when it talks about facilitation, mentions at all
that you cannot or the school district cannot address a student by a chosen name.
So the simple fact that the district has not yet honored my request to continue referring
to my child as Adrian or any other parent in this district who is in the same situation
and made the same request means you are in violation of the paramount idea of Senate Bill 12.
And that is what I'm here to advocate for.
I have said in my letters, and I will say now, no member of KDISD has facilitated the conversation.
No member has given me guidance on how to address or advocate for my child
because I have read the law, and I agree that it is very tricky.
I respect the fact that you guys are all in a very delicate situation with the language of facilitation
That is why when I made my request I was very explicit that I am asking as a parent
under the parental rights section of the law and I also
absolved the district of any kind of facilitation
I do believe that there are routes that should be respected for parent rights in the case of this law
I am well aware that you cannot facilitate parents by putting it out there and telling us how to go about this
Because you'd be in violation of the facilitation clause
I fully understand that but if a parent is smart enough to figure it out and make the request
The law states our rights should not be infringed upon
Thank you
Next will be Bill Frazier, followed by Paul Van Helmen.
Good evening.
My name is Bill Frazier.
Thank you for allowing me to come here tonight to speak.
I'm here to follow up on an email I sent each of you about a pending appointment
appointment to the Harris Central Appraisal District for an open position on the board for for somebody who recently resigned I
feel like I'm uniquely qualified for this position and
I asked that tonight that you nominate me or put me in my name and nomination for a vote to be held later on all
the small cities not Houston cities and in school districts get to pick a
vote on one replacement candidate that term will be
The remaining term is about three years.
It ends in 2028.
So I'm a CPA.
I've been a CPA for almost 50 years.
I was president of the Houston CPA Society.
I served as the chief financial officer for a subsidiary of CBRE.
I was CFO for their capital markets group.
We originated $20 billion of commercial mortgages a year.
We managed over $150 billion loan administration.
So it's a very valuation-oriented position.
The board at Harris Central Appraisal District picks the chief appraiser,
and they manage the chief appraiser.
They review and adopt the budget every year.
They pick the appraisal review board members.
The appraisal review board members are the ones that hear your protests every year.
So it's a very important position.
it's important that those activities remain very transparent and that you
have a fair hearing and that it's governed by people who are not
appraisers but people who are citizens but I have unique qualifications
and experience for this. I'm going to hang around after I speak and
I'll be outside during the break if you have any other questions I'd be more
than happy to answer them thank you very much thank you next up is paul van helman followed
by haley somerfield good evening um thank you for allowing me the time to address you
or the opportunity i should say um my name is paul van helmond i'm an engineer working in the
chemical industry and a Katy resident. I'm the father of three children, one of them a transgender
daughter. They've all graduated high school. In the last session, the Texas legislature adopted
several new laws that affect LGBTQ people negatively. One, SB 12, is specifically directed
to bully LGBTQ plus students. This bill, which is supposedly a parental rights
bill, does a few things. It forbids public schools from authorizing or sponsoring
student clubs like Gay Straight Alliance or Proud Clubs. These clubs do great work
in anti-bullying and provide a space for students that are isolated and or do not
feel safe. SB 12 also prevents teachers or school staff from using a transgender
student's chosen name and requires them to use their dead name instead, even when
a parent asks the school to use the chosen name, so much for parental rights.
Educators have expressed that making students feel safe is a prerequisite for
learning. This bill hampers the ability of teachers to be effective and they are
are being micromanaged in a very unhelpful way, so much for reducing governmental overreach.
As superintendents and trustees, you are required to follow Texas law, and I'm not here to ask
you to do anything different, but I don't want you to be quiet.
You are not powerless, and you have a leadership position that you need to use.
Speak up in private and in public to students, teachers, and to legislatures.
Let them know that you support all KDISD students.
Maybe we can help students start GSA clubs outside the school settings.
KDISD students and teachers need to hear from you.
They need to know that you are supporting them.
Maybe as a start, as a sign of protest, you should not adopt the sham SB12 resolution today.
I know that doesn't change the law, you still have to follow the law, but you don't have to adopt the resolution.
To KDISD LGBTQ plus students, teachers, and allies, I'd like to say I'm heartbroken that the Texas legislature is so ignorant and hateful to you.
This is born from fear and ignorance. Know that there are people that will fight for your rights.
Don't give up and please call on your allies when you need help. Thank you.
Thank you.
Next is Haley Somerville followed by Ann Russey.
Hello board members and fellow community members.
I'm here to oppose this board's resolution of SB 12.
I'm a sophomore student at Katy High School.
SB 12 is a harmful bill that negatively impacts an already group of marginalized youth, LGBTQ youth.
I know you guys cannot do anything about the passage of this bill.
However, you can choose to vote no on this resolution and show other queer students, like me, that you support us and want us in your school.
Youth that identify as queer are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.
There are ways to alleviate and lower these rates that we have methods to change.
When LGBTQ students feel accepted at home and at school, their suicide risk significantly decreases.
increases. This resolution effectively communicates to queer students that we are not wanted or
accepted in this district. Additionally, 50% of LGBTQ teenagers, that's half of them,
experience bullying related to their identity. And this bullying can lead to a 3% three times
increase in suicide attempts. If we truly care about our students, we will choose to
not pass this resolution and instead focus on matters that help improve our education
agenda number 9.1 if passed will cause a lot of harm that could be easily avoided
i urge you to vote no to this resolution thank you
thank you next up is ann russie followed by marshall romero
Hi, my name is Ann Ressi. I am asking you to pull item 9.1 from the consent agenda,
discuss it further, and vote no on the Senate Bill 12 resolution. There is nothing in SB 12
that requires school districts to adopt a public resolution. Choosing to do so without meaningful
discussion sends a message, and it's not a good one. The few minutes spent on this last week were
simply not enough for a law with such serious implications there was nothing surprising about
trustee kazella's praise of the resolution or trustee calhoun's framing it as a gift to parents
i actually appreciated trustee teamy's concern about how this law might harm teacher student
relationships but what struck me the most was the lack of feedback from the rest of you a quiet
reluctant acknowledgement that KDISD must comply. Yes, you have to follow the
law, but students, parents, and staff are watching, hoping to hear even a hint of
concern, something to acknowledge our fear, anger, and uncertainty about what
this law will bring to our district. Two years ago, three of you stood firmly on
principle and beliefs that all students deserve to feel safe in our schools. You
You voted against a local policy that's less harmful than this law.
Where is that fight for students now?
I'm not asking you to break the law, but you can choose not to celebrate it.
You can ask hard questions publicly, like how does a law that restricts clubs supporting
marginalized students make our schools safer?
And how does that not violate equal access or other constitutional protections?
protections? How does banning chosen names and pronouns even with parental permission uphold parental rights? And what part of SB 12 prohibits that accommodation? How does prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts help address undeniable disparities in student discipline and academic outcomes? LGBT students, staff and families will feel the effects of SB 12 first, but they will not be the last. This resolution may pass, but our
community needs to know that you see the harm you don't support it and you're willing to stand with
us as we try to push back in every way we can there are community partners like katie pride
who support affirm and uplift lgbtq plus students and families we would welcome the opportunity to
work with any of you to help find creative legally compliant ways all students families and staff
members in KDISD can feel seen safe and supported please consider our concerns
thank you
Marshall Romero followed by Jesus Nito
good evening KDISD board members and chair my name is Marshall Romero and I
attend a leaf early college high school in a leaf a school district just outside
of this one. I speak to you in firm opposition to agenda item 9.1 or their
interpretation of Senate Bill 12. Though I don't reside in Katy ISD, many of my
peers, friends, close friends, and loved ones do, many of which happen to be of
gay, lesbian, queer, or gender expansive experience. I'm speaking today on the
behalf of all the people, more importantly kids and students, who will
be directly impacted by this board's compliance to the cesspool of anti-trans,
gay, and anti-inclusive rhetoric being championed in our state's legislature
legislature right now. Before I begin, I want to preface that not that long ago,
KDISD had an election that resulted in board members that uphold the diversity
and inclusion KDISD has being elected. And if you choose to pass today's
resolution, you will detriment the same people who trusted you to protect the
students who love differently or express themselves uniquely. Texas Public Schools
should be a place where transgender, gay, and children of color should be uplifted
and celebrated to express their unique backgrounds. KDISD is a diverse district,
and make no mistake, none of the students in your district want you to continue allowing Texas extremists
to limit and mitigate critical discussions and freedom of expressions in Katy Public Schools.
Senate Bill 12 will effectively allow transgender students to be harmed,
crackdowns on safe spaces for kids, and ultimately limit the freedoms of Texas students.
You have the choice to protect your students tonight or allow fascism to seep into your district.
Vote no on this resolution and allow for weak enforcement of this ignorant policy.
If you can hinder queer students like you have done in the past, then you can just as well protect them. Make your choice.
Thank you. Jesus Nito followed by Heather Tullison.
Good afternoon. Sorry, I'm pretty tall. Good afternoon, Superintendent, members of the board, and the Katy ISD
the community. My name is Jesus Nieto. I am a community organizer, member of Katie Pride,
and member of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. I'm here today to stand firm in opposition
of Agenda Item 9.1, a resolution that was presented by the very own superintendent of
the school district that essentially doubled down on the harmful policies that have been
passed in the Texas legislature during the regular session. Members, this resolution is
not necessary. This is what over compliance looks like. Do not give in to
what people who have hate in their souls want to see. There is no need for this
resolution to be even considered as the community already knows that you have to
comply with policy changes due to state mandated law. We are not here to argue
that. We are simply asking you all, the members that represent this community, to
do the right thing in not accepting this resolution do not give vulnerable families and
students a reason to not be proud to be part of this school district if you are sitting on that
dais thinking whether or not we want to see this i'm here to tell you we don't you have already
heard and seen where the community stands on the issue through our previous board election the
The overwhelming majority of the district doesn't want this, which is why the district voted out its previous board president, Victor Perez.
Don't let that same fate that happened to Victor happen to you.
When this body reaches the consent agenda later tonight, I hope that there will be a brave soul sitting on that dais that will table this resolution indefinitely.
I want you to remind you all that you are the decision makers of the district.
You have the control and power to take action.
Be brave and stand up for students in your district.
If this resolution passes tonight, organizers like myself, who helped block walk and elect a few members sitting on this board,
will lose trust and confidence in board members for not doing the right thing.
Before I end, I want to also state that abstaining is also siding with ignorance and hate.
In closing, I want to send a message to students and families that will be impacted by these harmful policies.
Do not fret. Know that there are members of the community that are here to support you.
Your voice matters. You matter.
I encourage you all to not hide and to use your voice during these times of adversity.
This is the most crucial time to do so.
Thank you and vote no.
Thank you. Next is Heather Tolson followed by Robin Allen.
Robin.
Hello, my name is Robin Allen and I'm a resident of Katy and also a member of the Katy Pride
board and today I would like to read a statement by Sarah Perkins called the
Katie ISD gender fluidity policy and how it harmed my family I have two non
binary children you can't tell that either is non-binary by looking at them
you only know because both use they them however after the gender fluidity policy
was put into place my high schooler was supposed to wear a badge different from
the other students the person in charge of enforcement told us it was for
for kids who used preferred names.
I was told my child had to wear one
even though their name was legally changed.
This same child who has a gender neutral name
had a substitute multiple times
who refused to use my child's first name,
instead calling them by the more feminine sounding
middle name.
The policy enforcer at the school said
that she could not make him use their first name
because of his First Amendment rights.
Not using a child's name that their parents
have signed off on shows nothing but disrespect
and no student will learn anything from a teacher
who doesn't respect them.
After these and other incidents,
we had an open investigation
with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights
that was only closed because of a change in administration,
not on merit.
For my younger child, McMeehan's was amazing
even before they legally changed their name.
Every teacher used their chosen name
and worked hard to use their pronouns.
My child felt respected and started a GSA club.
I'm telling you this now with my name being used
because my family has moved to another state,
a move which cost us tens of thousands of dollars.
Katy ISD's policies, along with state policies,
made living in Katy too difficult.
My kids are trans, but they're also just regular kids
who deserve to be respected.
We are a week and a half into school at our new state
and my kids are thriving beyond what I even imagined.
The law is the law and you have to follow it,
but you don't have to do more than the law says.
Listen to the kids who have dropped out,
the students who have gone to the news stations
with their KDISD stories and families like mine who have left.
we are not the only ones who moved from KDISD this summer. Treat each and every
student with respect because they deserve it whether you agree with their
life or not. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Ryan Friend followed by
Gianna Ramirez.
Hello. I'm Ryan Friend and I'm against SB 12 resolution. A single act of kindness and support
can change a life forever. For a trans kid that can be calling them by their preferred name. I
know because that's my lived experience. Anytime I tried to hide who I was it made my mental health
worse. I survived due to being able to live authentically. Once I was able to be
truly me, I was happy for the first time. My grades went up, I started excelling in
extracurricular activities, and I made life goals for the first time. If being
called Ryan hadn't been possible, I promise you my life would have ended
before 18. Over-complying with the law is an act of betrayal to your students,
their parents, and your staff. It puts kids' lives in danger and takes away
everyone's voices. The law has already brought enough harm. Why add to it? We've
already said time and time again that this is harmful, yet the people in power
don't listen to the massive voices speaking up. This resolution doesn't
help anything. Trans kids exist and they have the right to live authentically.
This is an attempt at erasing our community and we won't stand for it. You
can try to take our safe spaces but we will make new ones or go to ones like
Katie ISD you can or Katie pride excuse me you can try to quiet us but we will
come back louder let us be called our chosen names and pronouns show us
dignity and support by voting no thank you for your time
Thank you.
Next is Gianna Ramirez, followed by Kelly Targack.
Gianna?
All right, then Kelly Targack.
Kenneth Smith.
We're now in the non-agenda item portion.
I'm just too dumb to know what I'm doing.
All right. I'm also here to talk about SB 12. I wanted to start with reading a
Facebook quote that by no means is my thoughts but I wanted to kind of give an
idea what we're up against. Normalizing predatory behavior in order to expect
females to lay down their rights for the mental delusion of a boy is insane.
Morgan. That's on her Facebook page and is absolutely disgusting. So this is what
we're up against if we're trying to get any kind of you know care for these
students. I understand that SB 12 is, I think you could put 35 monkeys in a typewriter and get a
better written law. With that being said, there is one thing that's quite clear, and that is that
parental rights is not supposed to be infringed. That includes my right to tell you and my kid's
school what my student should be called and their pronouns. We jumped through your hoops, we went
there, told them their name, said we signed off, spoke to each teacher, made sure they were okay
with it, made a plan for the bathroom because apparently my predator child
would pretend to be a girl to go into the bathroom and rape a
woman except for the sign on the door. Good critical thinking right there. The
sign on the door is what's gonna stop a rapist, right? Yeah, brilliant. This is not
okay. This is genuinely disgusting and there is nothing in this law that says
that I can't tell you what to call my child and not only you are literally
disobeying the law by doing this because the only thing it says clearly is that I
can't have my parental rights infringed that's it and here I am getting my
parental rights infringed now I I think it's easy to forget that there are
movements in the past that had opposition like slavery, women's suffrage, the
treatment of Jews during World War II, civil rights, gay rights. It's easy to
forget there was opposition to those because those movements won. This
movement will win. You will lose. The question is are the people who are
enabling gonna help us or help them prolong this? Because I know some of you
you actually care and you're just gonna enable if you vote yes for this vote no
don't be an enabler let the bigots be bigots we will win
thank you next is Emilia Smith followed by Dave
Romero hi I'm here to talk about KDISD's harmful policy against transgender
gender students. I have a child with gender dysphoria. I know that a lot of people don't
understand exactly what this is, so I wanted to explain it a little bit because I know it can be
scary when you don't understand what something is. Gender dysphoria is a medical condition
where there is a mismatch between a person's assigned sex and their gender identity.
People with gender dysphoria experience extreme distress due to this mismatch.
There is a difference between sex and gender.
Sex is assigned at birth based on physical characteristics.
Gender is the internal sense of being male or female or somewhere along the gender spectrum
that is correlated with brain structure and activity.
Many factors play a role in causing gender dysphoria.
Studies have found differences in brain structure and function in people with gender dysphoria
as well as genetic links.
and my husband has multiple transgender family members.
It is important to understand that gender dysphoria is not a choice.
This is not a phase.
It is not a mental illness.
It is not a trend, and it is not predatory behavior.
It is a recognized medical condition, and it should be treated as such.
Gender dysphoria is not something that I wanted for my child. It's not something that anyone would
want. People with gender dysphoria are the target of significant discrimination, prejudice, stigma,
abuse, ridicule, and hatred. Can you imagine, excuse me, can you imagine if that was your child?
Studies have shown that close to half of transgender youth seriously considered suicide in
their lifetime, but it is critical to note that the only thing that significantly reduces this
risk is the support from family, from community, from friends. And so I am asking you to please
support and accept transgender children. Part of accepting and supporting these kids is using
their preferred name and pronouns. This is crucial for their mental health.
The new Texas law, SB 12, is aimed directly at harming kids with gender dysphoria.
However, as detrimental as the law is, it does not explicitly prohibit teachers and
staff from using kids' preferred names and pronouns with parental consent.
As my husband and many others have stated, parents have a right to choose.
Please honor that.
I am begging you, I am begging each one of you, each one of you, please, as a mother,
please.
Please, please do not take away my right to do what's right for my child.
Do not contribute to the tragic suicide rate among children with gender dysphoria.
Do what's right.
Have compassion.
Love and protect our children.
Thank you.
Dave Romero, followed by Michael Fielding.
Dave Romero.
And then final speaker, Michael Fielding.
Go, Michael.
All right, that brings us to the end.
This concludes the open forum portion of our meeting.
5. Closed Meeting
The board will now convene in closed meeting as authorized under section 551.001 of the Texas Government Code for the following purposes.
Texas Government Code 551.071, 551.074, 551.076, and 551.129.
Mr. President, a point of personal privilege please. Would it be possible for us to take a board picture with all of our Katy High School people in attendance?
Absolutely.
Let's celebrate that.
Yes.
And thank you all for coming.
Thank you.
6. Reconvene from Closed Meeting – The Board will reconvene from Closed Meeting.
The board will now reconvene in open meeting tonight, or today is Monday, August 25th, 2025, and the time is 7.09 p.m.
On behalf of my colleagues, I welcome everyone to this evening's regular board meeting.
Each board member received the agenda and documentation for this meeting on Friday, August 22nd, 2025.
The Board will receive information and recommendations from staff, administration, and the superintendent
on these agenda items at tonight's meeting.
Board members will be able to ask questions, receive answers, and should be prepared to
take action.
The Board has just reconvened from closed meeting in accordance with Chapter 551 of
the Texas Government Code.
Any action arising from discussions in the closed meeting must be taken in open meeting.
7.1 Teacher preparation and Planning Time presentation and discussion.
We will now move on to presentation or item 7.1, teacher preparation and planning time
presentation and discussion presenter Deb Hubble assistant superintendent for school leadership
thank you good evening president Redmond dr. Gregor ski and board members I'm here tonight
representing my team of elementary assistant superintendents in response to a request from
the board for an update on teacher planning and preparation teacher planning time plays a
critical role in maintaining instructional quality and promoting student achievement.
It is not merely a contractual entitlement, but a professional necessity.
Effective planning time provides educators with the space to design meaningful instruction,
assess student learning, and engage in collaborative practices that elevate overall teaching outcomes.
When planning time is disrupted or inconsistently honored, it undermines both instructional
instructional integrity and the broader academic goals of a campus.
Across at KDISD, many teachers voluntarily participate in collaborative, team-supported
planning sessions once or twice a week during their designated planning time.
While not mandatory, these sessions are an individual and voluntary professional choice
aimed at fulfilling state expectations for instructional delivery and design.
design. Some benefits of planning time are shown here on this slide.
As you will recall, we were joined by two elementary principals in March of last school
year at a special board meeting presentation on this topic. The board followed up in April
with some recommended actions which were implemented as we compiled and shared best practices in
teacher planning from principal and teacher feedback. In June, as we conducted end of
the year summative conferences with our principals we discussed these teacher planning and preparation
best practices exploring adjustments our leaders had planned for this school year
through the gathering of feedback over the past three months we have hosted a live document for
input regarding effective planning practices school leaders contribute to and benefit from
shared ideas noting what has been most successful on their campuses we wanted you to hear some
examples of the feedback received. Content teams have one collaborative
planning meeting a week. Teachers use a shared document to create lesson plans
together. They have a chance to share strategies and ideas. They share
resources, create or modify tests for alignment, plan assignments for taking
grades to ensure consistency. Teams share the agenda and create it themselves
based on need. My campus has a collaborative culture that values PD, PLCs,
and planning. It is an expectation throughout the campus to work together to achieve more.
Planning days are protected. Each team has dedicated time to meet together one day as a team
and one day as a content team. These planning sessions are vital to grade level consistency
and alignment. One more. One day sacred for team content planning per week where no meetings or
conferences are scheduled. Provide flexibility with scheduling ARDS. Listen and respond to staff
staff needs to provide additional time when needed.
Use campus PD days for long-range planning.
Continue to open lines of communication with staff to stay abreast of needs and plan accordingly.
In summary, the following best practices have been identified and promoted.
Protected planning days free from meetings, ARDs, and other obligations.
Extended planning blocks, 90 minutes to half-day periods are provided intermittently at some
some campuses through the provision of super specials days, creative coverage, and now
student holidays at the end of every grading period.
Teacher-led collaboration.
Planning is most effective when driven by teachers themselves.
Administrators, as instructional leaders, often join the planning sessions to ensure
appropriate levels of rigor and utilization of district-approved resources and to gain
insight on what to expect in upcoming classroom visits.
visits. Efficient PLCs, professional learning communities. Teacher planning sessions are
most effective when staff remain focused, when student data drives the instruction planned,
and when all activities are aligned with district scope and sequence. Supportive systems. Teachers
benefit when the R load is shared. For example, both switch teachers not required to attend,
speech only kids being placed in non-in-class support classrooms. Many principals have found
creative ways to streamline communications to avoid additional required meetings before during
and after school this reminder from our march presentation when teachers collaborate in planning
and preparation students are the true benefactor regardless of which homeroom students are placed
in children in a grade level receive consistent curriculum and grading instructional quality is
improved when novice teachers plan with and learn from the experts.
When teachers share ideas and their thinking as they create plans, we see higher student
engagement and motivation to learn.
Additionally, diverse learning needs can better be met when tapping into the vast experience
a team of teachers brings to the table.
On the job, professional growth is a result of highly collaborative teaching teams.
As you saw from the comments shared earlier, teachers report higher levels of job satisfaction
action when not working in silos isolated from colleagues.
What are our plans for the current school year?
We will continue quarterly reviews with our principals.
Last year, at your request, we met regularly with our leaders to discuss two important
topics – campus culture and climate and student discipline.
This year, we plan to continue that process, adding to our list of topics teacher planning
and preparation.
Through these quarterly visits and discussions, we will review each campus' implementation
implementation of best practices, and gather input as to specific campus concerns related
to planning.
We will continue campus walkthroughs and principal check-ins.
We are regularly on our campuses, joining principals in both classroom visits and teacher
planning sessions, as well as school improvement discussions, professional development opportunities,
and special activities for students.
Many of our campuses have moved from a 45-minute specials period to a 50-minute period.
This move alone helps ensure that teachers receive their 450 minutes of planning every two weeks, as 500 minutes over 10 days clearly exceeds the state requirement.
Increasingly, our principals find creative ways to provide teachers with extra planning opportunities, and all are committed to using at least parts of the PD days added this year at the end of each grading period for teachers' long-range planning.
We will continue to monitor the impact of best practice implementation via teacher feedback.
We will ensure that principals have communicated with staff that ARDS can take place before or after school,
so as not to conflict with teacher planning times.
By law, ARDS are to occur at mutually agreeable times for parents and school staff.
Principals will also acknowledge that teachers can elect not to attend team planning.
However, these teachers may be required to collaborate with the principal or his or her designee before or after school
in order to ensure alignment with colleagues' instructional plans.
Finally, we experienced great success this summer with principal share sessions.
Totally voluntarily, principals gathered to learn from their peers about topics such as master scheduling,
professional development approaches, research-based instructional strategies,
behavior management, and student leadership opportunities.
During this school year, we will continue principal share sessions
and will include promotion of best practices related to teacher planning and preparation.
The intent of our campus leadership is never to infringe upon protected planning time
or overstep professional boundaries,
but rather to uphold the instructional integrity that every student deserves.
Collaboration, consistency, and accountability are foundational to a high-performing school culture.
While every teacher retains autonomy in how they use their planning time,
that autonomy comes with the responsibility to remain aligned with campus expectations and district standards.
Our shared goal remains unwavering, to provide all students with equitable, high-quality instruction
delivered by professionals committed to excellence and continued growth.
Thank you for your attention and interest.
My colleagues and I are happy to address any questions you may have.
Thank you, Ms. Hubbell.
You're welcome.
Board, any questions?
questions.
Ms. Gisella?
Ms. Gisella?
Ms. Thank you very much for the presentation, for answering or responding to the recommendations
that were given in April because we never heard what might have gone on with that.
So it's really great to know what happened over the summer.
We had no idea.
And I appreciate this being put on the agenda.
I did request together with a couple of other trustees for this to be put on the agenda
To hear what you did and what happened and it's great because I see almost all of the eight
I have it here what I read in April
I think yeah, it was eight items that the board had or excuse me, not the board the committee
through listening to a lot of teachers and
And a lot of that was reflected in this presentation.
And that's fabulous.
So I appreciate it.
And I look forward to more great work in this topic.
It's important.
I'm glad you're going to continue meeting quarterly as a concerted, focused effort.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. President.
Yes, Amy.
I want to thank you guys as well.
And thank you for all the work over the summer.
I do appreciate that.
I think our teachers and our kiddos are gonna see the benefits of that this year
I just wanted to bring to your attention that there are multiple teachers that are elementary and
There are friends of mine. They're very successful in the classroom and they spent over 40 hours in arts last year
That's more than a work week
so and that's that's
Discouraged it's very they're very discouraged and this is unfortunate because it's some of our best teachers that are really
successful in the classroom and that hurts our kiddos and so I know y'all
are aware of that but I just want to have to just give a shout out to them
and say I'm still worried about them and and the amount that these teachers
that's not including the time they take to prepare for the arts right it's just
the time in the art so um I know that some of that is out of your control but
I just still have to say my heart hurts for them for those teachers that are
just have a lot on their plate and just makes me sad mr. president first of all
thank you for the presentation I know that y'all are so hard-working and so
are the teachers and I wanted to give a shout out to all all the teachers of our
district and not just of our district but of the state of Texas and really
across the country and not even just in public school teachers are so important
and whatever we can do to help them I think is very valuable I also wanted to
give a shout out to that we we've hired 80 teachers who graduated from the
district alternative certification program this yes and so I teach Sunday
school with one of those teachers one of those people and she was telling me that
it was a very rigorous thing and this does have a this will tie back but she
she understands all the the challenges that are to come you know she's she's
been in the district doing other things and I think it's really remarkable that
a lot of people enter education knowing that there there's these challenges
especially people who have worked in Katy ISD and kind of know what our
population is and all that I'm not trying to take away from you know the
the difficulty of that, but they kind of, they're not just walking into it blindly,
I don't think.
And then I just saw that seven of our ten high schools have displaced in top 100 Houston
area, and we have to really applaud the teachers and admin, too, at those high schools.
And although I know that this is an important problem, I also know that it's been a problem
forever.
ever and I said this last year and I'm just going to say it again my grandmother started teaching
in 1932 and through the 70s when I was a little tiny girl I heard her complaining they didn't
even have arts and all the things but she was always complaining that she she taught second
grade that she's still having to grade papers at night and this is silly and parents they didn't
have email so parents would actually call her at at the house and complain about things and
each of those phone calls was at least a 30 minute thing so I'm not trying to take away from
the issue that I know it is but it's it's been an issue and anything we can
do to help I'm not trying to say that we should just all accept it but anything
we can do to help but it has been a perpetual issue across time and across
states of everywhere but I appreciate anything that we can do to help the
teachers remedy some of those issues thank you very much I've got a thought
towards it thank you so much for telling me we appreciate it one of the reasons I
brought this up was because when we went to the state of schools we were watching
all of our school districts our local school districts come around and talk
about all the amazing things that we're doing and I was inspired by Lamar LC ISD
with their four-day week that they have.
It's an innovative school day plan that I'm imagining that they're rolling out this year.
They had trialed it last year, was my understanding, if I understood that correctly.
Were you guys there at the state of schools for that?
I feel like one of you were. Maybe I was mistaken.
So Roosevelt Nivens, the superintendent there,
had talked at length about this during that presentation,
and it seemed to be now, you know, what people present in front of, you know, multiple school
districts, they can always make it seem a little bit nicer than what it is. Sometimes, obviously,
not our superintendent would never do that, but I'm saying when we're looking at that, is there
anything that we can draw from that to maybe replicate something that looks like that, or is
that just too many, is that too much to juggle to where we look at that? It's more of a question for
Dr. Gorgorski, I think, than you guys.
That's our pay grade for sure.
Yeah.
So when we're looking at potentially taking from the good things that LCISD is doing in
terms of alleviating that pressure on teachers for their planning days, for their planning
times, is that something that we can take and replicate or is that just too much because
we're so much bigger?
What does that look like?
Yeah, I couldn't tell you how the program works.
The day I heard it was the same day you guys heard it of what it does.
So I don't know it intimately enough, but what I did take away from the presentation was they do
You know mean anything can be given you know, I mean there's there's but there is a finite amount of time in one day
So what it appeared to be is what they were sacrificing was teacher time instructional time to do more planning
versus time away with your with your teacher with the subject
I don't know if that's best for our community or best for our schools or not.
I've never examined it to that extent so I couldn't answer that one.
But like I said, anything could be examined and done if we want to take time away, you know what I mean?
But then the question becomes what do we take time away from during that week? So to make that time work, what do we do?
Do I shorten specials? Do I get rid of some specials? Do we only have some types of specials but not all specials?
Do I extend the school day? Nobody wants that, so I'm not even going to bring that up, but to make that time.
Do I take time out of our reading initiative, which is our HMH plan, which has very prescribed amounts of time we should be doing reading?
Do we take that away? Do we take away math? Do we take away science?
You know, like, what do we give? You know what I mean?
And that's the tradeoff they made.
They took time out of the instructional day or the instructional week, however that works for them.
I couldn't speak to how it works, but they actually but it was clear
They took time away from instruction to make that happen. I don't know if that's right for us
I don't know if that's the best plan
I would just maybe think that we could keep an eye on what they're doing and how that's working
obviously what their teacher retention looks like what their numbers look like because if they do it and it doesn't work and their teachers leave
At the same rate then obviously that's not necessarily working
but if they're retaining a larger percentage of teachers while putting in
this innovative plan that they're calling it and they're saying that the
extra time for teachers is built into the school week with staff getting
either a full or a half day once a week or every other week if that works to
implement better instruction time when they are in the classroom during those
four days and we're seeing that result come to pass over the next year while
while they implement this district-wide.
I would just think that from an administrative standpoint
that we would take notice and not,
we don't necessarily have to replicate it verbatim,
but take some good things and not have to have the pitfalls
that maybe they went through to get there,
to get to the good.
That would just be my thought towards it.
We can certainly take a look at it
and see how it works for them
and to have dialogue with them if it's working.
The one thing that was interesting that you had mentioned,
and I wouldn't pin this on Lamar,
is kind of though you're talking about a four-day school week type of
instructional model that is one thing I can't speak to with the research and
that has not been not me but it just distracted me I didn't know what that
was there
8.1 Discuss and consider Board approval of nominating candidates to fill an unexpected vacancy on the Board of Directors for the Harris Central Appraisal District.
9. Consent Agenda
9.1 Consider SB12 Resolution.
9.6 Consider Board approval of the proposed 2025-2026 Official Budget for Katy Independent School District.
9.9 Consider Board approval to award a contract for design services necessary for a new Opportunity Awareness Center facility.
10. Information Items
11. Future Meetings
Official documents
Motions and votes
Recorded actions
The motions and votes for this meeting have not been recorded here yet. Whether any were taken is not stated either way. The agenda and the recording above are the primary sources.