Alright. Good afternoon. We'll call this regular meeting of the Carroll ISD Board of Trustees to order on 02/24/2025 at 5PM. First agenda item is executive session. Therefore, we will adjourn to executive session in accordance with Texas government code 551.071, five hundred and 50 one point zero seven two, five hundred and 50 one point zero seven four, five hundred and 50 one point zero seven six, five hundred and 50 one point zero eight two one at 5PM. Alright. Good evening, everyone. We will call this meeting back to order at 6PM.
Our next agenda item is the opening prayer, pledges of allegiance, and moment of silence. Will you all please rise? Dear Lord, we come before you tonight with grateful hearts, seeking your wisdom and guidance as we gather for this meeting. We thank you for the privilege of serving our students, teachers, staff, and community, and we ask that you bless the work before us. Lord, we especially lift up those we recognize this evening, our teachers, substitutes, and employees of the month who dedicate themselves to shaping young minds and fostering a
love of learning. May they continue to find joy and fulfillment in their work, and may we always support and appreciate their efforts. We also celebrate the achievements of our student athletes whose hard work, discipline, and perseverance inspire us all. May they continue to grow not only in skill, but also in character, using their talents to uplift and encourage others. Father, we ask for your presence to be with us in all that we do. Grant us wisdom in our discussions, unity in our decisions,
and a spirit of service that honors you and benefits every student and staff member in our district. It's in Jesus Christ's name that we pray. Amen. Amen. Miss Wagner? Yes, sir. Good evening, doctor Glenn and school board, mister Bryan. I have three great kids here to lead the pledges. Hi. My name is Carson. I'm in fourth grade, and my favorite subjects is language arts. Hi. My name is Knox. I'm in fourth grade, and my favorite subject is math. Hi. My name is hi.
My name is Nixon, and my favorite subject is reading, and I'm in kinder. Please stand and join us for our pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag and The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, one visible with liberty and justice for all. Texas flag, honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to the Texas, one state under God, one indivisible. Please remain standing for a moment of silence.
You may be seated. All right. Thank you very much. Great job, students. Alright. The next agenda item is public comments. There are two speakers signed up tonight, so we'll give each speaker three minutes. Miss Yelton, will you please call our first speaker? Our first speaker this evening is mister Glenn Davidson. Good evening, folks. So, I just wanna speak briefly. I'm not gonna take away anything from Doctor. Glenn, who's going to talk about the BRAC readout, but I do want to talk a little bit about my experience. I'm a twenty five year resident of Southlake, raised two dragon daughters.
They graduated in 'three and 'four. I do substitute teaching in the district. I focus at the high school and at the senior high school. I just don't have that calling for the little kids just at this point. I I wanna say, you know, I've been in the district a long time, and I've watched the changes that have taken place over the last three years. I want I wanna just tell you how thankful I am for your focus on financial management. We look at the other school districts around us, they're they're struggling. I feel uplifted and confident that we are going to get through this,
this challenge that we have. I volunteered for and was selected to join the budget reduction advisory committee. I led one of the working groups, and lead is maybe too strong a word, but I was just kind of the person at the table that tried to keep things going. I want to talk a little bit about what I observed in the process, so that the community can get a sense that this was a real well run process. Sorry, I'm about to lose my voice. You know, we got educated on the funding process for Texas public schools,
and it was an eye opener for me. I had no understanding of the Byzantine nature of the way that monies are managed for the public school system. In particular, you know, the basic allotment on the m and o side, the tier two, funding that unfortunately is pretty grossly underfunded for those of us here. There was open sharing of the district's information to help us understand the realities that we're facing in terms of demographics and so forth. I really appreciated that.
There were no bad ideas. Cam, you did a good job of making sure that everyone felt included and that we were open to to talk about, you know, the topics. And there were multiple stakeholder groups. We had the community, the teachers, we had administrators, we had the PTOs represented as well as even board members. And from all that, I just wanna say that I'm completely supportive of what we're going to hear this evening in terms of the recommendations that you, doctor Glenn, are gonna share with us. And I thank you for the time. Thank you, mister Davidson. The next speaker this evening is Tim Schutz.
Hi. My name is Tim Schutz. I've been in Southlake for forty years, seen the school district grow, and I'm glad to be back about talking about cell phones in our school for the third time. Seriously. Nine to tenth grade particularly is important. Restructure restricting cell phones in your classroom has been widely supported by research, improving focus, attention, higher academic performance, better social interactivity, communication skills, reduce cheating and academic dishonesty, and decrease anxiety and improve mental health. No surprise. This is to name just a few of the benefits that we have.
In fact, a Harvard professor I heard today on the radio restricted his students in the class. They pushed back. At the end of the year, They said it was the best thing he could have ever done. I think wait until eight, which we had a presentation last week and hopefully some of you went to, is a great idea. Now what do we do at ninth? If in fact we in fact, I think our school district should look very hard at that in adopting their program through eighth, but now what do we do for nine and twelve? Let's be serious. Our restrictions are fairly weak.
The policy based in our book, checking time here, okay, permits electronic devices accessible in class except for limited instruction purposes determined by the teacher you cannot use cell phones. Who's monitoring the teachers? I don't blame the teachers. It's very difficult for the teacher to be enforcing a rule when other teachers may or may not enforce it. In fact, it's an escape out. In fact, many teachers say once you finish your work and we got long periods, you can get on your phone. Doesn't work. I'd be interested in how many times we've had a $15 fee when we confiscate.
That's in the policy. We could solve maybe our financial issue if we really enforce the $15 fee. Since August, the last time I was speaking here, I visited the high school and the senior high. I was there last week, saw the phone racks empty, people picking up their phone. That's not working. My recommendation, I would like to suggest the board create a work group of of parents, teachers, and administrators to work towards a more realistic approach for phone use. I know it's not fun. The impact to our children is, so I suggest we do that.
I'd like the board to step up to that. Once again, I'd say when my daughter comes home and says, what happened to my phone at school, we will have been successful. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sheets. I think everybody on the board agrees with you. Okay. Let's move on to item number five, recognitions. We have quite a bit of recognitions tonight, and we'll start with item number 5.1, Special Olympics Unified Cheer Team, State Champions. And I think Ms. Glick, you're gonna introduce our speaker. Good evening, President Bryan and trustees. I have the privilege today of introducing the Special Olympics Unified Cheer Team.
This year marks a significant milestone for them, their first year competing as a unified squad. Not only did they step into the competition floor with skill and enthusiasm, but they also achieved the highest honor first place at the competition. This team has shown incredible dedication and growth. They've worked tirelessly and their efforts have paid off. I'm proud to share that their team points increased significantly from last year to this year's competition. This is demonstrating their commitment to excellence and their amazing progress. This team truly embodies the spirit of teamwork and the belief in each other.
I would like to also honor the coaches that have encouraged and positively impacted these athletes. Ashley Poteet, Special Olympics head of delegation, couldn't be with us tonight, but she leads this group. Our Special Olympic coaches, Sarah Keenan, Kelly Keenan. Yes. Robin Gondek, who couldn't be with us tonight. We'll give her a round of applause, Kim. And our volunteer coaches, Chloe Tracy, Victoria Heffington, Jaden Free, and Dionella Peterson. So Chloe is going to introduce these athletes, and I offer, congratulations to this wonderful group. Alright. I'll start with our athletes that are here tonight.
First, Arjun Pulley. And Jackson Mahon. McKenzie Schafer, Dylan Garcia, Ariel Abraham, Lori Schafer, Aidy LaVreda. Yay. Congratulations, everyone. You guys worked so hard. Good job. All right. Our next item is, and I don't know if everybody knows this or not, for the last year and a half, we have been recognizing a campus of the month. And we've asked the principals to bring in students with special talents or tell us about the history of the campus. And this is our second go around and it's been super successful and we're so
excited. This month, we are celebrating Carroll Elementary School. Miss Waggan, take it away. Good evening. Again, I'm gonna ask the, children to get in place, and I'm gonna talk about it for just a little second about what they're getting ready to do. I will tell you guys that when strategic plan, goal one, objective four, I believe, put this in place several years ago that I was like, really? At an elementary level? Okay. We'll see. And then I went to their Christmas concert in December, and I was blown away with what they could do after such,
like, two and a half months of learning their instruments. And this is Stephanie Rojas from Rojas Music. She's gonna come up and tell you a little bit about what the students are gonna do this evening. Thank you so much for having us. I am Stephanie Rojas. I'm the director of Rojas School of Music. We are so excited to be at Carroll ISD this year. Thank you guys for having us. These students and families have been amazing, so I wanna say thank you for all of your support. We're going to be playing just two short things for you all today to demonstrate our beautiful bow skills, and then we're going to perform Twinkle,
Twinkle Little Star. That was great. I think they got louder applause than the jazz band did last month. All right. We're going to move on to item number 5.3, Inspire Excellent Teachers of the Month. I think first up is Mr. Holiday. That's not for me. Thank you to all the JES families and staff that are here tonight supporting Mrs. Blair tonight. So good evening Doctor. Glenn, Mr. Brian, Board of Trustees and the District Leadership Team. It's both an honor and a privilege tonight to introduce this month's Elementary Inspire excellent recipient, Johnson Elementary's very own Mrs.
Allison Blair. As you can tell, she's very well loved on our campus. So she's a dedicated and exceptional third grade, ring language arts teacher on our campus. This award celebrates educator educators who go above and beyond, embodying the Dragon standard of excellence by inspiring their students, their colleagues, and then our community, the CISD community. When I think of the qualities that define this recognition, Miss Blair absolutely exemplifies every single one of those. She understands that connecting with the student's heart is the key to unlocking their mind. She's intentional, genuine and unwavering in her commitment to building meaningful relationships with their students both inside
and outside the classroom. Her impact extends far beyond academics. She's a mentor, a supporter and a champion for every child she teaches. And also she's a team leader, for our third grade team. And she does all those same things, for our staff and our administration, all while raising two wonderful children and being an amazing mom. She also brings cookies and other baked goods. It's what she's most known for and the kids even know it. So if you're over our campus ever and you walk down the fourth grade hallway, third grade hallway and you see Tupperware clear Tupperware box,
it's not. It's something you'll wanna try. So her dedication to our our students is best reflected in the words of the, of the couple of people that nominated her for this honor. A parent shared with me that miss Blair has been a life changing presence in both of my children's education. First with my older child and now with my younger one who has truly thrived under her care. Thanks to her keen insight, my child was diagnosed with dyslexia early allowing us to seek the necessary support. Even before formal interventions began, Mrs. Blair was already working closely with my child, building confidence and essential skills in her.
Her dedication, advocacy and ability to balance high academic expectations with encouragement have made an immeasurable impact. She represents the very best in education. I hope she knows just how much she means to our family and so many others as well. And it just so happens I was putting this together today and I got another email from a parent about Mrs. Blair. So I thought I would share that as well. So we feel incredibly fortunate to have such inspiring educators in our children's lives. Yesterday, our daughter had her cheer show off in Grapevine and there was Mrs. Blair cheering her on.
She's gone above and beyond for our daughter this year recognizing her needs and reigniting her love of learning. She sees her for who she is and is her biggest supporter every day in the classroom. Her passion for teaching and inspiring children is simply unmatched and we're greatly, deeply grateful. And then the last thing is I asked a couple of her students today, to describe her in their own words. 99% of it was awesome. No, I'm just kidding. Just kidding. A hundred and five percent was. They said things like this, inspiring, positive, kind, encouraging, dedicated. And then my favorite of all was that that I had several kids tell me
that she loves us. And to me that's that that says it all about her. So it's a privilege to serve this community alongside outstanding educators, alongside outstanding educators like Mrs. Blair. She's an exceptional teacher, an aspiring role model and a true difference maker in the lives of her students. We thank you for all you do, Mrs. Blair. Congratulations, Ms. Blair. Okay. Ms. Bynhoff, you're up. Okay. Good evening, doctor Glenn and board of trustees. I'm excited to recognize an exceptional member of our Carroll High School family, for February's Inspire Excellence Award.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's Mrs. Yushen Lee. Come on up here, Yushen. Yushen teaches Mandarin Chinese at Carroll High School. Mandarin is no small task. It's one of the most complex like complex languages in the world. But Mrs. Lee has a may of waking it not only accessible, but genuinely enjoyable for all of her students. Through creative lessons that start with Chinese calisthenics. Yes, come in and see those. Those are pretty fun. Cultural experiences like visiting Asian grocery stores and a welcoming classroom environment, Mrs. Lee inspires students to embrace both the language and the rich culture behind it.
The enthusiasm and progress we've seen among students are a direct reflection of missus Lee's dedication. It's educators like missus Lee who remind us how a powerful great teaching can be, not just in academics, but in shaping confident, globally minded learners. One of missus Lee's own students wrote, I've never been I've excuse me. I would have never passed, let alone learn to speak Mandarin without missus Lee's guidance. She is deeply committed to her student success, going above and beyond to ensure no one falls behind. If you're struggling,
she doesn't just suggest extra help. Nope. Missus Lee, she personally encourages you to attend after school tutorials with her, making sure that you have the support needed to catch up and excel. Her dedication and persistence make us all the difference in mastering such a challenging language. So missus Lee, thank you. And she also said she would be up here doing her, dragon dance by herself tonight. So, let me just do you wanna so thank you, Mrs. Lee, for being such a crucial part of our Carroll High School family. Congratulations,
Ms. Lee. Okay. Next up is our, employee of the month, Ms. Shetler. All right. Good evening, Doctor. Glenn, President Bryan and esteemed trustees. I am pleased to announce that Ms. Amber Brabham, the EIS paraprofessional has been selected as the CISD Inspire Excellence Employee of the Month. This recognition is well deserved and I'm truly excited to celebrate her achievements. Amber was nominated by a parent who expressed Amber goes above and beyond every day to make Eubanks a better place for students and visitors alike. Beyond her role as a campus secretary,
she dedicates countless hours to enhancing the school environment, whether painting the front office to create a more welcoming space or founding the EIS Kindness Club to foster compassion and awareness amongst students. Though officially part time, her passion and commitment extend far beyond her work hours, making a lasting impact on the school community. Employees like Amber, who pour their hearts in creating a better experience for every student are truly rare and deserving of recognition. And I can personally say and vouch for Amber's dedication. Over the past two years,
her commitment to our campus has been evident in everything that she does. She frequently approaches me with innovative ideas, sometimes I have to say, not right now. But she loves to engage our students and cultivate a positive culture. It's an honor to recognize her contributions to Eubanks. Amber, thank you for your unwavering passion and commitment to every student at Eubanks. Your efforts are truly inspiring and I'm proud to honor you as the Inspire Excellence employee of the month. Congratulations. Alright. Last up is our super substitute of the month, miss Wagner. Alright. Hello again.
Alright. I would like to introduce and tell you how thrilled we are to, name miss Leanne Capel as our super sub for Carroll Elementary. Leanne is a proud Carroll ISD graduated graduate and dedicated Dragon parent. Leanne's roots, run very deep in our community. And with all three of her children currently attending Carroll ISD schools and, I must say, Carroll Elementary as well. She has been a valued part of our Dragon family. And as a former Johnson Elementary teacher, Leanne brings a wealth of experience,
passion, and care to every classroom that she steps into. This year, she went above and beyond by stepping in as a long term kindergarten substitute from September through December. So you all know what those babies look like in September, right? And she did an amazing job with that. She was providing them stability and support for our youngest learners. And when the need arose, she didn't hesitate to extend her assignment through January. So she thought she was going out in November, and she stayed until, the January. So, she is, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to our students and staff.
When asked, her students describe missus Capel as funny, kind, and help them learn, read, and do their work. They said she takes care of them and that she is cool. One even said I love her. Debbie Sheffield, who's in the audience with the kindergarten team, said that she was a true blessing, when she found out that Leanne was able to keep and then extend that that substitute role as well. Joining her this evening and helping celebrate Leanne are her children, Cameron and Landry back there, and then Carson was one of our pledges up here.
Chance is her husband's not able to be here with us, but he is also a Carroll ISD graduate, pitched for the baseball team, pitched for a team I love in College Station. And, and so he he supports her and everything. And then you might know her mom who's sitting right here. I know miss Lewis is somewhere in the audience, and she is miss Lewis' secondhand, person, and that is Debbie Thomas. So as you can see, she runs very deep in Carroll ISD. I've got the kindergarten team here as well, and she is just a really a true,
true Dragon. Leanne's dedication and willingness to serve whenever was needed make her an invaluable part of our district, and we are so grateful for your contributions and the lasting impact that you made on her. Congratulations. Okay. All right. Congratulations, everyone. Next up is item 5.6, our Texas Boys Cross Country Gatorade Player of the Year. Coach Leonard, are you here? There he is. Come on up. Come on up, Caden. Thank you for having us, Sal. We really, really appreciate it. It's, it's an honor to come and and do this, Gatorade,
cross country runner of the year. Gatorade in each sports nominates the state each state's top, athlete from every single sport. And for cross country this year, Caden actually received, the Gatorade award again for back to back years. So Caden had a phenomenal, junior season. Caden was back to back state champion, and he went on and won Nike regionals and then got third place at the Nike cross national meet, this year. And really, really proud of of Caden and everything that he's accomplished this year. But I know, without a shadow of a doubt,
if you ask him, the most important thing for him is representing his team because he knows that none of this individual accolades would take place by himself. So he's very, very motivated to help the team out, and the team helps him out. So I always tell the kids all the time, the worst thing that you can have as a team is just one great individual. You have to have someone constantly push you, so they constantly push him. One thing that me and Nikki are really proud of is Kaiden was born a dragon. The first ever outfit he ever had was a dragon onesie. And,
he's been to every state cross country meet since birth. So he's never missed the state cross country meet. So he's a dragon through and through, and so I know he loves to represent that. And I will say this, and I say it every time. You hear a lot of negative stuff about education right now and about our schools. Our school at Carroll is the best in the entire nation, and I stand behind that. We have great administrators. Our principals are outstanding. I'm really biased to one middle school principal, but our high school principals, our middle school principals, our school board, our superintendent,
our athletic directors, everybody here in this place is phenomenal, and it's an honor to work with them. And Kaden gets to reap the benefits of everything that y'all do. So, thank you very much for having him, and, we get one more year. So Yeah. So next on the agenda, our wrestling teams had an awesome year. We had two state champions, and they finished really well at state. I'm gonna call on coach Hathaway. Coach Hathaway? Thank you for having us out tonight. We had an awesome, awesome wrestling season boys and girls side, and we've got some of our wrestlers, that made state tournament,
and wanna introduce them. We've got, we'll start with, our we had two state champions. Go ahead and you guys come over here. Dylan Dylan Oda. The one is, second state championship at 01/2006, this year, so second state championship. And Cajun Ciraki, won his first state championship, at 01:32 or 01:38. The the first the first time we've had two state champions, in one year's in the program's history. So pretty exciting. Alright. That's awesome. As Cora Hayes took fifth at one thirty two. The girls? Yes. That's Cora Hayes.
And Luke Berger, took fifth at one fifty. And Carson Oda was a, is now Carson, come on up. This Carson made his second trip to the state tournament, and had an awesome season this year. Was, the district outstanding wrestler, and had a great great, finals run at at regionals, and then, like I said, make it a second second trip to the state tournament. And then, Robert So to, who, as a freshman made a huge impact on the team this year, came out, was a, a district champion, wrestled really tough at regionals and then made the state tournament and,
made the, the round right before placing at state tournament as a freshman. It was pretty pretty, impressive. So, awesome season for Rob. And Grace Jost, she, was a state alternate this year, did a great job, made the finals of districts, and was a was an alternate and tough way to, the state tournament. The boys on the boys' side, they're runner-up at, the district champs, runner-up at, regionals, and then took fourth at the state tournament. And we've got all but, all but one in the group is coming back next year, so we're excited to be back around, this time next year. Congrats,
coach. All right, next up, item 5.8 is our Career and Technical Student Organizations. Ms. Goodman? Good evening. My name is Tristan Tsai, Carroll Decker's vice president. February is Career and Technical Education Month, a time to celebrate and recognize the incredible value that CTE education has to our shaping our workforce and empowering individuals. Our CT pathways here at Carroll provides our students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a wide variety of different high demand careers such as healthcare, engineering, IT,
business and hospitality. Hello. My name is Ishamagu, the regional president of Carroll's Business Professionals of America. The importance of CTE has never been more evident than it is today. With industries rapidly evolving and technology advancing, the need for a highly skilled workforce is crucial. CTE programs not only offer hands on learning experiences, but also helps students earn industry recognized certifications that prepare them for higher paying jobs right out of high school. But it's not just about jobs. CTE offers opportunities for personal growth, confidence, and a sense of purpose. It gives students the tools to thrive in a competitive world,
whether they're heading straight for the workforce, pursuing higher education, or starting businesses of their own. My name is Arnoff Caccuralla with Future Business Leaders of America. Hello. My name is Avery Fraser, Carol's HOSA president. Throughout CTE month, we not only highlight the importance of career and technical education, but also the dedication of our career and technical student organizations. These organizations like DECA, HOSA, BPA, FBLA, FCCLA, and FFA offer students a platform to enhance their leadership, teamwork, and problem solving skills, key traits that will serve them throughout their life. CTE and CTSOs work together to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real world
application, empowering students to succeed in a wide range of industries. But by fostering both technical skills and soft skills, they prepare the next generation of professionals, entrepreneurs, and innovators. My name is Kavya Trahan, president of Family, Careers, and Community Leaders of America. So during this month, we have on honored to recognize our teachers, our administrators, our professionals that make CTE a powerful force within our district. We want to thank you, the board of trustees, superintendent doctor Glenn, and all of our CISD staff for their continued support and advocacy for our CTE
programs, ensuring that the future generations are prepared for success in our ever changing world. And we do thank you so much for your support. Happy CTE month. Thank you, Ms. Goodman. Super excited to introduce this next group, our state champions, the robotics team, Ms. Schwedler. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much. Perfect. Yeah. For sure. Alright. So we have this team here, seventy one ten h. And here, guys, face this way. About a month ago, this team, won state championship at the six a UIL tournament.
And it was an exciting this was especially exciting because VEX robotics has been in the process of becoming officially UIL for many years. I think it's I went back I think it started in 2018 or 2019 was when the process first started. And then it took a long time because there's a pandemic and all of these things, and it just took a while for us to be, like, actually UIL. And we I had spoken with administrations, like, just be patient. Like, we're good at VEX robotics, and one day we're gonna be UIL. So for the past several years, it was, pilot UIL, and we had our teams winning the championship.
But then this year, for the first time in Carroll ISD history, these team our robotics teams were able to contribute to the Lone Star Cup. So we were excited about that. And this team of outstanding students is going to be competing this weekend at the regional tournament. So we have the UIL tournament, but then there's also the VEX robotics World Championship, which is a very big exciting global event that our teams have have competed in every year. And this this weekend is the regional tournament and it's at that tournament that the teams will be competing for a spot at the world championship.
So we're wishing them luck this weekend and hoping that they're gonna, reach that milestone as well. And they did bring the controller. So if you wanna if they want you to if you wanna see it, drive it around, they can do that as well. So it's great when the recognitions take about half of our meeting, right? Things are good. Things are good. Okay. Let's move on to item number six, consideration and possible action on any matters addressed in executive session. We're going to swap oh, I missed one. I'm sorry. Here you are and I'm just like
We're going to put you on we'll put you on at midnight, okay? I'm kidding. Every month we recognize, one of our booster clubs, and we're so appreciative of every single one of them, knowing that they have to offset some of the shortfalls in our budgets. So this month, we are going to recognize the Dragon Cheer Booster Club and we're very so we're so appreciative of them. Ms. Gunterman, who's going to present? Yes? Okay. Tell us all about the Dragon Cheer. Well, President Brian, Doctor.
Glenn, trustees, thank you for inviting us and letting us take a number little of your time to talk about what we do. So our purpose is to help support cheer, and primarily we were formed to help competitive cheer become a part of the program. So we promote school unity, school spirit, school sportsmanship. We, promote their participating adventure competitions. We try to encourage them to be student leaders and to be involved in charitable works throughout the year. And then we are here to make the money to help all that stuff happen.
So, currently, our board, you have myself, Alison Sarver is our president of programs. Kelly Binkett is our president of fundraising and sponsorships. Wendy Lang is our president, vice president of marketing publicity. Tina McFarland is our treasurer. Shana Hines is our secretary, and then Susan Hiring is our parliamentarian. And I'm very grateful for all of them. Our sponsors and coaches. Stephanie Fuller is our new varsity sponsor. She came in this year. We've been, in quite a bit of transition this year, and we are extremely grateful for her coming in arms wide open,
embracing all of our girls, learning all about the program. Doctor Meredith Davis is our other varsity sponsor. We are very grateful that she stayed with us and helped Stephanie learn the ropes. Courtney Kidwell is our varsity sponsor I mean, our varsity coach. She's a contract employee. She is a joint employee of the district in ours. We raise the money to pay her. And then with JV, we have gender for Wunderlich who I think all true would fall apart if her constant stayed presence wasn't with us.
We've been very, very grateful for her this year. Liz Dean is our other JV sponsor, and then Rachel Johnson is our JV sponsor in middle I mean, our JV and middle school coach. She is the other contract employee that we help fund her position. So fundraising, we collect dues from our members, but these are never enough to cover all of our expenses. So we also raise money throughout the year through our summer youth clinic, cash sponsorships, in kind sponsorships. And then this past year, our youth clinic didn't do as well as it had in the past, so we did an urgent T shirt sale.
So but we actually are, I think, fairly successful fundraising organization, raising close to a hundred thousand and over a hundred thousand depending on the year. Where do we spend our money? The bulk of our money goes to coaches' salaries, choreography fees. We also pay for all the competitions with the exception of UIL. And this year, we competed in three additional competitions. We pay for team bonding events, food and snacks for games and competitions, sponsor wish lists, coaches' wish lists, mats, speakers,
things like that, and then banquet and other things that the girls enjoy. It is a huge goal of ours to grow Dragon Cheer into kind of the tradition of excellence and competitive cheer that we have other competitive programs see year after year. Part of our way of doing that was starting the Dragon Showcase. We always had, like, a show off when we get ready to compete just so the girls can show their families what they've been working on, try to get the bugs out,
get a little of the anxiety about being in front of other people. But last year, we decided let's make it a celebration of all Dragon Cheer. And so we have Dragon Youth Cheer come. We have the Unified Team come. We have middle schools and then the JV in high school, all there performing. And we use it as an opportunity to raise funds for St. Jude's. Anytime you can put good in the world, we wanna teach the girls you should do that. So in this past year, with the the door sales and some other funds, we were able to donate $2,000
to St. Jude's. So we're very proud of that. And then competition. Dragon Cheer has made it to the UIL finals. Every year, we have competed at UIL, and we placed second at UIL in 2022. Our performance at UIL contributes to the Lone Star Cup. So, we also compete at the NCA, National Cheerleading Association Nationals for High School Cheer. This is a nationwide competition. We've done this for the last four years. We won the national title in 2023, and we finished in the winner's circle two other times with the bronze medal in
2022 and in 2025. So how can you help? Help us and our sponsors in growing the Dragon Cheer program. Help us realize our dream of becoming competitive excellence. One of the ways that you can help us in doing that is the earlier we can start training the girls in competition cheer, the better we will do. It would be awesome to start that in the middle schools. So help us identify gym space for the middle school practices because one of them does not have gym space, and extra space that where that we as a competition team can use when we
need to practice outside of our block. Because the teams we compete against practice before school, after school in their blocks. They start many of them start competing in middle school. As long as this building is still a part of CASC, we would love to bring an extra set of mats here, a practice is here, or if there's another place that we might be able to do that, perhaps at elementary school gym or somewhere, we would be open to that. Right now, we take the one middle school to a private gym and have them practice there. That space is donated, but we'd love to have a set space,
because mats are hard to move. Also, we would love that cheerleading be recognized as a competitive sport. And so in that meaning that when we are going through the process of selecting a new team, having tryouts for a new team, that that that process be a fair recruitment process that secures the best athletes because they have gone through a rigorous trial process. They have met certain skills and that those who don't have those skills are cut from the team. They don't just get put on the team because it's a team to be on.
And that we, one of the things that we'd like to point out is that at the sideline, we compete in game day. So what we do on the sidelines is part of what we do when we compete. So the sideline is not just there for school, enjoyment and excitement and team unity. It's also there for us to practice the skill set that we need to practice to compete. And so it's really important that everybody who is on the sidelines with us can do the basic skills that we need to do safely. So that's one ask. The other one is help us find access for our football pole run through poles
at the stadium because a large part of our sponsor's budget is actually spent just to bust those back and forth from the school to the stadium and back. So because the cheerleaders in the high school level really don't need a bus to get to the stadium, but we need a bus for the polls. So, let's see. Support our business sponsors. Like our post that recognize them, visit their businesses, and thank them personally supporting Dragon Cheer and all of Dragon Nation. Our businesses get asked by a lot of booster clubs to sponsor and donate cash
and cash in kind, and we are extremely grateful to this community. And we just wanted to give them some love whenever we can and tell them thank you. And then consider being a business sponsor or making a donation. We have a little QR code and any amount is appreciated. You can sell it right to us. So and then here's our brochure and there's that QR code. So thank you. All right. That's awesome. Can you go back two slides, please? Yes. So, we appreciate you guys being here. We certainly, I mean, I certainly support anything that we can do to build Girls' Athletes programs at Carroll ISD and certainly competitive cheer is one of them.
And I'm really happy to hear that you guys are teaming up with Dragon Youth Cheer. I've been involved with Dragon Youth Football for a long, long time. And I appreciated when, Coach Dodge came in and really embraced Dragon Youth Football as a feeder program and would like to recognize, that Dragon Youth Cheer could still also be a feeder program UIL sport here at Carroll ISD. I'm just curious, as far as gym space, I'm wondering why we don't have enough middle school, gym space. Is that what's the reason for that? Anybody have an answer? Ms. Lewis? No? If you can talk to the mic,
yep. Doctor. Glenn, board of trustees. Hello. Oh, good. I'm here actually to support Brack, but I am always ready to talk about cheer. As a matter of fact, I wanna shout out Victoria Heffington who is our cheer sponsor. I I didn't see her name, but she is fabulous. I actually was talking to PTSO a couple of weeks ago because she has done some phenomenal things at Carroll Middle School. Our squad is phenomenal. You are correct. They do practice before school. If you can remind me of our the lady that comes and helps us. Rachel. Rachel. She's awesome. She does come and help us,
but it's off campus. And they do practice in the morning because we do have our athletics that practices and uses our big gym and our small gym in the morning. So when you're thinking about basketball season, volleyball season, you're right. They are using both of those gyms, to make sure they can get their practice in, and so we kind of share space. We do have space in the other parts of the school. Sometimes they use our sacks. Sometimes they use our, cafeteria. And then actually PTSO just bought us quite a bit of mats. We are getting that approved too. So yes, we,
are talking a lot about what else we can do for them, but they're doing awesome. What's the difference between so you mentioned one middle school had space, one didn't. Does Dawson not have? Is there an extra gym at Dawson? I'll let her have the mic. No. So they our practices have just adjusted to give the kid the girls the time in the gym. So for example, if it's a game day Thursday, then they have scheduled their practices in the game day where we're not using the gyms in the morning for volleyball, and the same thing for basketball. So I don't they were disabled, I guess, worked with the coach on the days if you and they're using it on the
game days and that's where they pull the mats. So would it be helpful for both, squads, middle schools to practice at the same time with each other to learn. And I don't understand I mean, we have gyms here watching what we use. That would be great. Yes. Doctor Glennie here. Yeah. If we could do it here, I think all I think all that is is an ask and it would be granted because they're open. I do know that. Those mats. That'd be awesome. And I do know that our girls do get together. They have, done competitions together and worked together. So I don't think Coach Dodges here, but I would imagine that storing poles at the,
Dragon Stadium is probably not a big lift either. Yeah. So yeah. Can you make that happen? I know I could make it happen. But I've been I've certainly I've certainly just like talking to coach Dodge. Like, that would probably be an email. He's he's pretty accommodating. And so, yeah, I think we can make those those two things are easy to check off. Yes. Awesome. Thank you. We like easy check offs. Right. Well, yes, I mean, we appreciate that. We want to help grow these programs. And we know you guys spend a lot of your hours away from family spending time on this. And so we really appreciate that and want to,
as a board, want to help, in any way we can. So anytime that you have any needs whatsoever, don't hesitate to pick up the phone and call any one of us. We're always accessible, email us, whatever, or call Doctor. Glenn. So we are we're more than happy to, I think that's easy space. Yeah. And we're we're we're looking to fill this space. So that's that's a win. I know is like Can you practice do. We have a couple of areas we can talk about. So that would be awesome. Yeah, we'd love to have you all in this building. Thank you all for being here. We really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right.
Thank you guys for being here, moving on. Now I can move on to item number six, consideration possible action on any matters addressed in executive session. We're going to swap, six point one and six point two. We're going to start with 6.2, which is consider and take possible action on any matters addressed during personnel report. Yes. I move that the Board approve the matters that were recommended to us regarding personnel in executive session. Second. We have a motion and second. All in favor? Motion carries five to zero. Okay. Item 6.1, consider and take possible action on hiring recommendation for deputy superintendent of finance and operations.
Thank you, Mr. President. It's my, pleasure tonight to recommend, Mr. Chase Park as the deputy superintendent for business and finance. Just to kinda highlight a little bit about, mister Park. He was a captain in the United States Army. He is a certified public accountant, public investment officer, and he is registered with the Texas School Business Administrator Association. He was a former auditor for the city of Dallas, the Dallas Independent School District, and currently is the director of finance for Highland Park Independent School District.
He got his bachelor's degree at Emory University, his master's degree at Macomb School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He was a CPA track, and he was four years United States military ROTC recipient at Georgia Tech University. And so, we are very fortunate. We had the opportunity to visit multiple times over the last few weeks. Had the opportunity to have lunch last week, with Mr. Park. We were very excited to bring someone with his knowledge, his background, and his beautiful family. His wife, Nya, is with us.
His two daughters have been patient for, the last hour and a half, a, he's a family man. He is a, he is a, fiscal, conservative. He is somebody that's bringing a vast amount of knowledge and experience. And, we're excited, to have him join our leadership team as our deputy superintendent of business and finance. We have a lot of work to do and we know this is the guy that'll get it done. And we are so glad to be stealing him away, from Highland Park and making him a dragon joining the top school district in the state of Texas, Mr. Chase Park. Yeah. Alright. Trustee Yeager. Yeah. Can I get a motion?
I am proud to make the motion that this board approve Mr. Chase Park as the next deputy superintendent of Business and Finance for Carroll ISD. Second. We have a motion second. All in favor? Motion carries five-zero. Congratulations Mr. Park. -Tell you, Chase, for those of you who don't know, calling around for references on Mr. Park, you know, everybody said when you bring him in, he's the smartest guy in the room. And so that's what you want in a CFO is the smartest guy in the room. Even Even though it looks like his daughter's hair is now I tell you. I don't know how that happens.
So that's something that only happened to me. And, and Chase, I'll give you a little advice. This is this is probably the only board meeting you'll get the chance to leave early on. And so, I would take those girls and go celebrate and have dinner. So get out of here. You don't have to say for the rest of the day. I can feel you in on the BRAC stuff. We've already had a chance to talk about it a little bit. Congratulations. Thank you guys. Thank you guys. Thank you for being here, okay. Appreciate your family being here. All right. Exciting times. Item 6.3, we don't have any other items to consider.
So we'll move on to item number seven, which is the President's Report. 7.1, Committee Reports, I know we have a few. Who wants to begin? Trustee Landon? I'll give a quick one. We had a Shack meeting on 02/13, about 12 members present. We always have interesting things to talk about including screen time and some of the things we've talked about tonight. Deborah Warner gave us an update on Alliance for Children. You guys may remember that is the Senate bill on trafficking that we're required to do some training. If anybody is interested in looking it up,
it's Senate Bill nine. Also we talked about Recovery Resources Center, that's Senate Bill 3,908. It's on substance abuse and we do a lot of training in that area. And, the last thing that we got an update on was mental health, specifically trainers that are going to be provided to school districts from MHMR and that's House Bill three. So, lots of good discussion. Thank you, Trustee Landon. Is that Trustee Stacy? Yes. Okay. So Trustee Bottom and I were on all of these together. So we had a district advisory committee meeting on 02/11.
And all that they really discussed there was just getting ready for their I align date with their professional development. And our next meeting is April 1. And then we had a strategic action team meeting for Objective one and four on twofour and then Objective two on twosix. And that actually was just covering as we're going through strategic planning and we're getting into year three, there's a lot of things that have been checked off the list in terms of curriculum, horizontal and vertical alignment and so and our student opportunities. So just sharing what we've accomplished, what's still ongoing, but there's not much ongoing.
Most most everything's been accomplished. And then on 02/11, we had our student and staff wellness committee, which is another strategic action team meeting. And that one actually was great. We really just got to have really great dialogue on professional development, on what our staff really needs now, looking into now that things are horizontally and vertically aligned, especially on the lower levels where we have multiple campuses, really just talking about what does our staff need now. So it's great. Thank you, Trustee Stacy. How often do you guys, have those, strategic planning, meaning? We usually have four a year.
But since we're coming down on things being accomplished, we're looking at one in the fall and one in the spring. Okay. So twice a year? Yes. Okay. Trustees, any other reports? Yes. Trustee Yeager. Technology Committee meeting met on February 11. I'd like to thank Mr. Stewart and his team, Mr. Salazar and the people from the community in the district that attended. We got a strategic plan update. As a reminder people know that we don't have money to buy devices for one on one. And you've heard from this board about various grade levels.
But the Chromebooks for fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, we did have a member from the somebody on the committee who spoke very highly of those that they're working well. And then we just went through some additional strategic plan updates everything from cybersecurity to purchasing processes. It was a good meeting and Mr. Bryan that committee meets once a quarter. Okay. Thank you, Trustee Yeager. Any other reports? Okay. Let's move on to my report. I've got four items that I would like to share with the community, couple of items that I've sent out,
emails briefing the community on, but I'd like to read statements into the record if I can. The first one is on property value studies projections. On 02/03/2025, I received an email from Joe Don Bobbitt, Tarrant Appraisal District TAD, requesting the Carroll ISD Board of Trustees consider passing a resolution asking TAD to reappraise properties within our district. In my statement to the community, I explained that the state requires a district's property values to be at 95% of market value for state funding calculations.
Districts that are lower than the 95 threshold could risk losing some state funding and or pay higher amount in recapture. There are six other school districts in Tarrant County projected to be under the threshold. TAD is currently projecting Carol ISD's property values at 83% of market value. If values become final and are below the threshold, it does not immediately impact our recapture obligations. However, a second consecutive year of not meeting the threshold could lead to the state assigning higher property values potentially increasing the amount of local tax revenue sent to the state
through recapture. While the district does not control property appraisals, we recognize the potential financial impact on our residents and will request TAD to ensure fairness and accuracy in the valuation process. We will not pass a resolution asking TAD to reappraise your properties. This Board and administration remain committed to responsible financial stewardship in protecting our local taxpayer dollars. Next item is our federal judge's ruling on our Title IX challenge.
I am writing on behalf of your Carroll ISD Board of Trustees to inform you of a significant development regarding our district's legal challenge to United States Department of Education's revised interpretation of Title IX. On 02/19/2025, United States District Judge, Reid O'Connor, issued a final judgment in favor of Carroll ISD ruling that the Department of Education's rewrite of Title IX exceeds its statutory authority and undermines the essential protections Title IX
was designed to provide. This decision to vacate the final rule is an important victory, affirming our dedication to maintaining a learning environment where all students can thrive in a safe environment. We are committed to ensuring that Title IX continues to fulfill its foundational promise, which is to prevent any form of discrimination based on sex and education. Our primary concern has always been the safety and well-being of our students, and this ruling reinforces our ability to uphold these values. We thank Judge O'Connor for acknowledging the critical importance of these protections and the potential
consequences the revised interpretation would have imposed. This ruling, which states that the rewrite, quote, undermines the purpose of Title IX, endangers students, and has no basis in reality, end quote, underscores our concerns and validates the rationale behind our challenge. Please know that Carroll ISD will continue to comply fully with federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and make every effort to protect the rights of all our students, while ensuring an environment that supports educational excellence.
I want to take a moment to highlight an important upcoming event for Carroll ISD. Our Advocacy Day in Austin is March 4. On this day, our trustees, district leaders and members of our community will be traveling to Texas capital to meet with legislatures and advocate for key priorities that directly impact our schools and students. Our focus will be on three critical areas. Number one, raising the basic allotment to ensure our schools receive the funding necessary to provide a high quality education. Number two,
recapture reform to bring fairness to the system and allow more of our locally raised tax dollars to stay in Carroll ISD. And number three, fully funding underfunded mandates so that our district is not forced to absorb costs without the necessary state support. I want to extend my sincere appreciation to trustee Renee Bottom for leading this legislative push and for her dedication to ensuring our voices are heard in Austin. Thank you, Renee. I also want to thank the community members who have signed up to join us.
Your willingness to stand alongside us and advocacy is a powerful testament to the commitment of our community has in education. Lastly, I am pleased to share an important legislative development that directly impacts Carroll ISD in school districts across Texas. Representative Nate Schatzline has officially filed a bill to reform recapture, a critical step in addressing the financial burden placed on district like ours. Trustee Andrew Yeager and I had the opportunity to meet with Representative Schatzline, Representative Brian Harrison and their staffs this past week to push for this legislation.
We are grateful for their leadership in recognizing the need for reform and for taking action to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used effectively to support public education. In addition to advocating for this bill, we will also be requesting a forensic audit from the state auditor on recapture. It is essential that we fully understand where our local tax dollars are going and how they are being used. Transparency and accountability in this process are not just necessary, they are owed to every taxpayer in our district.
This is just the beginning of our efforts to bring meaningful change. We will continue working with lawmakers, advocating for fair funding, and ensuring that Carroll ISD and districts across Texas have the resources they need to serve students effectively. Thank you to everyone who has supported this effort, and we encourage our community to stay engaged as we move forward in this fight for fairness in education funding. All right, let's move to the superintendent's report, item number eight. Doctor. Glenn? Thank you, mister president. Happy to report that we did as the district survived the frigid temperatures last week.
I wanna thank, Lainie Moody, who's in the room, also our, director of transportation, mister Bennett, for their efforts. Also a shout out to our emergency management services department at the City of Southlake for providing, detailed updates to our administration, as, as we made it through the the winter weather event. It's always difficult when we're trying to decide whether or not to close schools and, and it's always hard on parents as we try and push out information. So it really helps, when we're able to partner with our city and county to make those decisions. Our administration staff continue to monitor the eighty ninth legislative session.
We're excited to have the opportunity to join trustees and community members in Austin next week. Late last week, our communications department shared a study on the top academic schools in current in Tarrant County. As expected, Carroll ISD was ranked number one for students reading on grade level. Carroll was the only district with a rating in the nineties, while the next closest district had only 77% of students reading on on level. I report that tonight to remind everyone that Carroll ISD continues to be the lowest funded district in the state of Texas while remaining at the top when it comes
to providing the best academic and extracurricular education in our state. Equitable funding matters. While we support the state working to provide funding for low performing schools, we stressed all of our legislators not to forget about the top students. Legislation should focus on lifting all schools up, not bringing the top performers down to the middle of the pack. Just a few congratulations, I was at the state swim meet along with, several other administrators. Congratulations to both the girls and boys team, for advancing the state and,
to our girls for finishing as state runner-up. Also, to show choir finished, for the first time in the top six at the Cowtown Classic on February 15. They'll perform at the Southlake Showdown on March 8. Congratulations to boys and girls basketball. Coach Markley, coach McCourt, they did an outstanding job this season. The boys, in fact, both advanced to the playoffs. The boys actually had their first playoff win in over a decade. 13 of Carroll's nineteen Odyssey of the Mind teams advanced to the world finals, which is a huge,
huge accomplishment. Dragon Cheer took third place at nationals. As mentioned earlier, the barbecue team finished third overall at regional and will head to state in April. Reminder to parents a few things, pre k applications open March 10. The board meeting on March 3 will be moved to March 10. Correct? Mister president. And then, as mentioned earlier, February is CTE month, so be sure to show some love to all of our career and technical education staff. So with that, mister president, I'd also like to read a letter submitted, by the president of the, CABC,
Mitch Stacy. And it reads, president Brian, on behalf of the Carroll Athletic Booster Club and CABC board of directors, I'm riding with some exciting news. After conversations with Ashley Petit, director of Carroll Special Olympics, we are we're made aware of funding needs for the Special Olympics athletes at Carroll ISD. Ashley and her team are doing an amazing job for the Special Dragon athletes, approximately 60 to 70 per season across five sports. The Carroll Athletic Booster Club is proud to announce that we have begun the process
to add the Carroll Special Olympics program under the CABC umbrella and have started raising funds needed to fully support Ashley as a director, her coaches, and all the Carroll Special Olympics athletes going forward. They will have their own chart of accounts as does every sport in CABC. Donations to the Special Olympics program received by the CABC will be used solely for this purpose. Our goal is to provide support and relief through raising funds so Ashley and her team can focus on the athletes,
and the athletes can focus on their sport, their goals as they too protect the tradition. More to come as we work to add Special Olympics to the Dragon app, the website, and support through our social media channels. I wanna thank the CISD board president Cam Bryan as well as all trustees, athletic director Riley Dodge for their complete and unwavering support of the CABC and this initiative to support all Carroll Special Olympian athletes. Again, that's from the CABC Board of Directors and their President,
Mitch Stacy. Thank you, Doctor. Glenn. That is pretty amazing. We have such amazing volunteers and parents in our community that take on this. And we honored some of the Special Olympics, athletes tonight. And the fact that, CABC has taken them under their wings is just truly phenomenal and they're going to do such a great job. We just want to celebrate that and we appreciate President Stacy and his board for taking on this. It's just a blessing that we have people like this in our community that, are willing to go the lengths to make a difference.
And that's what that's what makes Southlake so special and that's what makes our school district, so incredible. So I would like to no, I do want to mention something. If you've never been a judge for the barbecue team, you might want to volunteer. It's very delicious, isn't it, Trustee? Yes, it's very good. Get free food is really, really good. And they're phenomenal too led by our Dragon voice, Mr. Ken Goodman. So before we go on, I guess we're going to move to item nine, which is our information portion of our and median 9.1 is our budget reduction action committee.
And Doctor. Glenn is going to give us final report tonight. And I just want to say thank you to all of our BRAC committee members that are sitting out in the audience and coming to support us tonight. And I know Doctor. Glenn is going to say this, but it was just truly was a phenomenal committee that we met. And I thought really put together pretty solid high level plan that's built on triggers. I'm going to let Doctor. Glenn talk about that. Before I turn it over to Doctor. Glenn, I'm going to say something that all of you all have probably heard me say million times and that is,
it's really unfortunate that we find ourselves in this financial situation that we're in. It's certainly no fault of this board or this district, as we have shown a very high level of fiscal responsibility for many years. In fact, that fiscal responsibility is the reason why we are operating as is today and not having to make major cuts, like many of our neighbors school districts are having to do. But that is not sustainable for the long term. It's just not. We have to have some sort of a plan moving forward.
And we must hope, pray and advocate that our elected officials down in Austin do their job for a change and adequately fund public education, in Texas in this eighty ninth legislative session. To put it in perspective, did you know that Texas ranks forty second in the nation in terms of funding per student at $10,000 per student? As a comparison to our neighbors to the East, Louisiana, they provide $13,700 per student, dollars three thousand seven hundred more than Texas,
Louisiana. How embarrassing. And did you know that Carroll ISD, doctor Glenn mentioned this in his superintendent's report, ranks dead last of approximately 1,200 ISDs in the state of Texas at $8,100 per student, dollars nineteen hundred below the state average. Doctor. Glenn also mentioned, while we rank dead last in funding, we consistently rank at the top in academics and other programs. And that is a true testament to our teachers and staff who incidentally make up
about 80% of our entire budget and salaries. So the BRAC had its work cut out for them. We asked them to consider finding efficiencies in areas we could cut with little to no impact on that 80% or our existing academic programs. So I'll turn it over to Doctor. Glenn now to walk you through how that's going to happen. Doctor. Glenn? Thank you, President Brian. And, I do want to thank our BRAC committee members that are present. I know you guys put in a lot of time. Some of you even,
had meetings on the side, with me and And, I will tell you that, that we know you put in a lot of work, both inside the BRAC meetings and outside to make this plan successful. And we're truly great. And and President Bryan's right. I think ideally, we would we would love to take this, this plan and shelve it somewhere and and not have to use it. But the the truth is that, as we look at at what's happening in the eighty ninth legislative session, as we look at recapture facing our district and we look at enrollment decline, in all likelihood, we are going to have to use,
at least some or all of this plan. First is that as a district, we're fortunate that our trustees well before I came on board have been very proactive in dealing with the funding issues facing the district. We've kept a relatively low tax rate compared to all of our neighbors. The board has done, defeasance year over year, I believe, for the last four years, mister Bryan, ever since you've been on the board, netting right at about a hundred and $60,000,000 in savings, principal and interest. And, and again,
when you're when you come on to a board and you have a lot of debt and you can pay that debt down quickly, what you're doing is you're saving long term interest. Think of it a lot like your home mortgage. If you could pay above and beyond that home mortgage every month, you're gonna end up paying less than you would if you paid that full amortization out over thirty years. And so our board has been great stewards. They've looked at surplus property and put us in a position where we have a healthy fund balance, going into what really is a tumultuous time facing all public school districts in Texas.
And so, as we developed the plan, we, unlike other districts, had the luxury of looking at it over five years, triggered by the next three legislative sessions. So the current session, which would be year one, the eighty ninth session, the ninetieth session in year three, and then the ninety first session, which would be in the 2829 school year. So we look at those legislations, those legislative sessions as triggers. And and again, it's been my experience, just in in two and a half decades of public service that that given time, typically,
the legislature will will always add to and, and adjust, the funding that they give Texas public schools. And so, unfortunately, since 2019, we haven't seen an increase in the basic allotment. But even as we come into '24, '20 '5, where I think there was a little bit of, say negativity, toward what might happen in this session. We are beginning to see movement knowing that even if the funding comes in pockets like special education and security and then a small increase in the basic allotment, we are gonna see some help. It may not be enough to cover our entire deficit in the 89 session,
but we're gonna see some. If we see a little more in the ninetieth session and the ninety first session plus the measures taken by the the BRAC, then then there is the opportunity over the course of this five years to balance our budget out. But But again, these are recommendations by the committee and they're only going to be implemented if necessary. So the fact that the ideas are in this plan does not necessarily mean that we're moving forward with all of them. So as we talk about year one, the fiscal year we're in, you see a lot more information in the first couple of years of the BRAC
plan than what you see in the back half and that's intentional. As we got into our last meeting, I think there was the taste in the room was to not continue to kick the can down the road, but to hit the problem straight on. And so as we said in this year, we know that the district has looked at property sales. They continue to look at additional properties, knowing that those are one time hits. And how can we pivot and, away from from something that is not sustainable long term,
but also take advantage of, the the ability to to sell surplus property now. And then I'll talk about it here in a little bit. How can we take those property sales and use them to the district's advantage? Fees and rentals and donations, the truth is that we're going to continue to massage that. We generate probably between $600,000 and $700,000 in fees, rentals and donations already. So you know is there the potential to increase that by another 15% to 20% absolutely, but is it going to cover the entire deficit? No. And I think that's the theme that you're going to see throughout this plan is
it's not one or two things that are going to solve, but it's going to be compounded by putting all of the, the pieces in place. Fund balance, we know we have a healthy fund balance just over $49,000,000 right now. The consensus of the committee was to use that sparingly. Marketing opportunities, we're gonna continue to market again. The board's super proactive already, signed Methodist Hospital to right at a half million dollar, for over five years, sponsorships. We're gonna continue to market those out. And then enrollment, anytime that we can look at enrollment increases or we can look at attendance,
we need to do that. I think it's been said. I know miss Bottom talks about this a lot when she gives her legislative update. 1% enrollment increase is worth 6 to $700,000 for us. So if we can get kids to come to school and to be at school, that's a lot of money that we can generate. So those are all revenue generating ideas. Again, trying to be as creative as possible, but also note there's cost saving opportunities. Facility efficiencies, we're not super efficient with our buildings right now. We have 79 empty classrooms district wide. Outsourcing and partnerships, we know that there there are opportunities out there and,
and certainly we wanna take advantage, of as many as we can. The, the transportation facility, and and the nutrition facility are listed on this, but I'll tell you, it is probably gonna be difficult for someone to come in and and outsource, like our nutrition program that we do for cost, and they're gonna try and do it for profit. But, but there may be opportunities or, partnerships with the city where we could look at, like, lawn care and maintenance, and there could be synergy there. And so those are ideas that, the board has asked us to delve into. We mentioned a little bit earlier tonight the idea of,
bring your own device, shifting away from the one to one technology, reducing the reliance on district provided technology and then the aquatic center. You know, we continue to explore ways to cut cut costs on on what is essentially a very, very costly item in our district. Again, having just left the state swim meet, we know that we have incredible programs and athletes that use that facility all the time. We want to continue to allow them access, but we have to look at a way that, that we can reduce some of the costs associated with that center. So in year two,
let's say that now we've, gone through the legislative session with with a little bit of help. We've looked at some of the preliminary items. Where are we sitting next year? And again, some options or opportunities that exist. One is a VATRE. We're not saying that that we're gonna call a VATRE, but certainly, I think it is, it is a revenue generating, idea that is on the table. I will tell you that the the temperature in the room was not to raise taxes. So what we're talking about is reinvesting our our current tax rate and shifting pennies
that are on the I and S side of our tax rate over the M and O side. And so for those of you who are not familiar, maybe you're listening online and you're not familiar with how the district tax rate works, it's broken down into two sections, M and O and I and S. Those two sections make up one tax rate. And so the ability does exist for this board to swap pennies from the the I and S side over the M and O side. Why would we do that? We would do it because when that shift is made, they become what is known as golden pennies, which are not subject to recapture. Essentially, that swap helps the district generate what would be just under $4,000,000,
annually, but it does require an election. Cost saving opportunities in year two, the biggest one is rightsizing and then facility efficiencies. So I spoke to facility efficiencies earlier, and and I will tell you that if we roll up currently, we're graduating 722 seniors. That was on snapshot. If we just roll up every class, and then we look at our kindergarten class, and we take just a guess at what we think we're gonna have in kindergarten. Let's pick the number 400. This year, we had 409 at at Snapshot. I think the last five years,
we've decreased in kindergarten enrollment every year. So let's just plug 400 in there. If we do that, we'll have and nobody else moves in, we'll have 322 less students than we do currently. Now, a hundred students essentially if you're doing the short math is a million dollars. So that could be over $3,000,000 less in funding. Now now the good news is, I don't expect us to lose 322 kids because what we do see year over year is kids move into our district. If you go and you look at trends, you'll see that class sizes tend to grow every year all the way up.
And so we add kids. Just doing doing doing a little short math, it almost seems like at every grade level, you could see close to 10. Now when they get in high school, those classes don't move as much. But in grades four, five, six, seven, you do do see a little more movement. So it's not out of the range of possibility that that we add a hundred kids just through transfers into the district. It's not out out of the realm of possibility that that class of 400 kids may be 450 kids. But, but are we gonna make up that deficit of 322 kids next year?
Very unlikely. Very unlikely. And so facility efficiencies, right sizing are important. So if we lose a hundred kids and we're thinking on a a 20 to one student teacher ratio, that means five staff members who leave the district likely aren't replaced. And and that's how we wanna do it. We would wanna do it through attrition. And the good thing is you know just coming in that I think our board has been responsible in trying to do some rightsizing already. But we're definitely going to have to get better at it as we get into year two. So again looking at year three and just reminding everybody that just because it is,
just because it is on, this list does not necessarily mean it's something that has to be implemented. Things continue to change. Now, we have another legislative session. We're gonna wait and see what happens in that legislative session. But we also have the ability to look at short term bonds. Why would we look at a short term bond? Well, we currently invest right at $2,000,000 annually in the M and O side in items that, could be shifted to the I and S side, things like roofs, HVAC units, chillers, boilers, heaters. All of those things could be shifted to the I and S side essentially freeing
up $2,000,000 in M and O revenue. Again, that requires a bond. You have to go to voters. I know that our board president has said this many times. We're not really looking to add more debt, but we do have bond capacity. Our again, our board has been very careful stewards of how they manage the I and S portion of our budget. And there is capacity to have an election without raising the tax rate. And so, essentially, what that would be is a short term bond. You could with our property wealthier, we could do a three year bond and pay it off.
We could do a three year bond for $45,000,000 and have it paid off. So, so not a lot of districts have the luxury of going out and borrowing $45,000,000 and paying it off in in three years, but this is a district that does. And so, so that is one idea. But but, again, it would require, voter approval, and we would certainly wait and see what happened in the ninetieth legislative session before moving forward. And then, again, something, that you're gonna see as a theme, facility efficiencies and right sizing. Again, if we do not figure out this this enrollment decrease, if we continue to plateau.
And eventually, the plateau will stop but it's gonna take pushing some of our larger classes out. If you were to go look at in our our enrollment right now, you're gonna see our largest classes are at the high school level. And so just about every class from twelfth grade to eleventh grade to tenth grade just drops enrollment all the way down. So as as we slowly work our way out of these classes of 700 kids into these classes of about five fifty kids, that's where you're going to see our enrollment kind of stabilize, but it's going to take about five or six years.
So, looking ahead, exploring operational efficiencies, looking at energy management saving opportunities, revenue generating ideas, marketing opportunities, all of those ideas remain on the table. And then again, year four, we've now gone through two legislative sessions. We're continuing to, to right size, continuing to look at revenue generating ideas. Something that that I wanna bring up here is, we're monitoring fund balance at this point. We're using fund balance as needed. The other big point that needs to be made is right now, we're at the ninety fifth percentile of teacher salaries in our area.
Meaning, we're we're we're kind of close to to the market, but we're a little below market. Something that came up over and over again was monitoring what we're paying our teachers and our staff, knowing that where do we want our money invested? Do we want our money invested in empty classrooms or do we want our money invested in the highest paid teachers in the area? And and those are tough decisions that we're gonna have to address if we're not gonna be funded properly by the state, and enrollment continues to to decline. Because you're gonna put your money somewhere. Right now,
we have 79 empty classrooms we're putting our money into. Do we continue that trend if enrollment declines or do we make tough decisions? And I think that's kinda where the brack was, is make the tough decision if you have to, but when you do it, let the community know where the money's being spent. And so whenever I look at, at this point, it, it reminds me that where where I believe our board wants to be and where about I believe the BRAC wanted us to be is at a place where we were paying our teachers not at market level, but above market level. And so when we are are good financial stewards of how we're spending all of
our monies, we're able to do that. So year five, this is where we don't want to be. We don't want to be relying on the, ninety first legislative session to bail us out. We hope that we've taken the appropriate steps to right size, that we've, utilized our facilities efficiently. Earlier, I mentioned, the the land sales and what the district would do with surplus property, something that this board, has talked about if given the opportunity to, to close out on the sale of property, possibly, putting those funds into a high yield account knowing that that sailing selling property,
to to pay off deficits is not a long term solution. But if you could take, those those monies and you could put them into a high yield account and year over year generate an additional 2 and a half, $3,000,000 and put that money towards salaries, then that that's a win for everybody. And that's a that's a good use of resources. And so when we talk about the creativity of selling property, those are items that are on the table, for generating revenue using existing resources. Where we don't want to be in year five is having to exhaust that $49,000,000
fund balance. If we if that's where we're at, we did not do a good job in the first couple of years of implementing this plan. Either that or we lost enrollment at a much higher rate and, and we didn't right size appropriately. So, cost saving opportunities, again, you'll see that again throughout facility efficiencies and right sizing. That's how we get ourselves out of the hole. We we make sure that we're making good use of every one of our buildings. We make sure that, we have the right size staff for the number of kids we have. And then again, we continue to prioritize the district's long term solvency and financial stability.
The truth is if we get to year five and and we're still running large deficits that, that this plan this plan is not meant to go beyond year five. So year five, this is this is kind of a warning sign to us to solve it before we get here. Is there another slide? Is that it? I appreciate that. I thought that was a question slide. I guess there's not. So I'd be happy to answer any you have though, Mr. President. Thank you, Doctor. Glenn. I appreciate, great presentation. Thank you, guys, guys, again for being here and supporting this. And, I would really like to I guess, the next steps would be we'll probably put this on our regular agenda in March,
to take action on. Until then, I'd like to open the portal back up, Doctor. Glenn, if you would, to the community, for those that have, will have seen live your presentation and may go back in and watch it can, provide us some feedback on what this plan looks like. And we just opened it back up. I think we promised that to the community. We'd open it back up for their comments. So if you could go ahead and do that and then we'll have gather those comments and see what we get for our March meetings discussion.
And I agree with you. I think that this committee realized that 80% of our MNO goes towards salaries and we want to keep our teachers the best we can. The only way to do that is to continue to pay them, and we wanna try to remain at 95% of market value. You just can't do that, if we don't have any money. So we're we're falling or Fallen behind. And so we're we're leaving $3,600,000 or close to $4,000,000 on the table annually. It makes absolutely no sense when we have room in our tax rate to be
able to swap I and S for MNO, and not, not have that $3,600,000 or $4,000,000 or whatever it is subject to recapture. We get to keep 100% of that. So we're leaving $3,600,000 on the table every single year. We've got to be able to educate our community that this is not gonna be an effective tax rate that our INS rate can make up for that because we have been good stewards, in trying to pay off, bond debt. So, you know, that's one thing and I think it's a great idea that the committee came up with in terms of short term bonds because what scares people to death is to
pass twenty, thirty, forty year debt. In like Northwest just did over $1,000,000,000 worth of debt. I mean, how are you going to tell the community where exactly you're going to spend $1,000,000,000 you're not? It's going to go towards things that the community really doesn't want it to go towards. So why not do a $40,000,000 debt over three years and tell our community exactly this is what you're voting for. You're voting for this number of HVAC systems, this number of roofs, this number of preservation projects, and we will report back to you,
before we put it on a ballot again to go for the next three years. It seems like to me that's the most feasible thing to do and that our community then can we can build trust in our community in terms of being able to do what we say we're going to do and rely on them to be able to, you know, hold us accountable, for that. So I think those are the two, you know, biggest things. And you didn't mention this, but I've heard that, facility con consolidation, let's just say it's a campus, could save us as much as $2,000,000 annually. Is that is that a pretty good number depending on what it is?
I think the numbers we were we were looking at was, like, initially, there would be a much larger savings. So close to that for for year one, but but, over year over year after that $1,200,000 Right. And I think that as soon as we figure out how to get this surplus property closed on, I don't have any high hopes for this year, but I know it's very marketable property and we have some things in the works to hopefully get that closed and get some money in the bank so that we can set up kind of a high yield account or an endowment to where that we're less,
reliant on the state, and more self sufficient putting the eye back into independent school districts and that the revenue produced from the sale of that property could go towards building expectations and giving teachers raises. So 2%, three %, four %, whatever that is every year, we can, build expectations for our teachers to say, look, you know, whatever this comes up with, that's how much, we're gonna be able to provide, in a salary increase. We just can't build that expectation now because we have no clue of what the legislative body is going to give us,
which, you know, what I'm hearing is not that that much in this legislative session. So, we're gonna just have to continue to think of creative ways. I think this committee has done that, has done a great job of thinking of creative ways, innovative processes that we can implement to be able to generate revenue that, typically school districts don't generate on their own. And we just have to start thinking, in that in those terms, and have that business acumen and be able to, you know, bring our community in like we we've done in I I think we should do more of that is bring our smart people in from our community and give us
recommendations on how we can build new revenue streams. We're just going to have to do it because we can't rely on our state, to be able to do it for us. Yes. And again, to your point that $3,600,000 is this year is what it would generate on current value golden pennies. And so every time our values go up as a district, those golden pennies are worth more. And so the more golden pennies you have, again, the more funds you're generating. And then from a capacity standpoint, yes, the district does have capacity to do these things without raising the tax rate should we decide to move forward on either of those.
Yes. And this is the first time that some of these trustees have seen this. Obviously, we can't talk about it until we talk about it in public session at a meeting. So I'll just open it up for questions or comments, from any of the trustees. I do have some questions. Yes. So I'm glad to hear the explanation behind the VADER and the short term bonds. I think, you know, I first saw that this community already pays very high taxes and their expectation is that we kind of look under every stone to make sure we have creative solutions in place that we don't just automatically pull that lever to raise taxes.
So it's good to hear that there will be no net increase in taxes if I'm understanding this correctly. And then the second piece that did catch my attention specifically around the VADER that you all kind of landed on. Does that mean so there will be less recapture going back to Austin roughly $4,000,000 is that did I get that correct? Yes. So if we can shift those pennies that would reduce recapture slightly. So it's not going to take a big dent. The big dent would come in compression, which we do expect this session as well.
I think the key point on the VATRE is, one, the committee was looking at a revenue generator and two, we were looking at return on investment. $0.03 are already being taxed, they're already being levied as part of our tax rate. Shifting them to the MNO side, keep the tax rate the same, but allow us to take advantage of what would be a little less recapture, a little higher yield, little more of that money staying here. That makes sense? It does, yes. Thank you for explaining that. The only thing that's going to reduce recaptures if they raise the basic allotment and
allow us to keep more of our property tax, taxes that are coming in. Working on that. Right. Or we have significant enrollment growth. Okay, understood. I do have one other question. I saw in here facility efficiencies, rightsizing kind of multiple times. What type of lead time did Brack recommend to implement those potential changes? So if there are facility changes like what's that run up look like? Yes. So I get that question a lot, especially from staff about the idea of consolidation, would we consolidate a campus? And I can tell you as of right now there are no plans to do
that. I think from a lead time standpoint, the ideal time would be about a year to push that out to the community. We would want to give our principals time to plan any type of program shifts or curriculum changes. We want to make sure that we don't sacrifice the excellent programs we have. If there is going to be a change to any of our curriculums, we want to make sure that our principals have time to kind of dive into it with our teachers and make sure that the programs we currently offer at the high level we currently offer, that's always available to our students.
And so any type of change as it relates to consolidating a facility or a grade level, we would spend a lot of time we'd spend a lot of time planning and communicating that out to the public. So ideally, what I'm saying, I guess, and I'm just beating around the bush, nothing next year. But I would but we would probably by August want to make a decision if we're going to do something the next year. That was really what your question was, is when we would communicate it. So I would say no later than September,
August, if we're planning to consolidate for the next year. Okay. And And then my last question, you know I have to ask it. Advanced math. Yes. How would that be addressed because that's something that we've heard in our different town halls that people have some concerns about. So if there was a shift? No, it's a great question. It's a valid question. It's kind of why it took so long in my last answer talking about the principals having time to spend with teachers, to spend with one another, to look at program shifts. And I think I'll go back to something that John Fike said early in his
experience coming from Highland Park as they started at Advanced Math early, like in fourth grade. They didn't wait till fifth grade. And so, and just in conversations, I've had a sidebar with him and other administrators, the possibility of revamping our advanced math and our advanced reading programs and starting them earlier, allowing kids opportunities to fail earlier, that's that's not necessarily a bad thing. You know, having raised, one daughter and three boys, I can tell you that all kids learn at different levels, but like certainly boys do. And, you know, I've you know, the opportunity
to to start in an advanced math, program early and maybe, slow slowly work my, their way into it, I can see a lot of advantages to doing it that way, rather than just saying, hey, in fifth grade, we're just we're pushing you in the deep end of the pool, let's see if you sink or swim. And so, I have total confidence in our campus teachers and campus principals that any type of change we may have would be met with success. Thank you. That's all the questions. Thank you, Trustee Boddam. Trustee Yeager? Yes. Having been a part of those discussions with legislators this last week with President Brian,
I feel like there is going to be at least a discussion in Austin about recapture and for people on the BRAC a quick update. We talk to people who are in our trustee roles around the state every week. And we are we're all in the same problem, right? The amount of money that's recaptured from us is very small compared to some of these other districts that are over $100,000,000 So I'm excited about that. Before I get to a couple of quick questions,
I think it may not be evident to everybody, but where we just brought our new CFO, Mr. Chase Park, he has some and one of the reasons that I think doctor Glenn was so high on him, just he's a great person. But his experience specifically at Highland Park, which went through so many of the things that we're going through, they became a smaller district. They used an education foundation extremely well. Endowment. Endowment. There's some great experience that Mr. Park brings to our district that I cannot wait to tap into and I just
want to say members of the BRAC, I think we got an absolute gold mine, a unicorn if you would for CFOs and I think that's going to pay dividends there. A couple of quick questions. One is, not everybody knows about what's going through right now in Austin legislatively and that is the ESAs or education savings accounts or education scholarships account. What the threshold? There are 5,000,000 over 5,000,000 students that are in public schools in Texas. From what I've seen, there's only about a hundred thousand that are gonna be able to qualify or be
funded for that. And so the question might be, will ESAs, should it pass, have an effect on enrollment, which we all know is so important for this district. I think I have an answer for that, but I'd love to hear from, Doctor. Glenn and and Mr. Bryan. So, you know, I'll tell you any any dollar this state, this state spends on something else other than public education would would have an effect. But but the truth is, a billion dollars in in ESAs, it at $10,000 a pop is is a hundred thousand kids that are gonna benefit. And, and you're right. There's about five and a half million kids,
and then you also have kids that aren't necessarily in the system, homeschool kids, private school kids that are likely gonna jump in and take advantage of some of those dollars too. How how will it impact us in Carroll ISD? I I don't think it'll impact us very much. The truth is we're we're a unicorn ourselves. We're a unique district. I don't see a lot of our families taking a $5,000 voucher and trying to jump into a private school. Mainly because a lot of our families, if they wanna go to a private school, they can kinda go right now. They they don't have to wait on that $5,000 voucher. So they they may get they may be there already and they may get the
voucher, but they're not necessarily leaving our district to go. And that $5,000 voucher is not going very far in the private schools in our area. And I think I saw income threshold of $160,000 or something like that. Yes. And I know that will be a move in target and, in their I mean, obviously, they're talking about prioritizing special needs kids. The truth is, again, I I don't a lot of that a lot of that, it'll be interesting to see who really gets the vouchers at the end of the day. When you look at other states that have gotten vouchers,
you know, 75% or more tend to go to kids that are already in the system. So you're only talking about 20%, twenty five % of kids that are new kids, coming into grabbing a voucher that are leaving private public schools to go to a private school. So I don't think it's as big of a sway as people think. Again, I'll go back to the fact that it's a billion dollars that could go to public schools that's now being shifted to another direction. Go ahead. And you're exactly right. So as the bill is written currently, 80% of those dollars are prioritized towards children with special needs and families that meet
a certain financial threshold. So that's 80% that are going there, that leaves very few for everybody else to kind of fight for. Okay. And because we're a property owners here and we think about our bills and all the people listening, you talked about compression, the Governor it seems like that's going to happen. So that's going to bring down the bill even though as Mr. Brian says, eventually we've got to have this assessment and it takes things up. But the other thing that's going to be added I believe is additional homestead exemption.
And that's what effect not only I think seniors but everybody who owns property in Southlake. Is there anything also that the school district can do for an extra homestead exemption? Yeah. So districts do have the ability to to yield an additional homestead exemption above and beyond, what is currently allowable by the state. So we could tack on additional 10%, twenty %. Yes, sir. Okay. President Biden? Yes. No questions specifically. I just wanted to thank the BRAC committee. I'm I feel really blessed that we have smart people in our community to help
come up with these, great ideas. I also want to thank, Trustee Bottom and Trustee Stacy for doing some education in the schools and even the lunch and learns. I've, I'm not on the committee, but I think I've heard or learned about most of these, not from you guys, but from people who come up and ask me questions about, hey, you know, the BRAC committee member was talking about this or that, or I went to, you know, one of the teachers went to to the lunch and learn and brought up some of these ideas. And it's really helpful to educate our entire community because our community is involved in
this process. And I really like how it's kinda, scheduled out over five years. It's very strategic. I know there's notes on the screen that you see right now. These are recommendations when it'll only be implemented if necessary. I know some people might think of these things as draconian, at least the ones that are further out. I hope we never have to get there, but at least we have a plan, in case we have to. So thank you to the BRAC committee. Trustee Blanen? Anything Trustee Stacy in your play? Yes. Do you all find it interesting that if this voucher program passed the SP2 that,
dollars 10,000 is worth more than our kids in Carrollwood at $8,100 Anyway, so with that, anything else? Last questions, we'll move on. Okay. Thank you, Doctor. Glenn. Appreciate it. Moving on to item 9.2, technology department, Mr. Stewart. Stew Board of Trustees, President Brian, I'm excited to share with you an overview of the technology department and some of the many things we've got going on. To give you an idea of how many things that we support in technology, here's a list of some of the resources.
We have close to 13,000 computers across desktops and laptops and iPads and network printers and copiers, eleven fifty IP phones. IDFs, there's quite a bit of technology lingo in here and so IDFs and switches those are network closets that we support throughout the district to keep going. We have two data centers to make sure that we're up and running effectively in the district, one here at the Admin Building and one in the stadium with a fiber ring around the city that we make sure if there's a breakage in it that we can keep functioning,
that we can keep payroll going out, data systems happening. Video surveillance is throughout the district. We have close to a thousand cameras in the district to make sure that we can monitor what's going on. I'm not gonna go through the whole presentation with you because it's been shared with you and I don't wanna just just read it to you. I just wanna share some of the highlights. But, there's a lot of things that we support and maintain throughout this district to make sure everything keeps working and and running and and that we can do school effectively for students and and finances and all those kind of things. Some of our some of our crucial systems are skyward for our for our team system to submit to the state for our
grade books and and our financial systems. We have Canvas, which is our our our online management system. So the students can check what what are their assignments. They can go in and see what their grades are for, in these systems, they can check what they have due this week. They can submit their assignments. We have kind of a lighter weight version called Seesaw for pre k through four. And so parents can log in there and it's a secure platform that they can see here some of the projects and tasks that students are working on. Our video surveillance system is tied in with our access control, which is our badges.
It's also tied in with administrator walkie talkies. And so if if there's a situation going on and they need to lock down the campus, they can hold buttons on the radio and lock down the campus. It's also integrated with our, local police department so that they can monitor cam cameras and and systems remotely in case of an emergency situation. We've got a lot of protection in place. We have the ability to stream live daily announcements across our campuses and, Bell PA systems to give announcements and lock down situations. We also want to make sure our students are safe on their computers and filter
those devices. But also if they're typing or researching or sometimes writing notes about self harm, those are able to be relayed to correct administrators so that we can help the students out in times of emergency even from their home if they're on a district computer. We've been able to call assistance from the one there in need. As well as a lot more. And we do all this, we support all these resources and maintain all these systems and help these students to learn effectively with a very light amount of staff. Here's our org chart breakdown.
We have kind of three lead folks. We have our Director of Infrastructure, John Salazar, our Technology Coordinator, Patty Kelleher and our Director of Teams and Accountability, Leslie Russell. And each of them we have a wonderful group of team that really has been here for a while and they really know their skills well and they do a great job. That's why I won't read the rest of the presentation, but I just want to give a quick highlight and see if you guys had any questions. Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Stewart. I'll open up for questions. All right. Thank you so much. Appreciate you. All right. Moving on to discussion action portion of the agenda.
Item 10.1, consider Carol ISD employee childcare program. Doctor. Glenn? Thank you, mister president. I'm sure that, we have some staff that are probably watching online to see how this one goes tonight. So tonight you have before you the possibility of starting a childcare facility for staff in our schools. I think this can offer numerous benefits to both our staff members in the district. Again, having just gone through a conversation about, budget reduction, I want to remind everybody we would be allotting space in our building for this facility, and it would, be a program that we pass the cost on to the staff.
And so essentially, we would we would house the facility. We would set it up as an enterprise fund, but we would pass on the cost of, running that facility to our staff members. And we believe we can do that at a lower cost than what they can get on the private market. Some reasons we may want to consider it is, to provide support for our working parents. Many teachers and staff are parents, and having a reliable, childcare facility on-site can make our school more attractive workplace as we go to recruit teachers. It can also, help staff members kind of reduce stress.
Staff members knowing that their kids are on-site, feel safe and at ease knowing that, their children are nearby and well cared for well cared for. Also, increased productivity, looking at, reducing absenteeism. If the staff members don't need to take time off or come up with last minute arrangements for childcare, they're more likely to be present and focused on taking care of our kids. Again, it's an educational opportunity for the district as well as it would be a gateway to our three year old program. And again, talking about cost efficiencies, this would be a shared resource, a cost neutral program,
using space currently available in the administration program. And again, the GOS, the goal would be to keep costs low. The after school portion, again, convenience and stability, of this program, offering it to to parents of staff and, also of, parents in the district that have kids in the district. Dependable place for children to go once school's over, building stronger relationships with the school. Parents can feel connected, to the school community if their kids are involved in our after school program. We can provide homework and tutoring help. And then again, it's a cost effect cost effective option,
compared to privatized, childcare, if we're able to offer that for our parents and staff. And I'll take any questions you have. Thank you, doctor Glenn. I think this is an outstanding, idea and we appreciate you bringing it to the board for action tonight. I'll open up any questions for doctor Glenn. Yes. Just really, a couple of things that, I think we missed mentioning, Doctor. Glenn. I know I got to go to a couple of lunch and learns. And to me, the whole idea is a no brainer if it's cost neutral and we have the excess space. But one of the things you I don't I didn't hear you mention is we
can actually utilize high school students in this program. They can actually learn how to create and run a daycare center. It's not just daycare workers. It's literally how to run a business. And, we can have a curriculum where you can get certified, in that area too. So it's it's really beneficial to students as well as the teachers who themselves are having children. And I personally witnessed as we saw several of our young teachers who are expecting
mothers, you know, when you mentioned that, they brightened up and they said, I thought I was gonna have to, you know, stop working for a few years next year. And they were like, we could really use this and it would be convenient, easy, it'd be cheaper to us, we could afford to continue, our education. I I can't see a downside to it. I I mean, like, it's a no brainer to me. Yeah. So I'm glad you I'm glad you brought up the CTE portion of this. So, yes, education is a pathway that's, available to our students. So we would absolutely be able to utilize, some student labor. Obviously,
there are daycare, requirements in the state of Texas. We'd wanna make sure that we fulfill them. But but certainly, it would give internship opportunities to our kids looking to go into education. Trustee Lane. Any others? And and would be a somewhat of a revenue generator from that aspect because the kids involved in those capstone, classes do receive that CTE multiplier. Trustee Yager? Yeah. Speaking of of revenue, I think, when we discussed this, idea flowed around as as a, officers. The price to the students, sorry, the teachers and staff, this would be basically at cost.
Yeah. So you're we're talking about two separate programs, but we'll run them under the same enterprise fund. And so we'll essentially set up their their own budget with their budget. You're getting a heck of a deal. It'll be a great deal for our staff. Okay. Yeah. Essentially the is is the kids enrolled in the program that'll determine the need of the, the supervisors, the people that we hire on and then that cost will be subdivided amongst the kids in the program. And then it does subsidize the after school program. One of the necessities of the after school program is you're going to have more kids.
It's a significantly reduced cost because we try and keep that that cost low too. But essentially there is a little bit of a profit margin on the after school program which helps us subsidize it as well. I just think, and you said this Trustee Landon, but in the day and age we're doing everything we can, for our teachers And out of BRAC, that was the number one priority. This is just another type of benefit or service that we can offer that we don't currently offer and to attract and retain. I love this. Absolutely. And even the after school program, not only is it it a benefit to to our teachers and and parents who
utilize that program, but some of our lowest paid employees are paraprofessionals on campuses. And so the opportunity to to make, you know, time and a half or double time, working a couple of more hours after school, if they if they wanna do that, they want that extra source of income, that'll be available to them. That's great. So that was one of my questions. So the extended care, would that be on the elementary campuses that would open up for staff and for parents to be able to use that and paraprofessionals could choose to work that if they wanted to? Absolutely. And I'm glad you brought that up. We would have the after school program at every elementary campus that would is where
it would be housed. Okay. And then on the childcare, what are the that would just be for our staff and what would be the ages? Yeah. So so again, typically typically you start with infants and, an infants would come in I guess after about two months, two months old because there is that maternity time. So I think the earliest we would take them would be, would be right at eight weeks. And then after the two year old program ends they would feed into our three year old program at the pre K level. So and both again all of those are cost based and I can tell you when you look at the ratio,
ratios change and so the reason that the after school programs are more successful is because you can have larger ratios, right. If you have you can put fifteen fourth graders with one pair of professional and they can watch them responsibly. Well, in the state of Texas you can only have like four infants with one worker. So the ratios are lower therefore the cost will likely be staggered based on the age of the child. Yes. Are there any other comments? I move that this board approve the Carroll ISD employee childcare program.
Second. Motion and second. Any further discussion? Okay. All in favor? Motion carries five to zero. Thank you, Doctor. Glenn. Moving on to 10.2, consider acquisition of K through 12 instructional materials and K through 12 library materials. Miss Petty? Hi. Hi. Good evening, Doctor. Glenn, President Bryan, trustees. I come to you tonight for, information only. I am bringing you the updated spring k through twelve acquisition list. We have two lists that we are presenting. We are presenting the library list, and we are also presenting the classroom instructional list.
So as you are aware, these these, resources are available to preview for thirty days. So after the thirty days, we will come back and seek approval. Do you have any questions? Okay. Information. Okay. Any questions? Okay. I just want to be reminded of the process of getting something on the list. Yes. Okay. In order to get something on the list, the, teachers and librarians or the staff can bring the request to the principals. The principals do review the lists. They do not have to read the books, but they do have to review the list. After they go from the principles,
they go to the librarians. All the librarians will review all the library books. All the, instructional materials are reviewed through the coordinators, and then they come to the coordinator's office, and then we and CNI will review them. And then they go to doctor Klin. Thank you. Alright. Any other questions for miss Petty? Thank you, miss Petty. Okay. Thank you. Alright. Moving on, consider approval of CIC Aquatic Center roof replacement. Mister Mooney. Here you are. Mister Mooney, do you wanna come up first? Sure. Mister Myers, next. Good afternoon, president Bryan, trustees, doctor Glenn. I'm presenting to you for your approval, PMR Roofing to remove and replace the the roof for the aquatic center.
After the bidding process in July in July, we, we put together a committee, performed the matrix, and PM PMR Roofing was the successful bidder for $20,000,066,696 dollars and 56¢. This project will take approximately five weeks to perform and it should start mid April. It's going to take us about six to eight weeks to get the material after we write the PO after this approval. A lot of money for a roof, right? Absolutely. Yes, sir. So where's the money coming from?
Insurance. Almost 1100%. Almost Close to it? We're very close to it. Okay. We've done a good job of renegotiating with them recently to get the price up. That's what I've heard. Thank you for negotiating that price. So, any questions for Mr. Rainey? So you all are busy with the coaches and have a plan in place? Yes, sir. We have a plan in place. Perfect. I move that this board approve the Aquatics Center roof replacement project and that will be to the PMR The property.
As presented. Second. Motion and second. Any further discussion? All in favor? Motion carries five to zero. Thank you, mister Mann. And now we can talk about where the money's gonna come from. Mister Myers. Sorry about that. I had the wrong agenda. No worries. President Brian, board of trustees, bringing bringing to you the consideration tonight for the remaining funds from the two thousand seventeen bond election. These are tax re unisable bonds, so we were we were required to pay arbor what's called arbitrage on the excess interest earnings. So to date, we've paid about 347,000
in arbitrage, and we expect to before this is completed, we'll we'll also accrue another $100,000 of arbitrage. With these remaining funds, the district is looking to address multiple areas of needs. You have the recommendations in front of you. Highlights include repairs to our aquatic center, various main other maintenance issues, and purchases at multiple campuses, including Carroll Senior High School, Rock and Ball Elementary, Johnson Elementary, Carroll Elementary, and Walnut Grove Elementary, and a handicap lift conversion kit for one of our school buses.
Campuses in the TIF zone were intentionally left off this list, and will be addressed at a later date. We were we have provided to you the breakdown of the estimated cost to liquidate these funds as required by statute. To be in compliance, we need to spend these funds in accordance with the provisions of the 2017 bond sale as soon as possible. Our facilities director, doctor Director Mooney and doctor Glenn, have been working on this plan, in very much very strong detail with the business office. We're happy to answer any questions. Mister Meyer, thank you, thank you. I know you've been pulling double duty.
That's right. Hopefully, we got you some help coming in coming in pretty fast. You mentioned in there the TIF zone and I just kind of want to elaborate for the audience and those that are online tonight. The reason that we're not looking at repairs in the TIF zone right now is we do know that there there is the opportunity or the potential, to work with the city and, and as part of the the contract agreement we have with them to to hopefully get some of those monies to offset, some of the maintenance and and facility issues that we have on the campuses,
that exist within that zone, which will be Dawson, Eubanks, Old Union and then Dragon Stadium. Doctor. Glenn or Mr. Myers, can you explain the whole arbitrage? Yes, I mean, so It's just like it's what is that? 347,000 plus another hundred thousand or In general, in the past, school districts could not invest money and earn much because the interest rates were super low. K. And so when we sold bonds at around 2.6%, that was the case. Now in the past couple of years, the interest rates have increased, and so we have earned, a dollar amount larger than that 2.6%.
So in in a sense, it's this level of interest earnings above the cost of the actual bonds. So that was $347,000 over, is five year period. Yeah. They give you a five year period. It's like three years and then two years of grace. Yes, sir. And and we're past that. We passed that in December, I guess. In a in essence, we're paying we're paying a penalty on our excess earnings. Okay. Well and and then I would say in addition, like, to to be in compliance, if we're audited, the funds have to be expended. Yes, sir. We can't you cannot as districts can't continue to hold those.
Where do we pay that $347? That's a good question. Sorry to hear that. That is Those funds are paid back. Is it a is it a federal arbitrage that's paid back? To the IRS. To the IRS. Yep. Because these are these our school bonds are tax free to the investor. Right. There may not be anybody there to collect it. I think the gentleman got any cash. Might be a good risk to take. So I thought it was unfortunate that we had to pay the $3.57, but I also heard and maybe you can confirm that, because we do still have bond money and we're still earning interest,
the interest that we're going to continue to earn more or less neutralizes the penalty that we have to pay in the $357,000,000 I don't know the exact numbers but the interest that we're continuing to earn overrides it, right? Yes, sir. Thank you. Okay. Yes. I move to approve the capital expenditures from the unspent 2017 bond funds as presented by Mr. Myers. Motion and second. Any further discussion? All in favor? Motion carries five to zero. Thank you, Mr. Myers. And Mr. Moody, I know you said this, would you give me again when will they start construction on that roof at the
natatorium now? We, it's our approximation to start mid April. Mid April will be fine. And how long is that construction? Five weeks. Five weeks. We've I've compressed the schedule, doubled up in some certain things to it's pretty aggressive, but I'm very confident we can make it, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay. Moving on to item number 11, consent agenda. I know we have several donations tonight. Trustee Yeager? Yes. I will go quickly. We'd like to thank all of these organizations for their generous donations. The Dragon Shear Booster Club, dollars thirty thousand. As mentioned earlier,
when the boosters came, this is dollars that go towards the fees for the coaches' salaries. Dawson Middle School, PTO, dollars twelve thousand eight hundred and fifty three. The Carroll Middle School PTO, a $61.82 the Durham Intermediate School PTO $63.24 the Eubanks Intermediate School PTO $25,000 the Carroll Senior High School PTO 13,797 the Carroll High School PTO, dollars thirty one thousand three hundred and sixty five and lastly,
the Carroll Athletic Booster Club, dollars seventeen thousand five hundred. And we thank each of those wonderfully generous organizations for their donations. Absolutely. Thank you, Trustee Yeager. And I move to approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. We have a motion and second. All in favor? Motion carries five to zero. If no objection, we'll adjourn this meeting at this time at 08:28PM. Thank you, Board.