Noting that a quorum is present, I hereby call this regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Katy Independent School District to order. Today is Monday, July 27, 2026, and the time is 5.01 p.m. Dr. Gorsi, will you verify that we are in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act with regard to notice for this meeting?
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In this meeting
- 0:01 to 1:12 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.
- 1:12 to 37:34 3. Recognitions
- 37:34 to 49:46 4. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
- 49:46 to 50:03 6. Closed Meeting
- 50:03 to 50:45 7. Reconvene from Closed Meeting
- 50:45 to 51:50 8.1 Progress Report on the Student Attendance Incentive Initiative. (Part 1 of 2)
- 51:50 to 1:05:24 8.2 Planning for Growth: Attendance Boundary Modification (ABM) for the 2027 - 2028 School Year for Elementary #49 Update
- 1:05:24 to 1:34:44 8.1 Progress Report on the Student Attendance Incentive Initiative. (Part 2 of 2)
- 1:34:44 to 2:03:25 8.3 TIA Presentation - Teacher Incentive Allotment Update
- 2:03:25 to 2:04:50 9. Consent Items
- 2:04:50 to 2:12:08 9.10 Consider Board approval of the 2026-2027 Discipline Management Plan and Student Code of Conduct.
- 2:12:08 to 2:16:36 9.11 Consider naming a portion of a facility at Katy High School.
- 2:16:36 to 2:25:00 10. Information Items
- 2:25:00 to 2:25:31 11. Future Meetings
Full transcript
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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.
You bet. Mr. Redman, I do confirm we're in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meeting Act for our meeting tonight.
Thank you. And we will start tonight with our Pledges of Allegiance and our KDIC police officer Lister will lead the Pledges of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all honor the texas flag i pledge allegiance to the texas one state under god one indivisible thank you
3. Recognitions
first up tonight we've uh have a lot of recognitions tonight this is going to be a a nice evening for us at this time i'd like to introduce dolores hernandez multimedia and communications manager for the recognitions portion of our meeting
good evening president redmond trustees superintendent gregorski we are honored to welcome elected officials and representatives of their offices this evening to celebrate our state title winning students for our state championship teams students school leaders and coaches in the audience i will call out your team one at a time for photos following remarks from each representative now tonight we were going to have representative matt morgan from house district 26 here with us today unfortunately he had a conflict so we're going to move on to our our next guest. And now it is my pleasure to introduce Miss Sakina Lonnig to the podium. Miss Lonnig is here on behalf of Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Leslie Briones' office and serves as the Commissioner's Senior Government Affairs Officer.
Thank you. Good evening. Good evening, President Redmond, trustees, and Dr. Grigorski. On behalf of Harris County Precinct 4 and Commissioner Leslie Briones, I want to congratulate the incredible students, coaches, teachers, directors, and families who helped bring state championships championships home to Katy ISD this year. These championships are about much more than trophies. They represent years of hard work, early mornings, late nights, discipline, teamwork, and students believing they can compete with the very best in the state of Texas. They also reflect the strength of the community behind them. Commissioner Briones especially wants to recognize Katy independent school district the board of trustees administrators teachers coaches staff and the parents who invest in these young people and give them the opportunities to discover their talents and succeed these students have made their schools their district and Harris County precinct for incredibly proud Thank you. And I have a few certificates for each of the teams.
Would our FFA Career Development Event Contest State Champions for the Wildlife, Meats Evaluation, and Meats Judging Competition from Katy High School please join us at the front for photos? Connor Wimberly, Hunter Hazlett, Chloe McCarroll, Emma Beeson, Chase Kamisky, Andres Medina, Kyla Torres, Kayden Martinez, their coaches, principal, and director of career and technical education. Thank you.
Okay.
Together on three, two, one. And one more. Three.
Would our UIL academic state champions in social studies and the Number Sense event students from Seven Lakes High School please join us at the front for photos. Matthew Myers, Andy Truong, Ray Georgiou, Adam Brown, Nyaneshwar Sonampuri, their coaches, academic director, principal, and director of GT and Advanced Academics. Thank you.
Alright, 3, 2, 1. 3, 2, 1.
Alright, thank you.
Would our UIL tennis boys double state champions from Seven Lakes High School please join us at the front for photos. Alan Hsu, Matei Kalin, their coaches, athletic coordinator, principal, assistant director of athletics, and executive director of athletics. Thank you.
Three two one Three two
would our UIL track and field state champions please join us at the front for photos from Seven Lakes High School Carla Columbani pole vault from Tompkins High School Blake Hamilton 200 meter dash the 400 meter relay team on matade bello Blake Hamilton Joseph OJ Yinka Silas scutt and the entire track and field team their coaches athletic athletic coordinators principals assistant director of athletics executive director of athletics and tompkins high school namesake o.d tompkins
All right. Three, two, one.
Three, two, one.
And now, would our UIL Softball State Championship team from Katy High School please join us at the front for photos. All team members who are with us tonight, their coaches, athletic coordinator, principal, assistant director of athletics and executive director of athletics
Thank you to Commissioner Briones and Ms. Lanig for recognizing our students this evening.
Thank you for allowing us.
And now, we're going to dig a little deeper into what these recognitions mean and the hard work and grit that went into attaining the highest level of recognition in our state. Please welcome Mr. Nick Gonzalez, Director of Career and Technical Education, for our next recognition.
Good evening, President Redman, Trustees, and Superintendent Grigorski. Each year, top agricultural education students from across the state compete to earn state championships and have a shot at the national title at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. Katy High School FFA teams garnered state titles in two of our premier Texas Career Development Event competitions. During the FFA State Career Development Event contest, the team consisting of Connor Wimberly, Hunter Hazlett, Chloe McCarroll and Emma Beeson captured the championship in the Wildlife Career Development Event. During the Meats Evaluation Career Development Event contest, Chase Comiskey, Andreas Medina, Kayla Torres, and Kayden Martinez dominated the event, earning another state title. Now Chase, Andreas, and Kaden then went on to earn the highest team score ever recorded in the history of the meets judging competition at Texas FFA, with Chase becoming the first individual with the highest score ever recorded at the state contest. At this time, would Connor, Hunter, Chloe, Emma, Chase, Andreas, Kayla, and Kayden please come forward as well as coaches Seth Lucas and Jacob Price and Katy High School Principal Dr. Rick Hull.
3, 2, 1. And 3, 2, 1.
Congratulations, FFA members.
Congratulations to you all on this tremendous achievement. During the UIL Academic State Championship, KDISD students went head-to-head against the state's top contenders and showcased their competitive academic advantage. The Seven Lakes High School Social Studies team led the way by earning the gold. Team members are Matthew Myers, Andy Trung, Ray Georgiou, and Adam Brown. Also, Nayaneshwar Sonampuri earned an individual state gold medal in number sense. Competing at the state level is an accomplishment in itself, and we are so proud of these students who excelled against the very best academic competitors in Texas. At this time, would Matthew, Andy, Ray, Adam, and Naya Neshwar, along with coaches Sarah Flora, Sheila Abel, UIL Academic Director Paul Stroud, Seven Lakes High School Principal Carrie Finneson, and Director of GTN Advanced Academics, Danielle Sanchez, to please come forward. Congratulations to you all on this outstanding achievement.
3, 2, 1. 3, 2, 1.
Thank you. Thank you.
Now please welcome Lance Carter, Executive Director for Athletics, for the next portion of our recognitions.
Good evening, President Redmond, Trustees, and Dr. Gagorski. student athletes from Seven Lakes High School delivered outstanding performances during the UIL state tennis championship. Alan Hsu and Matei Callan claimed gold medals to Gardner State the state doubles trophy. This win marked another milestone in an exemplary high school career for Alan who concluded his Seven Lakes career as a four-time regional champion, four-time state qualifier and and two-time state gold medalist. These athletes competed with incredible composure, discipline, and determination against the best that the state of Texas had to offer. At this time, I'd like to ask Alan and Matei, along with their coaches, Carl Bunford and Coach Min Pham, and the Seven Lakes Athletic Coordinator Jimmy Hammond, Principal Kerry Fentison, Assistant Athletic Director Kyle Green, to please come forward.
Thank you.
All right. Three, two, one. And three, two, one.
Applause
Congratulations to both. Both. KDISD athletes brought home gold medals in several events at the UIL 6A State Track and Field Championship. Carla, forgive me if I butcher your name. I'm sorry. Carla Kolambani is a standout track and field athlete for Seven Lakes High School and is a member of the graduating class of 2027. She achieved a major career milestone in May by winning the UIL 6A State Championship and Girls Charles Povalt, clearing a personal and school record height of 13 feet, 3 inches at the state meet. Early as this season, Carla demonstrated her elite status on the national stage by hitting a major indoor personal record of 12 feet, 8 inches at the Reno Vault Summit, which ranked her 30th in the United States. Among her primary discipline, she showcased exceptional multi-event versatility by competing in the 100 meters, the 60 meter dash, and the long jump. Sounds like a decathlete, a tathlete in the future. Carla's talents extended on the international level. She traveled to Puerto Rico and captured three national age group championships in the pole vault, long jump, and the 100 meter dash. With Carla, coaches Mike Rivera, Paul Croom, Alyssa Crocker, and Cynthia Velazquez, athletic coordinator Jimmy Hammond, and the Seven Lakes principal Carrie Finison, and coach Jay Jensen, athletic director, please come forward.
3, 2, 1. And 3, 2, 1.
Tompkins High School secured its first ever UIL 6A State Championship in track and field in Austin, racking up 47 points to edge out a highly competitive field. The monumental victory fueled a national record-breaking sprints and dominant relay performance. performance. Record breaking speed on the track result by sprinting sensation Blake Hamilton stole the spotlight at the 6A State Championship. Hamilton blazed through the 200 meters in 19.86 breaking a 40, like how old? From 1985. Let me just say it like that. From 1985, it's a year that's special to me because that's the year I graduated. so I didn't really want to put a year to it, but he broke a record that was set in 1985. Hamilton is one of the special young men tonight. The Tompkins track squad was equally formidable. The 4x1 relay featuring Hamilton, Amitade, Bello, Joseph, Ojeyukun, and Silas Shutt captured the gold medal by blazing a 40.12 seconds. The quartet also secured a crucial silver medal in the 4x2 relay, crossing the finish line in 1.2407. While the sprinters grabbed the individual glory, the KDISD squad's depth proved to be the ultimate difference maker. The Tompkins throwers stepped up significantly to score vital points to secure the state team title. Together, the sprinters, the relay teams, the throwers, and the distance runners combined to reach the podium. At this time, I would like to ask Blake, Joseph, Silas, and the Tompkins track and field team, along with Coach Anthony Escamilla, their assistant coaches, Athletic Coordinator Todd McVay, Principal Elizabeth Brott, and Assistant Athletic Director Jay Jensen, and Campus Namesake O.D. Tompkins to please come forward.
There was one that was missed. And then Morgan is here now.
Where is he?
Right there.
Oh, yeah.
So I have to go back. I'm going to go back. I'll go back at the end.
All right.
All right.
All right. There you go.
All right.
In three, two, one. Three, two, one.
A perfectly timed fastball by our freshman pitcher and a quick throw from our catcher to pick off the runner at first base captured the gold for the Katy High School softball team at this year's 6A Division II Softball State Championship and the third in school history. The team stormed the mound in celebration of its 72 victory over 40 to top off a dominating season. This is a testament to the Tigers' sustained excellence, resilience, and proud championship tradition. These ladies completed an outstanding 39-5 season, finishing on a 22-game winning streak. Their explosive offense also set national marks, hitting 97 home runs during the season. This is the most championship titles by any 6A since 2010. At this time, will the Katy High School softball team members who are with us tonight, as well as Coach Megan Venetta, Coaches Judy Willock and Brian Schmidt, Athletic Coordinator Gary Joseph, Dr. Rick Hall, the Principal of Katy High School, and Assistant Athletic Director Angela Spurlock, please come forward.
Thank you.
All right. There you go. All right. Three, two, one. Three, two, one.
Thank you. All right.
All right. Three, two, one. And three, two, one.
All right. Thank you.
I'd like to thank the board, Dr. G, and the entire cabinet for the opportunity to come up and recognize some truly special athletes. Thank you very much.
Congratulations to all of our students and school staff on these remarkable accomplishments.
We're going to take a picture with Coach Hack real quick. We're just taking a lot of pictures. We're just coming up with ideas for more to take.
I'm going to go back. Morgan Morgan and just a minute Morgan yeah I already have I know what I'm Okay, yeah, I'm good. Yep. Yep
And three two one and three two one All right. Actually, if we can shift that way. Yeah, we can shift that way.
That way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right.
All right. All right. And three, two, one. And three, two, one. All right.
We're going to stick him in.
Thank you.
All right.
Everybody, come back to the...
And now I would like to welcome Representative Matt Morgan from House District 26 to the podium. He was indeed able to join us today.
Howdy. Good evening President Redman and School Board and Superintendent Gorgorski. Appreciate you guys letting me come here today. and say a few words. I appreciate that you guys are recognizing the wonderful student athletes that are in the Katy ISD school system and those that have excelled. It's being a son of a teacher and a great-grandson of another teacher and a brother to a teacher. It's important to understand what all, you know, the teachers go through and the coaches and everything else, but most importantly the the lives they touch and their students that become extremely successful because of them and so I'm here today to show my gratitude towards the to the student athletes that have worked extremely hard and become extremely successful in their sport but also succeeding academically as well and to those every one of the faculty members that stood up behind them and helped them do that so anyway I want to say a few words and appreciate you guys guys and your work and everyone behind the scenes thank you very much at this
time with our FFA career development event contest state champions for the wildlife meets evaluation and meets judging competition from Katy high school please join us at the front for photos Connor Wimberly hunter hazelit Chloe McCarroll, Emma Beeson, Chase Kamisky, Andres Medina, Kyla Torres, Kaden Martinez. They're coaches, principal, and director of career and technical education. Thank you.
3, 2, 1. 3, 2, 1.
Thank you.
Would our UIL Academic State Champions in Social Studies and the Number Sense event students from Seven Lakes High School please join us at the front for photos. Matthew Myers, Andy Truong, Ray Georgiou, Adam Brown, Nyaneshwar Sonampuri, their coaches, academic director, principal, director of GT and advanced academics. Thank you.
Three, two, one.
Would our UIL tennis boys double state champions from Seven Lakes High School please join us at the front for photos. Alan Hsu, Matei Cowan, their coaches, athletic coordinator, principal, assistant director of athletics, and executive director of athletics. Thank you.
Okay.
Three, two, one. And three, two, one.
Thank you.
Would our UIL track and field state champions please join us at the front for photos? From Seven Lakes High School, Carla Columbani-Polvalt, and from Tompkins High School, Blake Hamilton, 200-meter dash, along with the 400-meter relay team, Omata De Bello, Blake Hamilton, Joseph Ojoyinka, Silas Skutt, and the entire track and field team. Their coaches, campus athletic coordinators, principals, assistant director of athletics, executive director of athletics, and Tompkins High School namesake, Odie Tompkins. Thank you.
You're good. You're good. All right. Three, two, one. Three, two, one.
All right.
Would our UIL softball state championship team from Katy High School please join us at the front for photos. All team members who are with us tonight, their coaches, athletic coordinator, principal, assistant director of athletics, and executive director of athletics. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Representative Morgan. And again, congratulations to all of our students and school staff on these remarkable accomplishments. This concludes our recognition portion for this evening's meeting.
And the great thing was that that was just a small portion of the success that the students are having in our district. Love it. Well, tonight, do we have any scouts in the audience tonight? If you would come up and share with us your name, your troop, what school you go to, and what badges you're working on.
My name is Jacob and I'm with Troop 3. And...
What badges are you working on?
Assistant in the community and communication. Communication.
All right. Well, thank you for coming tonight. It was Jacob, right? Yeah. Jacob, thank you for coming so much. I hope you get all your badges taken care of with what you have to do tonight.
I am live scout right now.
Live scout, okay.
I'm about to be Eagle.
All right.
Congratulations.
Thank you for coming tonight. Well, at this time, the Board of Trustees will now give members of the public an opportunity
4. Public Comment/Citizen Participation
to speak in accordance with our KDIC board policy BED local. As defined by board policy speakers who signed up by 2 p.m. on Monday July 27th 2026 will be allowed to address the board. A total of 30 minutes is allotted for open forum non-agenda items with the time divided evenly among speakers and the maximum time allowed for any speaker is three minutes. Speakers who signed up to speak on posted agenda items will be allowed three minutes to speak and and speakers who signed up to speak on non-agenda topics will be limited to the first 20 speakers speakers that signed up to speak on non-agenda items tonight will be allowed three minutes to speak and if a speaker is not finished speaking at the end of their allotted time the audio will turn off if speakers was to share written material with the board please provide 10 copies to the secretary for board services before the meeting begins for board members the superintendent the chief communications officer and permanent record if a speaker is not attempted to solve a matter are 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 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 an employee to hear a complaint or charge against an officer or employee. Should a speaker wish to address one of these issues, they must do so through the appropriate local grievance policies, FNG local, DGBA local, CKE local, and GF local. Our speakers will be called forward in the order they signed up to speak. We'll start with our agenda items and then move on to our non-agenda items. Our first speaker tonight is Shante Allen, followed by Morgan Calhoun. Good evening.
Good evening. I'll start the name and then the greetings. Shante Allen, 5520 South Hampton Road, Dallas, Texas 75232. Good evening. Superintendent Gorgorski, excuse me, President, Trustees and staff. Again, my name is Shante Allen. I am the CEO of Allen Learn-a-Me LLC. So for 15 years, I taught adult education. My students wanted to learn, but life kept getting in the way. Work shifts and family responsibilities made after-class tutoring impossible. My students studied late at night, but they were emailing me in the middle of the night for help, which, of course, I couldn't help. Email tutoring wasn't cutting it. They needed real help, and they needed it now. So I built something new, an e-learning system that engages sight, sound, and touch, not just reading. It let my students practice and get support anytime they needed it, even in the middle of the night. Fast forward, I saw the same gap with employees on the job site. Your transportation staff, manufacturing, cafeteria staff, your bus staff, Many of those workers are non-native English speakers or have trouble with reading and writing. That's where my company comes into play. We take your handbooks, safety policies, SOPs, and day-to-day workflows as they already exist, and we transform those dense text and color copy visuals, plain language, and hands-on interactive practice. We make your training come alive. I am an approved vendor. I wanted to come here tonight to introduce myself and for the specific agenda item as a college professor of 20 years I noticed that my students hated college They were forced to be there and they could not figure out what they wanted to do with their lives So I wrote a book just for them So to those college students as you approach the beginning of your academic journey You may experience a sense of confusion and uncertainty You are not alone. This journal addresses common issues such as financial worries and peer pressure, but it offers practical advice and strategies to overcome them. Each chapter has three different sections, College Chronicles, Hollywood Chronicles, and Interactive Prompts. They can use these exercises to explore their interests, values, and skills to uncover their true passions and potential. I am here tonight to have your consideration to include my book in KDISD libraries for the adoption. I've left a handout with you, and I'm also leaving the sample copy for you. Thank you. Thank you.
Our next speaker will be Morgan Calhoun, followed by Regina Johnson. Ms. Calhoun? All right. Ms. Johnson? And then our next speaker will be Mandar Shimpy.
Good evening. Morgan couldn't make it. She had a last-minute emergency. Good evening, Dr. Grigorski. Nice to see you again, members of the board. Everybody knows I'm Regina Johnson. I'm a parent and a property taxpayer. With respect, okay, I'm here because the comment Mr. Smith made last week during his financial report. He told the room he voted against homestead exemption increase knowing that it would pass anyway because the clutter it would create for appraisal districts in his office and and then he laughed about it. Personally, sir, I didn't find it funny. Every family in this district is looking for ways to cut costs, including their property tax. Every month you're asked your tasks with reporting on how you spend our tax dollars. And every month, staff who are also property tax payers come in here asking for your support, financial support. Laughing about tax savings isn't a joke because these dollars are funding programs that aren't working like one-to-one Chromebooks. Comments like this just don't stay in the room. They get repeated, rightly so, and they make it harder for this district to ask the public to trust it with future multimillion-dollar bond packages, which I know one's probably just around the corner. And so I'm coming to you all not as an average taxpayer. You know, I live in Cross Creek. I paid over $14,000 in taxes in 2026, January bill. But I also poured in over $14,000 in the school district. I pay fine arts booster, athletics booster. I threw down over $10,000 of our own money on those kids in February at the FFA auction. families like mine just aren't paying taxes we're propping up programs that this district you just can't fully fund and we know that that's why we're here you say you want to partner with us so when you laugh about it it's not a laughing matter I take it to heart I served on the bond committee the last bond committee y'all know I was for a lot of it not the one-to-one and I stand by that today it came with a cost I had retaliation my kids had retaliation within the district And look where we're at today. We've got a group of people that keep coming and asking for some help. We were promised balance and equity. Instead, the students are off task, unapproved and inappropriate systems, cheating is out of control, even without the cell phones. And kids are still using cell phones, even with the Texas law. The staff are babysitting online traffic, and I am getting inundated. And I've had a conversation with Ms. Taylor, thank you, about why am I being asked to buy a $900 upgraded Chromebook. That's not equity. And I don't know what that buys my kid versus another kid who can't afford a $900 Chromebook. So I'm sure you all, again, are preparing a bond package, and I'm asking something simple. Stop asking taxpayers for trust and money while treating our concerns as a punchline. Take it seriously like we do. Thank you.
Thank you. Next will be Mandar Shimpe followed by Sravinas Patella.
Good evening, President Rendman and respected all KTISD board members. I'm here on behalf of families of Whitmore Trail in Tamron, KT. We have been recently, recent decision to remove the bus transportation for our students attending the Adams Junior High and Jordan High School. There are around 90 families are affected because of this decision. We sincerely appreciate KTISD's commitment to student safety. We have seen some pedestrian improvements completed in our area. However, based on on the community survey, approximately around 90 students have been impacted of this transportation change. Now, family have reviewed the available walking routes and have concerns regarding both the distance and the calculation and the safety condition of this route. We respectfully request that KTISD provide a little bit more of the route assessment used in decision. The exact walking route students are expected to take, the starting and ending point used to calculate the distance, and the safety criteria used to determine the route no longer qualifies as hazardous. Our primary concern is student safety because this route's lack of adequate lighting during the early morning, especially in the winter months when the students may walk before the sunrise. In addition to that, we are not sure about the availability of the crossing guards or other safety measures where students interact with the vehicle traffic. This decision also impacts a lot of traffic volume during the school arrival and dismissal time. Weather-related conditions including extreme Texas heat, heavy rains and thunderstorms will also impact the 90 students. The school bus service has provided a safe and reliable transportation option to our students. Removing this service nearly impact 90 students and will significantly impact change how family manage their daily transportation while potentially increasing the pedestrian activity and and the traffic around this campus. We respectfully request KTISD to reconsider this decision, reevaluate the complete walking route, and reinstating the bus transportation for the affected students. So on behalf of Whitmer, KT families, Mr. President Redmond, I'm humbly requesting you to reconsider this decision, because it is really impacting all the families. Thank you very much. Thank you.
This will be Sravinas Patel.
Good evening, President Lance Redmond and fellow trustees and board members. I'm also joining Mr. Mandar. He's also my neighbor and we're all like few folks who are sitting there. We are joining because of the same bus transportation removed from the Whitmer community. So we are like as mentioned there is safety concerns where we have the crosswalks and sidewalks improved but not the stage where kids can start walking into the areas where it's like more than a mile distance. So we have reviewed all and we like from all the Whitmer community folks to re-evaluate you know, the decision. And before we evaluate, we would like to, you know, reconsider and continue the bus transportation until the evaluation process completes. So that's the request from all of our committee members. Thank you. CHAIRMAN BRYANT LIMAGE. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN BRYANT LIMAGE.
This now concludes the open forum portion of our meeting.
6. Closed Meeting
And the Board will now convene in closed meeting as authorized under Section 551.001 of the Texas Government Code for the following purpose. Texas government code five five one zero seven one five five one zero seven four and five five one dot one two nine the board will now reconvene an open meeting
7. Reconvene from Closed Meeting
today is Monday July 27 2026 and the time is 7 45 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 Wednesday July 22nd 2026 and 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 and in accordance with chapter 551 of the texas government code any action arising from discussions in a closed meeting must be taken in open meeting we do not have any actions to take so we'll move on to section 8
8.1 Progress Report on the Student Attendance Incentive Initiative. (Part 1 of 2)
our reports and our first reports and I will be a progress report on the student attendance incentive initiative and our presenters will be Jamie Hines our assistant superintendent of finance and Dr. Emily Craig our assistant superintendent for school leadership and campus support
we would love to present on this but that was last year's presentation on on there It's a little bit different No Do you want us to switch that switch order and we'll come back and make sure that one's loaded The 2026 ones loaded Okay Okay.
Mr. Vierling, are you ready? All right. Then we will jump forward to item 8.2, planning for growth, attendance, boundary modifications for the 27-28 school year,
8.2 Planning for Growth: Attendance Boundary Modification (ABM) for the 2027 - 2028 School Year for Elementary #49 Update
elementary number 49 update. And our presenter will be Ted Vierling, our chief operations officer.
All right. Good evening, President Redmond, board members, Dr. Gagorski. I'm here tonight with an update on the ABM that you saw at the June meeting, just Elementary 49. Okay, just Elementary 49. This is not for the rest of the ABM. So just a little bit of history, and I know that some of you probably know this. A decade ago or more, we used to do giant community meetings for ABMs and rezoning. And the community weighed in. Let's just say it was difficult, to say the least. We pulled back from that. Once those were discontinued, we decided as a district that we would bring a couple of different options to the board. That was about seven, eight years ago. And currently what our practice is, we work with PASA. We develop an attendance boundary modification option, and then we present that single option to the board. Tonight, because things are complicated and tricky in the north side of the district, I'm going to bring you one additional option for elementary 49. Just to walk you through kind of some of the steps, this is kind of how the sausage is made, so bear with me. We considered a few things when we were looking at rezoning for elementary 49, which is there in that cross-hatch section in the purple there in North Sunterra. So we looked at keeping Windward and Anniston at Youngblood. It's a fantastic plan if you don't want to move schools, but it's not a great plan if you're trying to balance numbers. capacity at at elementary 49 is 1280. You can see where those numbers if we kept all those kiddos at Youngblood, Youngblood remains over capacity untenable in 2031 and 2035. And the new elementary in North Sunterra completely underutilized by half with 712 kids in 2035. So we couldn't do that. Second option was to move all of Anniston to elementary 49. Keep keep windward at Youngblood. That didn't work either. The Elementary 49 in North Sunterra would open over capacity at 1350 something and Youngblood would go all the way down to 346 kids the year that Elementary 49 had opened. Extremely difficult for the campus to maintain any kind of continuity there when you're moving everybody around and letting all those teachers go to another campus. So So we landed with PASA. We landed on this option. This is what you saw in June at the June board meeting. You guys have a folder with some overlays, and I'm happy to explain those to you if you have any questions. But there are some overlays of both the June map, this map, and then the current and proposed. So in this map, we sent Windward to Elementary 49 going south on Pitts Road. And then Anniston was all going to stay at Youngblood. numbers work out pretty good as you can see right there but we did based on some community feedback and some other things we said well let's take one more look at this because for windward to get to elementary 49 they've got to go all the way out to katie hockley wave at young blood and then go south pitts road does not go all the way through so that does complicate things a little bit but we in this one now we are trying to keep these neighborhoods together we're trying not to split neighborhoods. Okay, so here's some challenges. So any, if you've been up north, and I know you all have, driving in the northern part of our district is challenging. Two-lane roads, big ditches on each side, and three neighborhoods are driving this ABM. Sunterra North, that's where the elementary is being built, Windward, and Anniston. Those are the three big ones. Now there's some other little smatterings of things, but they're driving it, and they're big numbers, right? The roadways are causing us issues. Pitts Road does not go all the way south. So again, when we're just got to make that trek over to Katie Hockley down and then back west. We do try to keep neighborhoods together. We try not to split neighborhoods. We know that there are neighborhoods that are split. Cinco Ranch obviously is huge, but then there's some other ones as well that we do split. Most of the time, if we split a neighborhood, it's divided by some kind of bayou, large road, major thoroughfare, something like that. But we did get some feedback from the community. We looked at this a little bit closer with PASA as well as our internal GIS folks, and we're going to bring this map to you tonight. This is a little bit different. The numbers are still pretty good in terms of balance. Youngblood Elementary, you can see, goes down another 100 kids or so, but grows back up. And again, that's a 1030 capacity. And then you can see what Elementary 49 does. It starts at 1092 and then it's right under capacity by 2031. So those numbers look solid. The difference here, y'all, is that Windward stays at Youngblood and we split Anniston right down the middle. I believe that road is Anniston Lakes Drive, splits it right down the middle east-west. The western portion would go to Elementary 49, literally right across the street, and the eastern portion would stay at Youngblood. I'm happy to answer any questions.
Any questions, Board? Ms. Thaler?
Mr. President, thank you, Mr. Behrling. Yes, ma'am. I know that there are some concerns about lack of walking paths. Did you all address that in this new option?
So I did read some of those emails. We got the same emails that you did. So we're not expecting any kids to walk from Windward to Youngblood or Elementary 49. The only walk paths that we would expect the kids to utilize would be the ones that are following board policy. So that .5 as a crow flies and then some kind of safe sidewalk or walk path in between. So yes, we always consider that when we do it.
Mr. Chipley? So just so I'm clear, the proposed plan you presented last time was that Windward would change to the new 249. Yes, sir. And the revised plan is that Windward stays as is at Youngblood.
Yes, sir.
And then the change today is that, is it Anniston? Anniston, yes, sir. Before we left it alone, now it's splitting, half and half. Right. And is there a major divider that you would be splitting upon?
on? It's a road. It's a road, but it's not a major divider like you're thinking of maybe Pitts Road or 1463 or a large bayou between the two neighborhoods. It's not. It's literally, I could walk across the street and I'm at someone else's house that doesn't go to my school. And historically, I'll just, sorry to interrupt you, but historically we try not to do that. I'm I'm not going to tell you that that's not the case anywhere in the district because there are a few schools that have been that way for a long time. And it's just sort of been that way. But we try. And that was the impetus for the first map, right? So we tried to do kind of an east-west split on that first map. And when I say east-west, I mean all the way north to south-east-west, right? And the second map is a little less. It's more of a north-south split, right? We cut it at 529, but then that little section of Anniston still stays up there. Is that development still being built out, Anniston? The eastern portion of Anniston, yes, sir, is still being built out. I would assume the western portion is as well, but there are more kids in the western portion. It's almost twice as many kids in the western section than there are in the eastern. It was really the only way to make the numbers work.
Sure. And western currently, well, all of it currently goes to Youngblood. Yes, sir. And you're proposing that the western would split?
now to 49? Yeah, let me go back to that slide. Yes, sir. The western portion would go to Sunterra because they're just literally right across
Pitts Road. But they're getting rezoned. The bottom line is... The proposal, this
second map would have them being rezoned. Yes, sir.
So Windward doesn't get affected in this proposal? That's correct.
I mean, really, it's a perfect example of this thing. You can do these and you can draw them up umpteen different ways and one community could could be really happy in one community could be really sad. And so you're trying to make the best decision based on numbers first, safety, geography, all of those things. So there's a couple of different ways to do this. I'm just showing you a different option. If the board would like us to, Dr. Grzegorski and I talked this morning, if the board would like us to, we can come back with one final recommendation before you vote on this. Or you can, we've done that. In the past, the board has kind of decided there at the dais after discussion what option they're going to go with we can do however you want to do it
we heard a little from a lot of folks about windward yes sir is that correct yeah okay
i'm just trying to piece it all together i don't know about a lot i uh the the there was some intense uh concern out of the windward community for moving and i get it um because again the the drive the way things are up there in in the north for windward to get to elementary 49 you you are We're literally driving by Youngblood Elementary. Having said that, there are kids. I'll give you the best example for me in my old Beckendorf days. There's an apartment complex that's directly across the street from Seven Lakes Junior High. Where does it go? It goes to Beckendorf Junior High. Right. So it's not a perfect system at all. Sure. Okay. Thank you.
Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Behrling. And I would just like to say, I know that you all work really hard to get this as good as it can be. You know, especially, you know, most of us are parents. I know you're a parent. Yes, ma'am. And so we care about kids a lot. Absolutely. And parents. And we want to do the best that we can. But my concern is on this is that Youngblood, what is the population of the students at Youngblood now?
The young blood hold on. I've got it. Have all these papers up here because I know you guys are going to ask questions but I never know which one you're going to ask 953 was the
last day of school. OK, but in this one, 2027 would be 610 kids right based on your so. Thinking from the teachers perspective and the principals perspective, they're going to be. This is what I think. Teachers will be accessed, right? Yes. And then they're gonna have to go somewhere else. And then two years later, they're gonna be back up at 961. And then they have to get them back. So that's kind of my little thing. I mean, I know that in the long run, we need to do what's best for everybody. But that's a significant drop. I know it's happened before, like at Campbell and even Tompkins High School. I mean, it happens, I realize that. But anyway, it just seems like a big drop.
It's a challenge when you're out on the prairie. I did it as a principal at Beckendorf and Seven Lakes, and it is a challenge. But when you open that new school, you've got to find that balance between, okay, what am I cutting out versus am I cutting too deep? One thing we knew we couldn't do is we couldn't leave 300 kids at Youngblood. I mean, you would gut the entire staff. I don't know. I'm not an elementary guy, but you're only going to have one or two teachers on each team. We knew we couldn't do that. So the original map we gave you in June leaves them with 770 kids probably would be more ultimately, though, because there just always is more kids, more kiddos up there. and then this one leaves them at 610. So it's another 150 or so kids. It's something to think about for sure because it is, again, as a former principal, it is a challenge to have a huge staff have many of them get access to the new school and then have to go back and rehire. It is a challenge, I agree.
Mr. Verling, is there any chance that between now and school opening in 2027 that Pitts Road is finished?
No, sir. I do not see that happening. We I've driven out there a couple of different times. We really thought that the developer there in Windward would connect that road because to me, if I'm a developer, I want to have multiple ways for folks to get out of my neighborhood just from a convenient standpoint. They have no plans of doing that. We checked with our land guys and we also checked with the county. The county has no interest in doing anything on Pitts Road. So I do not see that happening anytime soon, no, sir.
Thank you. Any other questions, board? All right, thank you. Are we ready to go back to 8.1 or move on to 8.3? All right, we'll go back to 8.1.
8.1 Progress Report on the Student Attendance Incentive Initiative. (Part 2 of 2)
Let's try this again. Well, now move on to 8.1, progress report on the student attendance incentive initiative with our presenters, Jamie Hines, our assistant superintendent of finance, and Dr. Emily Craig, our assistant superintendent for school leadership and campus support. And that looks like a different presentation.
All right, yes. So the information you have in your board docs is this presentation. So we are excited to share some information with you. so appreciate President Redmond, Dr. Grgorski, and trustees for the opportunity to share information with you on what we have been doing with our Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow incentive for attendance. And so again, I'm Emily Craig, Assistant Superintendent for School Leadership and Support, and I'm here with Jamie Hines, Assistant Superintendent of Finance. So the challenge for us is to look at why talk about attendance so deeply and why it matters to have an attendance incentive in the first place. And so part of that kind of giving some historical background, especially for our new board members and where we have been in this journey, is in Katy and in Texas and nationwide post-COVID, districts saw average daily attendance drop when we came back. And so for Katy ISD, our attendance fell roughly 2% after the pandemic, which was below the state's average. We did not have the same level of attendance decline as most of the state or the nation, but it wasn't good enough for us because we know we didn't have all of our kids in the seats that they needed to. And so two real drivers for why we needed an Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow incentive for our campuses and program was the first attendance we know predicts outcomes. So students who are in their seats every day, we know that they learn more. If they're with our skilled KDISD teachers with our curriculum, we know that their success rate academically is dramatically improved. And then they're on track eventually to graduate, and that's our ultimate goal. And so we know having them in the seats every day is important to that academic growth. The second reason is also a more practical piece of that, which is that we know funding follows attendance. So in the state of Texas, districts rely on attendance for funding versus enrollment. And so any student that's absent is also a decrease in revenue. And so we really wanted to make sure we were addressing both of those two things, primarily that students who are in the seats learn better and their academic outcomes improve. And so we have a district-wide commitment that is run campus by campus. So as a district, we created a brand of that attend today, achieve tomorrow, so that campuses could have that posted on their marquees, newsletters, using that in a district-wide way of celebrating the importance of being in school and how that can affect achievement later. However, the campuses do have that autonomy to look at what best meets the need of their community in structuring the program for incentivizing attendance. So each campus principal and their campus advisory teams, their leadership group, they know what is best to meet the needs of their campuses. And so they run their own celebration or competitions between grade levels, outreach that fits their families and their community. And they have the autonomy to do that. We provide opportunities for our principals to get together to look at ways that they have done that on their campuses and share those ideas out so that the good ideas of one campus can be replicated on another campus if the principal feels that that fits their needs. but the brand of it is district but it is run independently by each of those campuses. We also provide campuses with real-time data tracking through some attendance dashboards so that they can look and see how their efforts are working to keep students in the seats. We also provide them with some detailed information each grading period so that they also know how many more kids would make an impact on their attendance rate. And for most of our campuses, on an average day, it's anywhere between two and six additional students coming to school would dramatically change their attendance rates. Our campuses typically have a very high attendance rate in general, but we know we saw some of that post-COVID drop that we want to address. And so the shared upside is that incentive part. in working in conjunction with school leadership and our finance department, looking at the state revenue coming in from attendance and how we can make sure that we are utilizing that money back on the campuses who are able to earn those attendance incentives by raising those rates is part of that process. It is self-funding by design. So in order for any of our campuses to receive the attendance incentive, the entire district must have an improved average daily attendance. So we have to continue to trend upwards with our district average in order for any of our campuses to receive that attendance incentive. And so district wise it needed to go at least 0.1% higher than the previous year so that we can look at any possible payouts. And then campuses earn on growth. They are compared to their own attendance rate from the previous year. So they're not necessarily competing with another campus that may or may not look exactly like theirs, but they're looking at how did they perform last year with their attendance and what sort of increase are they seeing with this year's attendance process. process. Because we have several high performing campuses with attendance at the end of last school year, not the one we just finished, but the one before in 24-25, we got together to look at, we have some campuses that are approaching a threshold for attendance that would make continued improvement challenging. Campuses who are already at the attendance threshold above the district average. And so we wanted to make sure that campuses were incentivized also to continue to maintain those strong attendance rates even if it might be difficult to increase increase their percentage and so new for this past school year in 25-26 we had a maintenance incentive for campuses that were able to maintain theirs from the previous year and still above that district threshold in order to make sure we're including those campuses services as well. Looking here, you can kind of see how attendance has been in the post-COVID era. You'll notice it starts in 21-22. There were a few years where we were held harmless from the state with attendance rates and things a little bit different while we were working with students coming back and forth from the pandemic. So really the 21-22 school year being the first year that we had data where we were coming in at 94.2 percent to give you perspective we were at 96.5 in the year prior to covid um going in so that was that piece where we felt like we needed to see our kids going to come back and so in 22 23 we continued to monitor it went up but we felt like we were not getting students back in in the seats as quickly as we would have liked them to and so So in 22, 23, or 23, 24, I'm sorry, school years when we implemented the attend today, achieve tomorrow process. And so you can see from that dashed line on is when we really started to see some progress with our attendance rates increasing. And so we finished this past school year with an attendance rate of 95.2. For an overall recovery, since launching it three years ago, a 0.9%, almost a full percentage. We are still looking for another percentage point, so we know it's not something that we're finished with at this point. The bottom line with those pieces is we know the best thing that we can do is help student achievement by getting kids to be in seats with our teachers, with our instruction. And so our attendance incentive over the past three years roughly equates to about 800 more students in class every single day across the district from when we started this program. So we're really proud of the work that that has gone on and our campuses have done. Our principals are committed to that and working with their families and really helping families who may have extenuating circumstances to look at what some solutions may be for them as well. And I'm going to turn over some pieces to Mr. Hines.
Thank you. The crux of the initiative and the presentation is really that previous slide. It's over 800 kids in the seat every day that weren't here before we started doing this. But we need to talk a little bit about the finances behind it as well. We go over the funding model that Texas uses. They use attendance in order to provide how they're going to provide revenue to the school districts. And what that over 800 kids being in class every day equals is over $5 million just in the basic allotment revenue that the district receives. That's a cumulative amount that we essentially get each year in revenue. And so that's the result from where we've come so far from the attendance initiative. What it means when we dig into the data and we look at the subpopulations that this has impacted is our special populations like economically disadvantaged students, special education students, our emergent bilingual and our homeless kids. They're actually improving in their attendance rates even more so than the entire district cohort. So good news on all fronts. And again, this isn't just a one year bump in our attendance that this initiative has really, in terms of made an impact. This is so far three years. It's been three years of progress every single year. And again, that is cumulative when it comes to our attendance rate as well as our funding. This year, even with the smallest of the three years in increases, we actually were still able to give out almost $340,000 to campuses. The campuses, it's not just a few campuses throughout the district who are earning this, who have high attendance rates. Again, Dr. Craig went over, it's a campus that's competing against their prior year self. So they're competing against themselves, only trying to improve their own attendance year over year. And this year, over 50 campuses, 53 of our 79 campuses actually received an initiative or an incentive. Over half of our high schools, half of our junior highs, and 38 of our 48 elementaries actually received an incentive this year. This year, or this past year, actually, we implemented a new incentive. And that's because as we increase our attendance rate, again, for a large school district, we are, I believe, the highest attendance rate school district in the state of Texas. Most large school districts can't maintain, you know, well above 95% attendance rates. As we improve that and we have campuses that are above that average, they're essentially approaching 100%. It's almost impossible for them to improve on what they're doing. but we want to make sure that we're not just incentivizing those campuses that have low attendance rates that are improving those. We also want to incentivize those campuses with super high attendance rates for maintaining. So we created a maintenance incentive. This year, over 31 campuses received over $184,000 off that maintenance incentive. I'll talk a little bit more about that. So instead of just having to improve and excel, you can actually maintain at a campus. As long as you're above the district ADA average and you're able to maintain or improve your attendance rate, you as a high school will get $10,000, as a junior high you'll get 7,000, and as an elementary school you get $5,000. Again, we had over 30 campuses receive that. When the money is distributed or the incentive is distributed out to the campuses, it's important to know this isn't just going back to the campus in some bank account this is going back into their budgets and 50 by default goes straight into the instruction budget beyond that the campuses are allowed to have a choice of how it's going to be distributed within their budget and i just want to make a call out to our budget and treasury team this year they've actually built a form that allows the campuses to electronically electronically go in and decide how they want the accounting of that other 50% to go in terms of distributing it into their budget. That lets us get it to them faster. That lets the budget and treasury department, as soon as they have the data, go ahead and disperse those funds out to their budgets. budgets. Another thing I just really want to kind of key in on, there's two incentives that are a part of this. At the end of the first semester, we give out an incentive based on how campuses have done that first semester, just to keep things, you know, keep everybody interested, to keep our campuses, you know, thinking about attendance throughout the year. And then at the end of the year, it takes a while for us to get all of the PEMS data back from the state, and that's what we award this based on. And so as soon as we get all that, we let the campuses know how much their their incentive is going to be. And then our Mrs. Rios and her team in the Budget and Treasury Department then disperse that into the following year's budget. So as of September 1, they'll have access to those funds. Also in terms of support, I just wanna call out our Technology Department. Built a lot of dashboards and tools for our campuses to be able to use. So they're able to track their student attendance every single day and drill down to the individual students and the subpopulations, be able to figure out how they can make an impact. And I also want to call out our PEMS department, which is part of technology as well. They're the ones who get the data and submit it to the state for attendance, and they're also the ones who get the data back to us so that we can implement the actual giving the incentive out. Now I'm going to pass it on back to Dr. Craig.
So where do we go from here? We know as long as we have students that aren't attending or we have excessive absenteeism, that we still have work to do because we want to make sure that they can be successful academically. And so our key areas that we're really looking at to target for the 26-27 school year is to look at the third and sixth six weeks. Those are historically our six weeks with the lowest attendance rate. It's very tempting to go on vacation before everyone else does at the end of a semester or at the end of the school year and so really working to make sure that we try to stem those dips in those third and six six weeks by communicating some things out with families about the importance of finishing strong each each of those semesters we are also looking to sustain that momentum where we've had three years of gain and continuing to improve and work on the maintenance pieces with campuses from our department in campus support where we support attendance but also our dropout prevention facilitators. We've done some restructuring with our itinerant staff who've been working a lot with our high schools to really make sure that they're also working with our junior highs and our elementaries with those students with excessive absenteeism so that we can catch them early before it becomes a bigger issue. So we've been working with kind of utilizing some of that staff differently and a new model for working with that going into 26-27 as well. We know that we've made a great deal of progress. As we talked about, 800 additional students in the seat every single day, but there are still more. And that's where we're going to continue to work on this process.
And again, from the finance perspective, we've made changes. We've made sure that we're dynamic and kind of the rules around what the program looks like because year over year our attendance rate changes. And so we're trying to adjust with that and we'll be doing that over the next few weeks before school gets going and kind of finalizing what the rules look like for the next year. But again, we just want to go back. This isn't about finances and money. It means more kids are in class every day and that's what we're working toward. and we'd be glad to take any questions at this time
any questions board
mr shipley i had a couple of questions for you thank you for the great presentation um just so i'm clear i'm going to keep hanging my hat on i'm new at this so i can ask questions like this we're we're talking about attendance of registered or enrolled kids not kids that are not enrolled in the district right so you're enrolled and we know 95.2 percent of enrolled kids correct
Correct. Our attendance incentive is focused on those students who are currently enrolled.
And did you say prior to the pandemic, it was around 96 and a half percent? Did you say how that compared? These are KDISD numbers. How does it compare to state averages? You said we're at the top?
Right. Our attendance average typically is above the state average, and especially for large school district, significantly high. We have a very high attendance rate and so and still do even with our dip our dip is has been
Less than the dip across the state and really across the nation states all a similar dip as a state seen a similar improvement in the last couple of years If you don't know
There has been a moderate improvement across the state, but nothing like what we've seen and just going back to that Our plan three years ago after we rolled it out Um, we probably weren't the first to ever do this, but we were definitely the first in kind of the post code world to do this. And we, we assisted. Tens of of school districts with implementing their own plan and so it's been more modest from the state level, but not as not as much as we've improved.
That okay, that 2% decline, I think it was early on on slide 2. Was that is it across all grade levels? Is there any one, is it like more high school kids than it is elementary kids?
Yeah, so it's an aggregate for the entire district is that decline. So typically it's pretty similar across our grade bands, but there are probably high schools a little bit lower at times, elementary. Junior high typically has a higher attendance rate. Everybody's sending their junior high kids to school with that. But those of you who've had children may may know why that might be sometimes. But so we typically see a little bit of a dip with high school and that is an area that we target, especially with that 3rd and 6, 6 weeks.
Attendance okay. Yes, I mean, that 96%, right? That's a great. aspirational goal that's where we were as a district prior to pandemic i just i look at this chart on slide five and it looks very similar to what work from home looks like in the u.s like there's been an improvement it's like 50 but it's been slowly trickling back up it just got me thinking why are kids staying home i'm sure you've got more answers to than i do but it's interesting and it's good stuff thank you mr president champagne thank you for your
presentation i've always been such a big fan of this and i know um you you're all implementing and a few years ago is like really like ahead of a lot of other people and I know y'all got given training I think you've given training at TASB and TASBO
yes ma'am we've done a presentations and for some different organizations
including TASBO so the reason why I love that is because it's not just about for me it's not just about KDIC it's about all kids of Texas you know and actually probably the nation could use some of that and I love I just I have it just some comments and then one question and that was one comment the other one is I love the idea of y'all letting the principal share the ideas because sometimes something worked really well and something else didn't and it'd be kind of silly to try something that didn't really go over well I remember somebody one principal did a thing where they could like throw I don't know water balloons at the principal or whatever they came that day and that all the kids came that day you know the other thing the last thing I wanted to say is I can kind of see this evolving into something more like getting more parental involvement because I know that there's schools I know that this definitely the goal of this but the parental involvement you know as we know all know is a big part of closing the education gap and so if you did something like this like i don't know throwing the water balloons at the teacher and somehow got the parents involved in it somehow because there are some of our schools you know that that are kind of low with that parental involvement i was just thinking they could you know their ideas could be just all over the place and huge to help increase that that was just an idea thank you for your presentation
Mr. President, Mr. Cross, I'm just curious because I remember that 21-22 school year and kids trying to get them back at school and everything. So I'm just wondering, do you see more across campuses, do you see more systemic efforts like Ms. Champagne was saying, oh, we're going to do special days, or the way I remember it, a lot of times it genuinely fell mostly on assistant principals dealing with individual kids. You know, that micro level where you're like, Johnny or Susie's not coming to school. We're going to make some phone calls, send some emails, see if we can, you know, do the, what do we call them, attendance improvement plans? Do we still have attendance improvement plans? We do.
Okay. So I think, Mr. Cross, I think it's a combination of both of those things, right? So for kids, getting kids incentivized about coming to school involves some of the things that Ms. Champagne talked about, right? Those pieces. But the other pieces then look at involving parents and having those conversations, getting to the root of why a student may not be attending. And so as we continue to raise that attendance threshold, that's where those beginning to be those really targeted and intentional conversations with individual families about why they might be missing and what we might be able to do to support them in a situation that might necessitate a student not being able to come to school every day. We have a lot of supports and getting that message to parents is is our continuous effort to make sure they understand That we really want to be able to support their their child and the ways that we can do that as a district
Sure. Thank you
Thank you First of all, thank you so much for connecting this to student outcomes because in reality if we can get them into school Get them into a seat. We can we can teach them they can learn. I'm curious about the 33%, the 26 schools that aren't quite making those attendance goals. First of all, can we triangulate them to a certain area? Are these, perchance, our Title I schools? And what are we doing to support them in that? Because we want our kiddos in school, we want to help improve their outcomes.
Absolutely.
What are we doing for them?
So I don't know if you wanted to speak, I'm happy to.
I can just comment on, no, you can't triangulate those two specific areas. Many of our areas with the highest subpopulations are higher economically disadvantaged campuses. We're actually the campuses that perform the best this year. So traditionally those have been, those have had lower attendance rates versus some of the other campuses with lower economically disadvantaged accounts. So they actually have, it's easier for them to, I won't say easier for them to improve, but they have more room to improve. So what we've done, and again, this kind of goes back to we were saying we're going to make changes as we move forward to make sure that we are impacting that. Other than really looking at making sure that we're not having any certain subpopulations that aren't getting more incentive versus others. We haven't tried, figured out exactly how we're gonna continue on with the plan, but that'll happen in the next couple of weeks.
Mr. Shipley. One more question for you, just kind of playing off of Mrs. Taylor's question. So if you think about, as you said, like the person at a school likely closest to the individual student that isn't coming is maybe the AP, and that AP is gonna know, in this particular student's case the reason why they don't come to school is blank they don't want to come to school or this young child doesn't have a ride to school three days a week or whatever it is do we collect data internally on the reason why an individual kid isn't coming and we could that we could code roll up and then systematically see all right we've got X percent of attendance issues tied to not having a ride to school as an example and something we
could respond to. So I would say that we do track that information. I don't know if it's in a system that would make it easily able to kind of extrapolate like you were talking about, but our assistant principals, our counselors are often very close to knowing what's going on. Our social workers, our dropout prevention facilitators, and so they do record those things and find out, is there a reason? Is it because of a situation with transportation, or is it a situation that maybe a student has a medical issue and is hospitalized and parents just aren't calling those kinds of things in or working with some options that we have because they may not know those and so we really do we track those things for those individual students i don't know if it's in a system yet that we would be able to extrapolate it but it's certainly something we could look at for
the future it's just from us you know big picture systematic way as big of a district as we are and is important, obviously student outcomes is the bottom line. That's what we're all here for. But the way our district is funded is by kids coming to school. So that's at play here as well. So for example, if this data were to show us, well, geez, half of these kids aren't coming because they don't have a ride. And part of the reason why they don't have a ride is because they don't have bus service. You see where I'm going with this? Could this come full circle? Wow, if we had bus service here, more kids would come to school, more funding. It might help inform the conversation more and help us move this needle a little bit more just food for thought thank you thank you
mr. president this campaign I just want to make a comment and I'm sorry that this this may seem out of place what I don't mean it to be but during that year that 2020 2021 school year when people could go you know either virtual or stay and all that and I know that was a difficult year but there was a principal and I won't name names or anything, but she was at an elementary school, and she noticed that some of the kids that were at home weren't doing very well, and this principal got on the phone over the Christmas holidays and called each of the parents, and like I'm gonna say like, I think she said like 50% of those kids that she called came back to school. And so sometimes, I do not want to put this on any teachers and all this, but it is something about that personal touch that is helpful so I don't I don't expect assistant principals to do that with that many kids but anyway it does work that those personal little touches do work that personal out outreach is
important any other questions for thank you very much
We'll now move on to 8.3, our TIA presentation, our Teacher Incentive Allotment Update.
8.3 TIA Presentation - Teacher Incentive Allotment Update
Our presenter, Kyle Allen Sanchez, our TIA coordinator, and Netta Hill, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources. resources. Anita, I didn't mean to butcher your name. I'm sorry.
Good evening, President Redman, Board of Trustees, and Dr. Gregorski. I'm here to give an update on the teacher incentive allotment. And so I kinda wanna go back to the beginning of how we started this presentation with recognitions. And that's really why I want the presentation to focus on are the good things that are happening for our teachers. So the teacher incentive allotment was created back in 2019 and it was intended to help recruit, retain, and reward our excellent teachers. And so KDIC underwent a rigorous process to be able to become an approved district to offer local designations for our teachers. And so that being said, I want to kind of give you a big picture view of where we're at currently with the teacher incentive allotment. So to date, our teachers have earned over $10 million in TIA funds. And so that really comes from the past two years, this past year and the year prior. higher. But of that of those teachers that had been designated, I want you to see this past year when we received our designations, we had 887 teachers who were designated out of a little over 1600. So quite a good number of designated teachers that were eligible. And then of that 887, 243 are designated as master teachers or the highest level of designation that can be awarded to a teacher because we're talking about celebrations i do want to bring up beckendorf junior high actually had the largest number of designated teachers at 25 and then just below that we had two other junior highs mcbeans and wood creek junior high that each had 24 designated teachers teachers. On the screen we wanted to show you the base ranges for each of these designation levels. The acknowledged designation is new as of this past year, so when we submit for designations in October, we do anticipate that we'll have over a thousand teachers who will receive a designation. So quite another good bump for us. But overall, we want you to be able to see that master category statewide. That range actually goes from 12,000 to 36,000. And for KDISD, I think about the largest amount that a teacher can earn for the master's category is about 28,000. And so that's due to socioeconomic reasons that TEA has put forward. Rural school districts receive greater funding. Oh, sorry, I do want to go back. I apologize. I jumped ahead a little bit. Oh, nice slides here. Okay, that picture changed. So, sorry. So, I did have pictures of individuals, teachers across the district who received designations. And I wanted to point out, we actually have a teacher at sundown elementary who's a master teacher and he's earning 22 000 extra for the next five years because of his designation and so in kdisd the average designation for a master teacher is about 13 000 so when we see that 22 000 that's quite a good and a good level of support for that teacher very life-changing in fact
Act.
We wanted to provide the numbers for our designations as the years have progressed. So we've had two years worth of designations. The biggest point here, we want to show that, again, we've significantly increased the number of designations over the past two years. So to look at that master number of 69 to jump up to 243 was quite a big jump from one year to the next and we're very proud of that okay so kind of taking a look at the system as a whole we had about 53 percent of our designated teachers or our eligible teachers receive a designation so that was a pretty good number um from the prior year was about 34 percent so again a good jump in in terms of designations. Each year we do have to go through a very rigorous validation process. Texas Tech University and TEA run through some of our data and do a validation check to make sure that our t-test scores and our student growth performance are actually correlated. And so this year we did pass. We got a 77 percent which was really good for the state. And we had That hit a huge equity milestone. So 100% of our campuses that are eligible for TIA had a TIA designated teacher. So that was really something for us to be proud of. Moving ahead, I want you to be able to see some of the feedback that we've received from teachers. I'm constantly asking for positive notes about how the teachers are receiving that teacher incentive allotment. And so kind of hanging on the major points, teachers are saying that they feel respected and that there's dignity brought back to the profession of teaching. And it's really helping boost the morale amongst teachers. So I wanted to share that again to teachers from Wilson Elementary. entry. Quite a bit of information on this one, but hopefully we can get through it pretty quickly. So in the past couple years, we've only had eligibility through fourth and fifth grade, six through eight, reading and math as our core contents, and then Algebra I, English I, and English II. So this year we had the opportunity to submit an application to expand. And so we've expanded our eligibility to pre-K through fifth grade reading and math. Also, sixth through eighth, we've included our intervention courses. And then at the high school, we've also included intervention courses. So not only do we have teachers who are eligible, we have in-class support teachers, ESL teachers, and now we're going to have our academic support teachers eligible for TIA. So again, another large expansion that we're expecting for this coming school year. I tried to go ahead and give a little bit of information about our expansion. So with TIA, it's kind of a multi-year process. We have to be very methodical with how we roll out expansions to the program. And the reason being is every time we start looking at unique teacher groups, we have to create a student growth measure and so we're really trying to make sure that that is honed into kdisd and to our teachers and make sure that those outcomes are actually really aligned so we've got some exceptional areas that we're looking at in fact here at the board meeting a while back we heard some really really good feedback from a teacher regarding social studies. So social studies, science, definitely on our radar. And with that, I'm open to questions.
Mr. President.
Ms. Fox.
Thank you for the presentation. I have a bunch of questions. I will tag out and let someone else take turns. Let's just talk about academic support teachers. I'm going to hop all over here. How do we know which academic support teachers are eligible? What are the requirements? Yes.
So at the elementary level, the academic support teacher could be supporting kindergarten through fifth grade in reading or math. We've had live communication with the principals about how they're going to roster those specific ASTs to students so that way we can get those necessary student counts. At the secondary setting, when we're talking about the junior highs in particular, there are some intervention courses that the ASTs directly teach. And so those teachers are going to be eligible through that manner. And then the same would be said at the high school setting. There's some math and reading intervention courses.
Do they have to be a teacher of roster? Is that it? Is there an A6 or a 93 or whatever the numbers are? I'm just pulling.
All of our teachers who are eligible for TIA have to be coded 087. 087?
Yes, ma'am.
And ASTs are coded 087s. And so at the elementary setting where the rosters are a little bit more fluid, that's why we're communicating with the principals about how to connect students to teachers. And so our technology team has been very kind and helpful. they're going to actually create kind of a secondary class at the end of the day where these kids are rostered to that AST. So when we're looking at those student growth measures, we can actually connect that back to the AST.
And what about dyslexia teachers? Are they 087s?
So dyslexia teachers are 087s. And so we are looking at means by which to get them on board. One of the biggest concerns that we have with dyslexia at this time is that they're on a different evaluation system. So if we can get them switched over to T-Test, we have a greater range for eligibility for those teachers.
Because eligibility is all about growth, right? Watching children progress. And, I mean, I can't think of anybody who's better at that than dyslexia. I mean, a lot of people are great at it. But dyslexia teachers certainly, you know, can monitor that. So it needs a better system to manage to monitor the growth.
So right now their evaluation system is not the standard evaluation that general education teachers use. That's the T-Test evaluation system. And so if they switch over to T-Test, then we've got the necessary teacher evaluation component, which is one part. And then the secondary part would be a student growth measure. So if we can tie them for instance like in fourth and fifth grade to star reading or star math We can track that growth with those students. How quickly can we do that? The application occurs once a year in April So the next round that we could do would be this coming April To submit to TEA for approval to get them on board to our program. So it's not our decision It's our decision to a degree So we get to go through and work with the various departments and teams to try to figure out how to establish a growth measure. And if we can get a growth measure in place, we essentially report that back to TEA, and they're going to give us the final okay that, yes, we've got a solid plan in place to be able to allow these teachers to be eligible.
This is not news to anyone. I don't have a ton of confidence in all the decisions TEA makes, but I know you'll do your best to present the case. I just am concerned that some teachers qualify and others don't when they're devoting their whole lives to helping kids progress and to be successful. successful and it's like how come that AST is and I'm an AST and I'm not getting eligible for TIA because it's serious money. Correct. Right. Okay. I'm going to ask one more question and then I'll tag out. You said average is 13,000 but some teacher has 22,000. How? Yes. Why is that differentiated and how do I get to 22,000? That's what I'm every every teacher is saying that to me screaming in their computer. Yes.
So the state has a funding map that they generate. And so every single campus, the state looks at their socioeconomic standing and rural status. And so they have a strict formula that they apply for every single campus as to how funding is going to be distributed. So our lower socioeconomic campuses receive more funding than some of our more affluent campuses.
So that entices the world's best teachers to go to lower socioeconomic, you know, more challenging places to teach.
Correct. That would be with the recruitment efforts with TIA.
Got it. Thank you.
Mr. President. Mr. Cross. So thank you so much. It's been great. I had it showed up TIA showed up right after I'd retired so I'm certainly not well versed in it but I guess question for you is like say looking at like junior high social studies right because those are three distinct courses it's not like American history one second part of America you know you go it's it like what world geography in sixth grade if I remember something and in seventh seventh grade Texas history, eighth grade, first part of U.S. history. So is it the state that allows us to, you're talking about creating a growth measure. Can we do that for, say, science and social studies, even though there's not, like the star is just in eighth grade social studies, is that right? Right. So sixth and seventh grade, there wouldn't be a growth from the state level, but will they allow us to create measures that we could say, well, we've been able to identify teaks or whatever that run across these courses that we can watch kids and say they grew in these areas? Is that allowable? Yes, sir. There are multiple ways for us to establish growth measures
that TEA has approved. So we can look for outside vendors that have pre-approved pre-tests and post-test that would allow us to determine that growth we can create those in-house as pre-test post-tests we just had various means to go about looking at this and so it's working with the various departments getting feedback from the teachers what would represent the absolute best picture of what that teacher is doing in the classroom for that growth measure and so then
then really it becomes us just getting an acceptable measure that we would send to TEA that they would approve. So ideally we could say, you know, at some point in time we could say, well, we're able to add all the social studies teachers, all the science teachers as well, because we've sent off and had approved growth measures, and therefore now they're all eligible. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you so much. Absolutely.
Mr. President, so I wanted to echo that too, because I know that the social studies teacher had come and talk and I'm really happy that y'all listened. And so you're 1 of your last screens here says multi year expansion, which I'm so happy to see that this is not whatever we had before is not the end. you know this is going to continue on and that gives me a lot of hope and I love what mr. cross says because as a person that's not an educator I I can't think of those questions exactly like you did so I appreciate your your questioning that and I can just see that that there are plans to do more I don't really know how that that happens as mr. cross has the suggestions that I don't but I would like to say that I am I'm really glad about a couple things when this all started I remember first we voted on just to even allow it do you remember that we just the first it was like what is this and we're just voting to even just allow it it so it didn't happen yet and I'm like what okay whatever I'll vote yes okay but then we allowed it and then and then it happened And then what my concern was for like about a year or two, how do we let teachers know about this? And I was really, really concerned about that because sometimes just me as a person, not even as a board member, I would get curious about it and I would go to our website and I'd search for it. Like in the first year, I'm like, it's not here. How will they know it? So I don't know if it's the combination of you all advertising it well or just teachers teachers telling each other, hey, I'm making 13,000 extra dollars, you know, and then they're going, how could I do that? So they're probably advertising it amongst themselves better than anybody else could do. So I'm happy to see that there's so many teachers that are taking advantage of this and it hits 100% of our campuses. So that's awesome. The last thing I want to say is, do we, does KDIC get any kind of bragging rights about this? I mean, do we, you know, I don't know, put it on our website, you know, look at us, we have 100% of our campuses have this, these teachers that are, have this designation, I don't know. I think that's huge bragging rights, and especially as we approach this time of trying to advertise our virtual schools and all that, you know, it's just something else to just plug why we're the A-plus premier school district that we are. And I'm really appreciative of you and your staff and the people who help you push this forward to make us, to keep us at that level, that very high level of expectations that I know the community has.
Yes, and over the past year, we've revamped our website and put a lot more information there. I've tried to make sure that the funding map was a bit more accessible. The state funding map is a little bit more difficult to navigate, so I created a document for campuses to be able to literally click their campus and see the breakdown of values for each of their designation levels.
Mr. President. Mr. Davidson. Yeah, thanks again and appreciate everything you and the team are doing to make this accessible, accessible, get it communicated out to the teachers. I just wanted to ask a question to make sure there wasn't a nuance that I didn't pick up on. You said that 100% of eligible campuses had the, you know, at least one educator with with the TIA designation, were you inferring that we have some campuses that aren't TIA eligible?
In terms of campuses, more like programs that are not currently eligible. So, RAINS, OAC, Miller, and we do anticipate some adjustments based on how the program progresses as we look at that multi-year expansion.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Shipley. Thank you for the presentation. So TIA came around in 2019.
Correct.
So Google is correct. And so it's up to a school district to take action on it, right? It sounds like before my time, the board decided, yes, we want to go after that. And so we're slowly rolling out programs in different subject areas where we can go after this. How do we compare to other school districts in adoption of this? So, again, I'm up here learning, but it sounds like maybe social studies is an area where we're not currently enrolled. But we have to develop a program to do that. Like, how do we compare to other districts? And if you don't know, that could be a follow up. But I'm just curious to know how we stand.
I can definitely follow up more with you on surrounding districts. but I do know that there are several there around us that have a little bit more further of an implementation that we do. And so that's one of the things we want to progress, we want to expand, but we wanna make sure that it's appropriate for our district and that we still maintain the integrity of the system. But yes, we're actively looking at how quickly we can move things forward.
Yeah, and I have a 38,000 foot understanding of this, right? So I'm not in the weeds of this, but as a guy, again, that's new to this, I see this as a public school system that is financially constrained by how we are funded and what we can do in terms of teacher compensation, etc. This is a fantastic funding arm for our staff. It's a fantastic recruiting tool for us as a district if we're enrolled as much as we can be. So that to me seems like again if someone has a very high level understanding of something that'd be very important for us to Hit the accelerator on yes, sir Okay. Thank you
If
Miss Taylor good, mr. President. I just wanted to double down the fact that the application process itself is very intense Yes, correct. So I know it's something that we wanted we wanted to see expansion love that you are doing that but I think people need to understand just how difficult it is to put together these application packets. And my understanding is if there is a data set that's incorrect, if there's some kind of error, you have to wait a whole other year to reapply. Is that correct?
Right. So the application process itself took about three years. So one year strictly for the application, a data capture year, and then our first data submission. So that first data submission occurred in 23-24. Sorry, is that correct? 23-24. It was based on 23-24 data. I apologize. So it was submitted in 24-25, and then 25-26, we had our second round of data submission. So it does take a little bit of time. But, yes, with the data submission, we have a window to do our submission of all the teachers that are eligible, whether they receive a designation or not. And so within that window, if there are any teachers that are either missed or that have left our district that get submitted, it's solidly closed at the end of that window.
I thank your team for that. I know that's a lot of work and a lot of cross interdepartmental engagements and make it all happen.
Thank you.
So if I'm a teacher and I'm listening to this and I'm not included and I don't think I'm on the multi-year plan to be added because it might get
rejected, what can I do to get a part of TIA money? Yeah, so in terms of this expansion, we're trying to make sure that we're working with steering committees of teachers, the various departments, so as we see those needs, we're trying to really get on board with how quickly we can move forward with those student growth measures. So like I said, right now, science, social studies, we've heard significant feedback about those respective areas but we are so we also are in tune with our CTE classes our fine arts our PE we understand that there's still a big desire to be part of the system in those respective areas so we're trying to get that feedback as quickly as possible so we can build
those measures well if I like if I wanted it now though good do I still have the option to do a national board certification correct yes sir so there
There is an alternative to the teacher designation, or the teacher incentive allotment, and that's going to be the national board certification. So if a teacher goes through that respective process, they actually kind of jump the scale here. And so rather than having to wait to be designated through their respective course, that NBCT teacher designation automatically gives them an acknowledged designation. So as long as they have that certification and it's up to date, they'll receive that allotment.
funding. And that doesn't matter as long as it's an approved certification it doesn't necessarily even have to be what they teach or you can be any student-facing teacher in any position.
and receive it? If it's achieved through the national board certification process, then they'll
receive that designation. And then they could possibly get refunded back on the expenses for getting the board cert? I mean, it's not easy. I do know it's not easy. I'm making it sound like, oh, if you just get the certification. But the program will reimburse them for
yes, the certification process is a little bit time involved. But yes, the reimbursement of the the costs, the district receives funding to be able to receive back or pay back the teacher for
those costs. I guess as I look at it, one of the things I know is I'm seeing $5,000 up there that's larger than our master's degree stipend. It is less work than, it is a lot of work, but it's less work than a master's. They're going to get paid back for it and reimbursed for it. And right over four years, I mean, that's $20,000 left on the table. Someone who had had a national board cert. I mean, as I look at the math, I'm thinking that is a super quick way to get a significant raise. There's work involved. But if anybody's listening and you're not in one of these buckets of teachers that are eligible for it, a national board search is a great way to get extra money.
Yes, and we do have some general information about the NBCT program on our website with links to the program itself so that way teachers can have that pathway as
well I have one other question okay okay I he just made me think of something I don't know why I thought of this but there is administrative cost to this and so a lot of people well I hear from people sometimes that say oh I didn't know it's gonna have to pay you know give 10% of my money back you know so they're not really I guess you're not really getting five thousand they're getting more like 4,500. But, you know, just have been sitting here and everything and listening to some of these presentations through the years. I know that there's cost to taking care of these programs and all this. I mean, you know, we have to pay people to administer and keep records and do the website and such and such. Could you explain a little bit about that, please?
Yes, so the funding, we actually do what's called like a 90-10 split with the allotment funding. So the teachers receive 90% of their allotment funding. The district retains 10%. So as you were saying with administrative costs, things like trying to ensure our validation process is going to be approved, calibration training, professional development for those teachers that haven't quite received a designation yet so we can focus on domains two and three which are necessary for that t-test component so the instruction and learning environment really we can do extra focus there in terms of the growth measures if there's a vendor that offers one that aligns with our curriculum we absolutely can purchase that and use some of the funding for that so everything that the state is providing in terms of that allotment we're able to kind of kick back into the system to help maintain it.
Any other questions, Board? Thank you very much for the presentation. Thank you.
9. Consent Items
We will now move on to our consent agenda. A consent agenda shall include items that were discussed and considered at the previous work-study board meeting, as well as items of a reoccurring nature. The board shall be furnished with background material for each item. Consent agenda items shall be grouped together into one action item. All items shall be acted upon by one vote without separate discussion unless a board member requests that an item be withdrawn for individual consideration from BE Legal and BE Local. Are there any items on tonight's agenda that the board would like to remove from the consent agenda?
Mr. President, I would like to remove 9.10 and 9.11.
9.10 and 9.11. Any others? All right. Then I will now entertain a motion for the consent agenda.
Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda minus 9.10 and 9.11.
It has been moved. Is there a second?
Second.
Champaign. All right. It is moved and seconded that the Board of Trustees approves the consent agenda for items 9.1 through 9.22, except for 910 and 911 which have been removed will now proceed to vote remember our voting buttons are broken so all those in favor raise your right hand and say aye all right and the motion passes 7-0 old school there we go all right then we will now move on to the discussion we'll start with item 910
9.10 Consider Board approval of the 2026-2027 Discipline Management Plan and Student Code of Conduct.
consider board approval of the 2026 2027 discipline management plan and student Student code of contact. Miss Sherry Ashmore. I think she was ready for this.
I was writing someone's Mr Grant. He was ready to assist. So I think you will have noticed in your updated documents. I believe it's on page 35 of your PDF. Added language related to safe transportation, so it's recommended that be added to our safety guidelines and expectations because it is a foremost a safety expectation for students to be be arriving to school safely, driving on property safely, having appropriate vehicles on safety. So that language is available for your review. I believe you've been provided it ahead of time. And I think it will be some really great language that our administrators can lean on and consistent language for all of our campuses to use as well as the district to communicate.
Mr. President. Ms. Fox. So I just wanted to talk about this for a minute because I appreciate I appreciate very much the superintendent listening to our discussion last week and bringing this forward for our consideration and listening to the community. This is a concern of theirs and safety for our children. Everybody, our community is up most important to us and I recognize that this will not be. be easy for our staff to implement and it will, you know, be cumbersome and stressful and will need a lot of communication. But I appreciate the language and the thought put into it of making it clear. And so kudos, Dr. Gorgorski and Ms. Ashhorn and all those. My question is, how will we communicate this to our families? And that's what my question is.
I'm sure campuses will utilize their normal modes of communication. I think Dr. Grooms already has a plan in place from a district standpoint.
point yes thank you and i will address that question as well so in addition to the campuses communicating through their traditional modes of communications which include typically their newsletters and their emails directly to parents the district will also send out a district level communication to all parents making them aware of this addition to the discipline management plan Additionally, we will begin distributing our weekly digest that is released every Friday to parents with general updates concerning district initiatives, deadlines, programs, what have you.
COMMISSIONER WRIGHT- May I comment here? So you know the way we did the dress code with the picture. These are the things that are going to be, this is it. that covered here, covered here, all of that. These are very difficult to understand which ones we're talking about and which ones we're not. Dr. Gorgorski was telling us about the little scooters that go like three miles an hour are not the ones we're talking about. And some have, Mr. Shipley was talking about, some have pedals, some who don't. Will you have a graphic or something that will help our parents understand?
Yes, and Trustee Fox, I'm glad you mentioned that because chief rider is actually going to be issuing a communication to our parents that includes exactly those graphics graphics of e-bikes and other devices that fall within that category of e-bikes that are allowed versus those devices that are not allowed such as the e-motorcycles and other high-powered
motor vehicles that was very effective when we you know make changes and I'm I'm hoping that just like with dress code, when it's big and it comes from the board and we're very clear and we're on it and it's going to be enforced, that it's painful for this period of time. And then it's the new way we do things. And thank you.
President Shibley? So this language, vehicles are prohibited for students to operate on campus, including not limited to ATVs, OHVs, etc. Did some of this language already exist and we're just adding electric motorcycles, electric minivikes?
So all of that language has been added to our discipline plan. Based on the request of the board, there was some research of what other languages other districts maybe have that's specific or not. Our legal counsel, Justin Graham, was involved in the language and just kind of looking to think about big picture what's next, right? Not just the e-bikes, but let's take this opportunity to be clear about what we consider safe transportation. So we tried to think of something that was all encompassing, but also something that could be enforceable and understandable.
Thank you. As has been said, I appreciate the effort that's been put against us. I think we're hearing a lot from the public about this particular topic. And I'm just going to say this, and I am not promote proposing this, or even trying to suggest that we consider this. But as I've read about how other districts and colleges and etc have approached this. Some have put in place. Okay, we're going to do what we're considering here, but we're also going to say things that are street legal, like a scooter or a fast e bike ride at the campus. We can't control that. But when it's on campus, we want you walking it to the bike rack. It's more of a pedestrian safety thing than it is a safety thing for the scooter riders. So I again, not suggesting we consider that at all, but I think this is a fantastic step that we are considering that will align kind of in partnership with what other entities are doing with just trying to put some safety guardrails around this particular topic. I appreciate it.
Mr. Shipley, it's important to note that campuses can also establish additional rules on their campus property. So if they are having a particularly troublesome situation with vehicles on campus, even the pedestrian ones, they certainly have the authority to be able to communicate that to parents and implement it.
That's a fair point. And thank you for calling that out. Appreciate it.
Any other questions or discussion board? All right, then I will entertain a motion.
Mr. President.
Ms. Fox.
I move the board approve the 2026-2027 Discipline Management Plan and Student Code
of conduct kind of a motion is there a second second and i have a second we will now so we have a motion to approve uh the 2026 2027 discipline management plan and student code of conduct and that was there were two versions uploaded so that was the draft dated 7 27 26 that has the language we just talked about um it's been motioned and seconded so we'll now proceed to vote all those in favor raise your right hand say aye aye and the motion passes 7-0 we'll now move on to items
9.11 Consider naming a portion of a facility at Katy High School.
9-11 consider naming a portion of a facility at Katy High School also me Mr. President I you know
welcome everyone else to jump in if they want I just removed this because it it deserves its its own moment here when we are naming a facility our namesakes how Katie is kind of known now lots of places honoring longtime very dedicated educators and community members too in some places that make a difference in Katie I see and certainly we heard last week that coach kalem hack had made such an impact to current softball coaches were his students and in two of our high schools and the girls today who were honored three-time champions is that what they They said we've earned it three times, state champions. So it's just impressive. And his demeanor, his intent, how he works with people. I want to tell this really quick story. So he is substituting at Katy High School sometimes, and maybe lots of places, I don't know. But I was at Katy High School with Glenn Hager, former representative, senator, maybe the Texas comptroller, the entire state of Texas, and now he's chancellor of Texas A&M University, and he was a guest speaker at Katy High School, and I was there, and we were walking down the hall, and, you know, people said hi, and his children there at that school, and he was a guest speaker, and, you know, I was like, so you know he's very respected and and very well known and then Kalem hack came out of a classroom going down the hall and you would have thought that there was royalty in the building the way they were like oh my gosh it was that kind of treatment in in the building where he lived was he lived it it's just that is is the kind of aura and respect that he has. And we could say this about every person, every teacher, every coach. Not all of them get at this point, but I just think it's super wonderful that this is happening and that we're honoring him with his name on a softball field. And we talked last week about his legacy. I can't talk without my hands. sorry you you do a little bit of that yeah um the um his legacy with his daughter and his son and all the people are continuing um coach coach hack's legacy um and you know his wife's the athlete as well it's just it's just super cool i just wanted people to know this is not just oh by the way somebody submitted a name and so we were like okay it's it's some really solid credentials and a lifetime of selflessness
Would anyone like to make a motion?
Mr. President, I move that the board name a portion of a facility at Katy High School, especially the softball field, after Kalem Hack, former coach.
Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Mr. Davidson. All right, and then we have a motion for naming the Soploville Facility at Katy High School in honor of Cal Mac. All those in favor, raise your right hand and say aye.
Aye.
And the motion passes 7-0. We took a picture with him earlier to say congratulations.
It's his best time.
Yes, it is mine. All right, that wraps up our action items.
10. Information Items
We have our information requests.
And so I believe we had, did we want Mr. Verling and Dr. Grzegorski to look at other options on Elementary 49? It got mentioned, but I wasn't sure if that was a formal, like, question, like we want them to look, or we're just okay okay so nor that one and then the other one that I have is the request with regards to TIA and how other districts are handling those subjects that you know how we're comparing with those subjects that are not already approved by TIA like you know the English language arts and math but if there are some other places and how they're doing it and not how they're doing it but which which subjects and then how they've incorporated the ability to be able to do that all that I had all right anything else for this box
Mr. President, I have your little trusty compass that you gave us about our true north and what guides us to sit at this dais and to serve our district. district and I've been doing a lot of talking tonight. Sorry as if that's unusual, but it's going to be my last year. Have I said that before? Have I said that a few times? I've been talking a lot about the emotions of this being my last year on the school board and how much that means to me and that I'm taking every moment and every opportunity and they just hit different Kind of like when your child's a senior in high school and you watch every last, as if it's a four-letter word, because it's the very last time, first day of school things. And the whole year is like that. So, but recently our family, not but, in case y'all haven't heard, our family has had a big life change. You can't see him, but he looks like that. Our third grandson was born to our daughter and son-in-law there first. and our son and daughter-in-law have two boys they're three and a half years old and one year old the birthday was yesterday and we're over the moon so my seventh term expires in May and I've been talking about it for two years but But what I didn't know is that the timeline would accelerate. Time is not something you get back with little children. It just goes too fast. Serving on this board is not just something I do. It's who I am. And it has changed me. Something I'm so proud of, not for me, but for all of us, the changes that have happened in 21 years. It's just, it's so incredible. It's always different. It's never the same. I've enjoyed almost every minute. it. Um, but our daughter and son in law live in the Dallas Fort Worth area and our daughter has a very demanding job. And so they want her to come back like really refreshed and not sleep deprived so she can, you know, represent the company well in front of clients. And so she has six months maternity leave. So she'll be off until January. I don't want to miss that. I don't want to piecemeal that so I made a commitment to this board to help tell y'all what to do you know as you're new you don't need any help you're doing amazing our board I'm so excited about this board and you all are ready to To serve in a way that I'm so excited about, you can feel. Calmness right? We're having fun. We're laughing again. Everyone, I feel it in each 1 of you. And so I'm confident with that and so. So I made a commitment to help transition and I will always be a phone call away. As a TASB director on the state board, I have a commitment to finish some important duties that will end at the convention called TechSedCon on October 11th. And so, Mr. President and Board members, it's my intent to resign, or as I call it, retire, my role as a KDSV trustee on October 12th. I'm announcing now to give the board and the community ample time to prepare for the future, however you believe best, and what continues as success that exemplifies the fifth largest school district in Texas. The fifth largest and the first best. So I wanted you all to know, before meetings in August, I'll be at all of them. I actually have 10 meetings, 10 days of meetings in August with both jobs, but I will be here and that will give us time, you all time, to talk about how you want to do that and what you want to do, and that's up to you. you. But I'm going to take down my website. I'm going to close my campaign account and donate all the remaining funds to the Texas Education Foundation, which was created at this dais many years, a few years ago, and I love it so much. So for all those who donated to my campaign, you'll still be donating to the children in every, you know, in classrooms. And so So my love and dedication for the children, the parents, the community, and the staff who love them will never change. Thank you for your support and love. I never take it for granted.
Thank you, Ms. Fox. We've talked about this a lot the past few days, so I'm not in shock, although I think some people were probably surprised to hear that today and we have several more meetings like you said so this isn't goodbye tonight board just miss Fox and I had talked about it and there are several plans so plays that we could move forward things that we have to do or don't have to do and so we do have lots of meetings to be able to talk about it and we'll we'll do that my initial plan would probably have board leadership meet this week maybe maybe kind of come up with a recommendation and then present that to everybody. It'll be on agenda in one of the future meetings we can talk about. So, yeah, thank you, Ms. Fox. So, speaking of the four meetings in August,
11. Future Meetings
there will be a special board meeting for team building on Saturday, August 8, 2026. The board will have a work-study meeting on Monday, August 17, 2026. The regular board meeting will be on Monday, August 24, 2026. And finally, there will be a special board meeting for strategic planning on Monday, August 31, 2026. And so, there being no further business before the board, this meeting is adjourned and the time is 921 p.m.
Official documents
About the underlying data (6 notes)
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Motions and votes
Recorded actions
MOTION 001 · AGENDA 9.1
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the renewal for Workers Compensation Excess Reinsurance for the period September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027 as presented by Midwest Casualty.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 002 · AGENDA 9.2
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the claims administration program by Texas Association of School Boards Risk Management Fund for the period 9/1/2026 to 8/31/2027.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 003 · AGENDA 9.3
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the 2026-2027 Professional Development Plan.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 004 · AGENDA 9.4
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's May 2026 financial statements.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 005 · AGENDA 9.5
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the publishing of the Notice of Public Meeting to discuss Budget and Proposed Tax Rate, with a Maintenance and Operations Tax Rate and an Interest and Sinking Tax Rate. Rates will be determined based on Truth in Taxation calculations which utilize property value information to be provided by Harris, Fort Bend, and Waller Counties.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 006 · AGENDA 9.6
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the District's July 2026 budget amendments.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 007 · AGENDA 9.7
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the purchase of white fleet, police vehicles, field turf, track repairs and replacement, and audio-visual replacement equipment.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 008 · AGENDA 9.8
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the renewal of the 2026-2027 UIL Student Accident Insurance proposal for UIL events as well as catastrophic coverage as proposed by Greater East Texas Agency.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 009 · AGENDA 9.9
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the Voluntary Benefit Products for Plan Year 2027.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 010 · AGENDA 9.10
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the 2026-2027 Discipline Management Plan and Student Code of Conduct.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 011 · AGENDA 9.11
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves naming a portion of a facility at Katy High School in honor of Kalum Haack as Kalum Haack Softball Field.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 012 · AGENDA 9.12
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the contracts for the replacement of the Building Management Control System (BMCS) at Paetow High School to Unify Energy Solutions, LLC, utilizing TIPS No. 25010502 in the amount of $2,995,000 and Stockdick Junior High School in the amount of $1,045,000 with the total project cost not to exceed $4,664,400.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 013 · AGENDA 9.13
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards a contract to Anslow-Bryant Construction, Ltd., for the construction of the new Opportunity Awareness Center in the amount of $10,224,842 and approves the total project cost not to exceed $11,788,333.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 014 · AGENDA 9.14
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves Amendment One to The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company contract related to the renovations and additions to the Maintenance buildings located at Central Maintenance, Lester Reinecker II East Transportation, Anna Baker West Transportation, and Cyndy Self South Transportation for the Guaranteed Maximum Price of $1,676,013.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 015 · AGENDA 9.15
PassedIt is recommended the Board of Trustees approve of the launch of the District's Virtual High School for the 2026–2027 school year under Chapter 30B of the Texas Education Code and authorize for the Superintendent or designee to submit all required documentation to the Texas Education Agency in support of the District's virtual school application.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 016 · AGENDA 9.16
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves of compliance with Senate Bill 12 requirements.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 017 · AGENDA 9.17
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve of Alief ISD Trustee Ann Williams to be nominated for the vacant position of TASB Region 4, Position B, on the TASB Board of Directors.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 018 · AGENDA 9.18
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve endorsement of Lance Redmon as delegate and James Cross as alternate delegate to the 2026 Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Delegate Assembly.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 019 · AGENDA 9.19
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the acquisition of new library books.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 020 · AGENDA 9.20
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees awards CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC a blanket electrical easement associated with the construction of Elementary School #49 as depicted in the attached easement document.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 021 · AGENDA 9.21
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve of the minutes for the June Board meetings.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |
MOTION 022 · AGENDA 9.22
PassedIt is recommended that the Board of Trustees approves the Interlocal Agreement with Fort Bend County Municipal Utility District No. 172 and Katy Independent School District to construct playground equipment at James E. Randolph Elementary School.
7 Yes · 0 No
| Trustee | Vote |
|---|---|
| cicely-taylor | Yes |
| dawn-champagne | Yes |
| james-cross | Yes |
| jim-davidson | Yes |
| lance-redmon | Yes |
| nathan-shipley | Yes |
| rebecca-fox | Yes |