Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Karen here. Here's it doesn't have about the special meetings. There is another
one. Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. The meeting is now convened. It is 5:02 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5th, 2026. A quorum of the board is present in the boardroom in accordance with Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code
Chapter 551. They're Bobby Adier, Frost Po, Luis Galindo, Courtney Lewis, Rosa Maria Berdea, Tennessee Walker, Lori George, and Jay Seagal. Frost Po will not be joining us this evening.
At our last meeting, we discussed that we plan to move the executive session uh to the beginning of the board meeting to avoid having uh the people who have uh given generously of their time to come out and speak to us and watch our
proceedings. Uh and so we would reserve that time for the body of the board meeting after we reconvene in executive session. Um, the time is now 5:03 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5th, 2026. We will now recess and
reconvene for executive session as authorized by chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code under sections 551.07172, and 074. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Oh, hey. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. N. Hey, hey, hey.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Happy birthday. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh. Oh, I am.
I am I am I don't know. I am you. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. N. I don't know. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. N. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Hey, Heat. Hey. Hey. Oh, and it feels so good. I feel so good.
I feel so good. I feel so good. Oh, I feel so good. I feel so good. I feel so good.
I feel so good. I feel so good. Everything so good. It feels so good. It feels so good. You
And it feels so good. And it feels so good. Feel so good. Feel so good. Feel so good.
Feel so good. When you're feeling down, want to come my way. Going to lift you up. Let me hear you say, "Yeah, we're living on love." Yeah, we're living. Yeah, we're living on love. Yeah, we're living on
love. Yeah, we're living. Yeah, we're living on love. Oh, we're going to take you higher. Oh, we going to lift you up. Oh, oh, we're
going to take you higher. Oh, oh, we're going to lift you up. When you hit the ground, don't you lose your way. Got to get back up. Let me hear you say, "Yeah, we're living on."
Yeah, we're living. Yeah, we're living on Yeah, we're living on. Yeah, we're living. Yeah, we're living on. Oh, oh, we going to take you higher. Oh, oh, we
going to lift you up. Oh, we going to take you higher. Oh, we going to lift you up. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
We're going to take you higher. We're going to lift you up. We're going to take you higher. Oh. Oh. We're going to lift you up. We're going to take your take.
We going to lift you up. We're going to take you out. Take your We going to let you You take me higher. Higher. You take me higher. You take me higher. You take me higher. Higher.
Heat. Heat. You take me higher. You take me higher. You take me higher. You take me higher. Donnie down. Heat. Heat. The best is yet to come.
Heat. Heat. Heat. The rest is yet to fall. Heat. Heat. The best is yet to come. The best is yet to fall. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Love you. feel bad. Hey Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. N.
Heat. Heat. N. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Hey everybody.
Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Happy. down. Heavy. better. This is a lot better. So, in accordance with the open meetings
law, the board convened the meeting at 5:02 p.m. with a quorum present, recessed upon open session, convened in executive session, and now reconvenes open session at 6:14 p.m. with a quorum
present. I would ask everyone to please silence their cell phones and ask that we're going to stand in just a moment, but the order is the star spangle banner will be sung first, then the pledges
and um so and then pledges to both pledges and then we'll sit down. But uh that that's our order. So, uh, ladies and gentlemen, please stand and welcome the Polytenic High School, JOTC, to present the colors of our nation. And
and then Pedro Viegas from Southwest High School is going to sing our national anthem tonight. Oh, say can you see by the dawn early light?
What so proudly we held at the twilight last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars
through the paral fight. For the ramp parts we watched were so gallently streaming.
And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in gave proof through the night
that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled B yet wave or the land
of the free and the home of the Right. Forward march. The pledge to the Texas flag. Honor the
Texas flag. I aliance to the Texas one state under God. One and indivisible. >> Thank you. Please be seated. >> I want to thank those outstanding students for being with us tonight. A couple of things I'd like to say
before we begin public comment. Today, for the first time, we changed the order of executive session. In the past, executive session would come in the middle of a board meeting, which would result in all those of you who made the time to come out tonight often wait up
to two hours uh for the board to to reconvene and some nights even longer than that. Uh we want to make it as accessible for everyone to be here and particularly parents. if we come back at 9:30 or 10, there's no way
a parent with children at home can can be here. So, it's possible that something may come up that would require us to go into executive session just to deal with a specific issue, but going forward, we'll have that exe executive session a ahead of time so we can go
straight uh through through the agenda. And you have you're it's predictable how long you're going to be here tonight. So, thank you for being here. We now move to public comment item five on the agenda. We eval value hearing from everyone in the committee
community. Thank you for being here. Public comment is a critically important part of this operations of this school district, operations of our democracy. Before we begin hearing public comment, I want to share a brief reminder of our
process and expectations. In special meetings such as this operate under under different rules and the normal meetings, people are free to talk about anything they wish. Uh tonight in special meetings, you are restricted to
the agenda. Uh so as you come up, I'm going to read uh the issue that you have signed up to address and and we're going to hold you to to sticking with with the agenda. Again, it's a different night.
It's different than than than a regular meeting. As you know, speakers must sign up in advance through our determined process. You'll be called in order and will have up to three minutes to speak.
The pre presiding officer may make adjustments when needed to help manage time and ensure everyone is heard. As I said earlier, at regular meetings, speakers may address at any topic at special meetings. Comments are limited to the posted agenda.
The board will listen to all the public comments, but does not engage in discussion during this portion of the meeting. When appropriate, responses are limited to factual information or existing policy. We ask that speakers be mindful of
student privacy and refrain from identifying students by name as student information is protected by law. However, a parent or guardian may identify his or her own child if they choose. Speakers are also encouraged to
avoid naming individual employees or volunteers and instead address their concerns to the campus program at the district level. We also ask that concerns about individual employees, students, or other confidential matters be directed through appropriate district processes rather
than during public comment as those procedures are designed to ensure concerns are handled appropriately and fairly. Please respect the procedures in place as well as other speakers and audience members. Everyone deserves
dignity and respect from every single one of us. Thank you for your engagement. Thank you for being a part of this process. May I see this? I um we have 11 speakers signed up tonight
and I'm going to call the name of the first and then ask the second person to please move forward just to keep things moving. The first U person on our speaking agenda tonight is Trisha Foresight
and she will be followed by Greselda Ronning. Um, Miss Foright Scythe has asked to speak on all agenda items. Thank you, Miss Forine. >> Hello, superintendent and board of
managers >> microphone's working. >> I want to start with a simple question is what does transparency look like to you? Because what we're experiencing is not transparency. Transparency is not calling a meeting after decisions have already been made. It's not notifying employees first
requiring them to sign a new contract and then present it to the public as if input still matters. At that point, this meeting feels performative and not participary. We've seen a pattern. >> I beg your pardon. Would you pause the
timer for a second? Um, which agenda item are are you speaking to? >> All of them. Cuz what are they what I'm confused, but this the same thing we've already done. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. >> So, as I was saying, we've seen the pattern
roles removed, positions reduced, change rolled out in phases. Now here we are again beginning what is happening rather than including the process before it happens. That's the disconnect. The community asks for transparency,
proactive sharing in info and not waiting until we ask is certainly not after decisions already realized. It also means honesty that goes beyond answering what only we asked. It means giving the pool picture and to the board
your vote matters. Well, obviously not because y'all all can't even show up. Like, it's third meeting and we're already It's crazy. Um, you're supposed to represent different perspectives, but yet you guys always vote the same every time.
Say the same thing over and over again. But yeah, that's about it. We'll see you guys next meeting, guys. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Scythe. The next speaker is Gracela Roning and she'll be followed
by David Hayer. And Miss Roning is speaking on non-renewal of probationary contracts. Is Miss Ronning here? Okay. Next speaker is David Hayer. And Mr. Hayer will be followed by
Caroline James. Mr. Hayer speaking on real property. Good evening. First, uh, President Garin, I want to thank you for the change to the way that you're putting the, uh, executive session in a place that makes it possible for people to to
monitor what's happening here and not be doing making decisions in in the wee hours of the morning or very very late at night. So, thank you for that. So in your executive session item today, the first item was um related to
Ferington Field. Now I fully understand that section 551.072 gives you the uh the right to be able to speak about deliberate or not deliberations but uh details of pending um decisions on real
estate transactions. But the deliberation needs to happen here in front of us. Um, and we need to hear why from every one of you, each and every one of you. We need to hear some some
comments about why you're doing some of the things that you're doing. particularly and this is this is kind of astounding me already uh because like I said last week I went through that two days of um of the Lonear governance
training and nothing about dealing with real estate was talked about in in those two days that I recall and the whole focus was to be on student outcomes from the very outset when you came in and replaced our elected
trustees. So, I'm going to ask all of you to explain to us at some point when you get ready to make a decision on this. Why are you taking this issue up right now with perhaps selling all or part of Ferington Field? How does it relate to
student outcomes? Because I haven't seen that yet. Um, Fington Field is a historic uh fixture in the community and it belongs to all of us. Property of the school district, but we are the school district. We are the ones that pay the taxes that make this school district
run. And so you owe it to us to to we deserve to hear from you as to the del the deliberations and the decisions that you're making. Um I I don't know enough about the other items on the agenda to be able to speak to those because there wasn't enough information provided to
help me understand what you're doing and why why you're doing it. you owe that to us to tell us why you're doing the things that you're doing. And then let's have some real deliberation here in front of all of us so we can see what you're thinking and we know why you're voting the way that you're voting
because so far we haven't been able to see that. The other things I wanted to speak about I'll be back next week. So I'll see you then. >> Thank you Mr. Hayer. Our next speaker is Caroline James.
She's going to speak on agenda item 7A and she'll be followed by Sabrina Ball who's will Caroline James please come up. Good afternoon. My name is Caroline James. I live in the Westcliffe neighborhood and I have three boys. My
middle son has dyslexia and he was not well served in Fort Worth ISD. It was at his new school that Andrew's dyslexia was diagnosed and where he now receives academic language therapy. I know that you're making personnel decisions and I want to be sure that Fort Worth ISD is prepared to serve students with
dyslexia. Dyslexia occurs in 12 to 15% of the population and yet you have schools with an enrollment of 600 reporting to PES that they only have five students with dyslexia. That's a statistical impossibility. Dyslexia is the most common learning
difference. It's one for which we have the answers. We know how to serve these kids and the consequences of not serving these kids are devastating for that child, for their family, for this community. As you are making hiring decisions, I urge you to consider whether Fort Worth
ISD has enough diagnosticians to provide testing when learning disabilities are suspected and does Fort Worth ISD have enough certified academic language therapists to serve those students well. Literacy Roundup is an initiative by the city to find students with dyslexia and
connect them with services. Last summer, we screened 400 students for dyslexia and we identified 150 who were at risk. This summer, we will screen over a thousand. My question for you is, are you going to be prepared to serve them well? Delays in testing or staffing
constraints that fail to provide meaningful intervention from academic language therapists will have real consequences for these students academically and emotionally. Please be ready to serve them. >> Thank you, Miss James. Our next speaker is Sabrina Ball and
she'll speak on non-renewal of probationary contracts and that will be followed by and she will be followed by Lon Burnham. >> To be fair, I was thrown by the agenda question. We've never been asked that before. I imagine
>> a bigger pardon. I I can't hear you. >> I don't want my time to start. Okay, don't start at time. She's got a question. >> I'm just saying I was thrown by the agenda question. We'd never been asked that before and it wasn't explained when we called in that we were prohibited to
that. So mine's really on all the employment decisions. >> It's on the whole agenda >> pretty much. Yeah. Not Fington, the employment decisions. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> There are two Fort Worth ISTDs, the
halves and the have nots. The top five elementaryaries in 2025 were Burton Hill, West Park, Desavala, Tanglewood, and Overton Park. Do you know what they have in common? Surprisingly, it's not wealth. With the exception of Desavala, sure, they're majority white. So, even though it's in the top five, it's not
surprising it was chosen for closure. And while they have more privilege, all of these schools have the same philosophy. It's an understanding that children need strong, supportive environments catered to their learning styles. They need to spend time reading and be encouraged to read books. and they understand that teachers and staff
have value and they show them through action and respect. Tanglewood and Overton Park have created little private schools through human capital and actual dollars. The other three are not wealthy. They are supported by strong parent groups that demanded these things from the district. And if the district said no, they figured out a way. They
get good certified teachers who are reactive to their children, not a regimen that comes down from a high paid administrator and certainly not from a computer written by AI. They get special programs, art, community, and they get support. They ensure that when a kid is struggling, someone is there to pick
them up. And this philosophy works. Extra support, wherever it comes from, works. It angers me that you do not recognize these success stories and learn from it. It's a model used in private schools and in the most successful charters. The state is paying students to go get it. Yet, when you
talk about what kids in failing public schools need, schools in poor neighborhoods that are majority minority, you don't even attempt to replicate the model. They don't get reading nooks and thoughtful language models and support staff. They get rigid experimental models that fail to recognize the source of failure. When
you all had a choice, you chose to run in the opposite direction of proven successful models. You decided that black and brown children, children with special needs, get less support. And yes, you can tell me all day long that isn't true and that they'll somehow get more support, but we believe what we see
with our own eyes. Mr. Garin, you said you'd be more transparent in the agenda, but this doesn't tell us what we're losing. It doesn't tell us what rights these employees have left. Your photo ops are a lie because you're ruling through fear. Some of you have chosen to
speak out, calling us alt-left hack jobs or citing their own anecdotal evidence to support your compliance to the state. to make you feel better about your own choices. But none of you have demonstrated that you have taken the time to learn the source of our failures, to determine what our kids
need, to even determine what we already have in place. You are complicit in a machine that will be replicated in Lakew Worth and Bowmont and across the state until we have completely segregated the halves from the have- nots. So, when you vote today, I hope you ask yourself,
what evidence do I have that these are the right choices, that these are my choices, or am I simply doing what I'm told? >> Thank you, Miss Bald. Our next speaker is
Lon Bnham, and Representative Bernham will be followed by Da Deirorf. >> Good afternoon. If I'm a little too familiar with Pete, we've known each other for multiple decades. For the rest of you, I'm Lon Burnham. I'm a proud
graduate K through 12, the fourth ISD. Uh my late mother was an elementary school teacher teaching the fourth and fifth grade. And the 18 years I served in the legislature, I was a persistent nag about the fact that we're not spending enough money on public education.
Pete is also aware they have a whole lot of concerns about um an appointed board appointed by the governor in essence as opposed to an elected board. I spent a number of decades trying to make sure there was proper representation from every community in this district and I
don't think this appointed board represents that. What I want to talk about today is and and Pete, I know you're not running in a popularity contest. Uh you wouldn't be doing this job if you expected to win it. I know. But the fact of the matter is you could
do a little bit better on the whole transparency issue and there wouldn't be so many angry rumors running around the community. I came down thinking I might be able to talk about libraries. I have a passion about libraries. I've heard rumors about their being closed like
they were in Houston. Uh librarians laid off like they were in so many cases. My wife is a retired librarian. I know about that. I also have a passion about Fington Phil. And Pete, you and I talked about Fington Phil before you ever got this rough assignment. Don't tear it
down. Don't let anybody tear it down. I realize there's a lot of parking that could be better util utilized for something else, but the suspicions are running rampant because the lack of transparency in the printed agenda. I couldn't even figure out, and I got a
double degree myself. I couldn't even figure out exactly how I wanted to sign up. I had to go get some coaching from staff. So, I mean, bottom line is a lot of us are not happy with where we are. A lot of us understood the school district wasn't doing an adequate job, but we are
even more unhappy with the lack of transparency as you guys started off and I apologize for not being for the previous meetings, but the fact of the matter is you're making some major decisions that are not involving the community. You're unelected. Your
primary job is to listen to the community before you make decisions based on recommendations from a superintendent that was brought from the outside, not selected by elected board. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Representative Burner.
Our next speaker is Diana Deerdorf and Miss Deardorf will be followed by Ip apologize if I mispronounced the first name, Ambika Chararma. Good evening. I'm Diana Dearorf, a parent to four Fort Worth ISD children,
also a member of Fort and the Fort Worth ISD Council of PTAs, and it's good to see you all again. Um, I want to start off with some positive things. Um, I want to acknowledge that I think it's important that all of us as a community,
and I see all of us in a shared community celebrate our successes and our wins together. And I'm hearing from parents who are excited about their campuses for the first time getting fully staffed, highly quality teachers
at their underresourced campuses. And I want to thank you, Dr. Lacata. Um, I recognize a lot of the Elevate principles here. I want to thank them for stepping into that role. um these campuses have long deserved that
attention and that quality and and that is a win that we can all celebrate together. Um also this week, as you all know, is staff appreciation week and so across all of our campuses, teachers and staff are hopefully being showered with all the love that they deserve for the
work that they do. Um, Alice Carlson PTA is not only celebrating their campus staff, but is also sharing their resources and volunteers to celebrate campuses all across the district who do not share the same resources they do. And in addition, the Fort Worth ISD
Council of PTAs through their impact program is also sharing resources and volunteers to make sure staff at underresourced campuses are celebrated in the way that they deserve. All of us should be united in celebrating
successes together because these successes mean improved outcomes for our children. My asks for you tonight center on partnership. We have so many excellent community organizations. Fort Literacy Fort Worth, Parent Shield, Fort Worth
ISD, Council of PTAs, more that I'm sure I'm forgetting. Um all of us and the broader community, we want the same thing as you. We want our district better. We want our outcomes for our children to be better. We are team Fort Worth children. You are team Fort Worth
children. We should be able to professionally and strongly disagree at times about the how. But I think it's important that we not find ourselves pitting against each other and that we find a way to even among those strong
disagreements come together, work together, rely on each other to achieve that goal because our children do deserve that. Um, Dr. L, I'm running out of time. Um, as you consider revisions to the policy
and to the cont employee contracts or any future changes, I'm asking you please, we need more transparency in order for that partnership to be effective. The transparency isn't quite there yet. I know that you've stated that as your goal, we also have that as
a goal. So, thank you. >> Thank you for your remarks. Our next speaker, Miss Chararma, and she will be followed by Robert Rogers. Miss Chararma
is speaking on agenda items 7A through 7E or maybe and 7E. I'm not certain. So, >> it's for all three, all five. Um, that confused me that question when I called to sign in. So, yes, my name is Ambika Sharma. I'm a graduate of North ISD. uh
went to North Side High and my brothers also uh went to Southwest High. Um and today I'm here to speak against 78 to 7E. So all basically I'm against the cuts primarily from a perspective of how you have drafted uh these documentation. I find myself to I would say I'm pretty
decent in understanding legal contracts but the way you have drafted I just don't understand what you're what you're seeking. Um, I think the intent is to give yourself unyielding power to uh to terminate contracts as in when and if as you wish. Um, and I think that's
problematic because when you write something um in such broad strokes, you know, that's really just against legal contract 101. It's going to your contracts are too vague or the way you're going about this in drafting. Um, it's too vague and it's going to lead to legal problems down the line. Um so
that's one problem that I have in how you have drafted. It doesn't say um second is transparency. It doesn't say which criteria would you follow in terms of terminating employees um what do they have to do? Um it just seems that anybody that doesn't have for example if
somebody's on probationary I think that was topic 7B um is automatically dismantled. I think that's also a problem. There should there needs to be some criteria. the lack of criteria, the fact that it's written in such vague broadstroke terms, I have a problem from a legal contract
perspective. Um, second is actually what you said, uh, Mr. Green, I'm also new to this, uh, so I don't know your your names, but you mentioned something, so I'm just going to quote you. In the beginning, you said that public statement is a critical is a critically important part of our democracy. So, I
quote you, and that's actually why I showed up today. um I don't have any children and so um you know I my roots are in terms of I came to Forest ISD and I graduated and I've been able to achieve the American dream that my parents um had envisioned. But when you
have 140 people come up show show up here in an evening and speak in opposition and then yet you guys vote unanimously uh that's not listening. So Pete, I'm very confused how how you can say today that public comment is a critically important part of our democracy and yet you all vote
unanimously against what 140 people asked you not to do. I am concerned about the uh how democracy is eroding especially at the federal level. But what happened here on April 28th has me concerned that democracy is also eroding at the local level. So it's not okay to
vote unanimously especially what you did Rosa after your statement. Um, so please listen, but listen with the intent to learn, not listen with the intent to execute what you what you've already been asked to do by Greg Agbet. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Chararma.
>> Next speaker is Dr. Robert Rogers and Dr. Rogers will be followed by EJ Kerrion. >> Good evening. Um, yes, I'm a physician doctor, not an educational doctor. Um, and my specialty uh has to do with what
I want to talk about tonight. Um, because as I read this flexibility that we're proposing to give the superintendent to, uh, employ people, uh, it makes me interested in
the theory of action pillar 3, excellent talent incentivized to improve empower students. Um, as an allergist, if one of you all had a beasting reaction tonight and you needed treatment for your anaphilaxis, I'm re I'm ready. I'm
prepared. I know how to do that. I've had extensive training and I know that I I know that field. If one of you had a heart attack based on an arrhythmia tonight, I could do
CPR. I know how to use an AED. But when you get to the cardiac intensive care unit, you do not want an allergist taking care of your heart attack. You want a cardiologist who has done years and years of training, goes to all of
the conferences, learns from the best, keeps up to date. The reason I'm bringing this up is that our district is in the intensive care unit. We have done a miserable job of teaching children to
read. There is no way around that. And I think the reason for the takeover is fundamentally based on that failure to teach to teach reading. However, through all of this process of bringing new people in. We have a lot of new
cabinet people. We have I think a great new group of elevate principles here. I have not heard a word about the specialist who is going to be the support that these people need to teach reading who
the cabinet does not have that experience. I've heard claims over and over again 100% of our stu third grade students would be reading at third uh at grade level by 2025. That was last year. We
missed that by a lot. So when we hear we're going to have the best district in the state or the nation, this just goes over me. Show me some evidence. And board of managers, I want you to ask for this. Show us
evidence that we have experts in teaching reading that can give the support to these people so that they will know what to do. I haven't heard a word of that yet. I'm not going to presume that that plan has been made. I think we need to know that that plan has
been made. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Rogers. Our next speaker is EJ Kerrion. And Mr. Kerrion will be followed by Alexander Montalvo. And Mr. Kerrion is going to speak to us
about employee action items. Thank you, Mr. Kerrion. Uh the item I came to speak on is efforts to lay off staff and teachers. Um I want to make a recommendation that we lay off the Fort Worth Way. Uh Dr. Lacata, you may not
know what the Fort Worth is yet, but the Fort Worth, how I like to describe it, it's a network of people who are focused on the interests, protecting the interests and money of white commun privileged white community members. And the facade that they create is they create order, they create niceness. uh
you use words like politeness and compliant with our kids very Fort Worth way language so you are picking up really quickly u but I want to talk about why I think we should lay off the Fort Worth way um one I want to say history of how the Fort Worth way since you're new here is um honestly we're
talking about Ferington Field but did you know uh Pete Garren's grandfather and is an architect I mean he worked on Fington Field Arlington Heights TCU Fort Worth ISD Texas Wesland The person to your left, uh, you know, his family
built Fort Worth and, uh, Pete Garin is an architect of the Fort Worth. Uh, him and his brother Charlie Garren. Pete is a Democrat, four-term US House of Representative. He coined Blue Dog Democrats. Uh, he worked for, uh, President George Bush, uh, United States
Secretary of Air Force. He worked for Obama. Uh and so you know then at 2011 he started the Sid or he became president of the Sid Richardson Foundation and that's where the architect of the Fort Worth because moderate Democrat shows up wants to protect the city. His brother Charlie
Garren at the time was a moderate Republican and so he shows up and they say we have to protect Fort Worth a couple other families and they protect that order and status that's been going on for decades. And so we talk about firing staff and teachers and people who are qualified, but we're talking about a
guy who's given millions of dollars to this education system. And so I can't understand how we could look at the failure of Fort Worth ISD and not look directly at ourselves. I mean, you have we have allowed Tim O'Hare to take over TAD and lower
property taxes so schools don't get funded. We are driving by Mercy Culture and they're promoting Abbott's voucher program. Why are we thinking about laying off the teachers and the staff when it's time to lay off the Fort Worth? You know, your brother voted for Ten Commandments in
school. Your brother voted for the voucher program. Your brother locked a black woman, Nicole Cooier, in chamber because she wouldn't take a DHS agent. This is the Fort Worth way that has gotten us to this exact point. And what does the Fort Worth do? I love all the
140 people who came up here to speak to you guys. That's very Fort Worth way. They come up. think you guys have power, think you guys can do something, and then they yell at you, give you the benefit of the doubt, and they cry and realize you guys can't do anything anyways. And so I say it's time to lay
off the Fort Worth. And Pete, it's unfortunate that your dad architect the city and you're here to burn it down. Thank you, Mr. Kerrion. Our next speaker is Alexander Montalvo and he is going to speak to the agenda
items the chapter 21 employees. >> All right. I I think I'm here. I just we've heard from a lot of folks is just we have a lot of questions and I think a new question that I have coming in and hearing you talk, Pete, is about the executive session being moved to the
front of the meeting. So, it's my understanding that one of the functions of us being able to have public comments is that you get to hear from the community. Hopefully there's some deliberation up here in front of the community so we understand what's going on, but that you may have to have some questions behind closed doors to
figure out things. Essentially, it seems like you're telling us you're going to have those conversations before you hear from anybody. You're going to make your decisions. You're going to do your time to hear us out, but in the end, you
don't care what we say. You don't care about our perspective or our voice. And then you're going to vote most likely unanimously just like you have been up to this point. Even after almost 140 people talk to you about an issue that they care about. Peter, you're still in
the community gaslighting everybody and saying that INA was a failure. You're still using STAR data when you're not using Telpass data. community members are walking up directly to you to tell you this was, you know, you know, it was a temporary situation for students and that, you know, that we're just coddling
them and that is better for them to be immersed into a world that they are completely some unfamiliar with language, culture, and everything. And it's just for me it shows how callous both of you are in leading this board of
managers and leading this district especially when we start asking about the staff and the teacher and your pillar five theory of action is excellent service to students parents and staff. I don't see any of that. My
daughter in the district doesn't see any of that. And those teachers that came last week and the people are here today aren't seeing that. So pillar five is a huge failure as of right now and based on these decisions and how you're operating and how you continue to gaslight community I don't really
anticipate any of that changing. So if the goal is to dismantle anything that forth ISD has been able to be successful at regardless of the people regardless of the talent so that you can get the yes people from anywhere
in the country who won't set up roots in our community who won't get to know our families and who are just going to be here for an elevated paycheck and then move on once y'all decide to shift things or shift the blame or whatever it is y'all have next in y'all
you know, tactics and playbook. I think all of us have to ask ourselves, why are we given you any room to talk to us and gaslight us with whatever propaganda you're trying to give us. And
I encourage everyone to question every single thing that each of you as individuals are doing in our community >> and whether you deserve those roles and how we can make sure that we voice and power.
>> Thank you, Mr. Montalva. You know, we don't respond to speakers, but there was a factual inaccuracy as far as what happens in the executive session. We do not discuss matters on the agenda that we're going to vote. Very prescribed
what can happen in special session. They're legal matters, their personnel matters, and their real estate matters. We do not talk about what we're going to vote on here. So, I want to make that clarification. Um, we're very strict about what happens in executive session.
It's legally prescribed and and we follow those rules. So, I want to thank everybody for being here tonight and Mr. Matavo, would you please uh not interrupt the proceedings?
>> Thank you. Pardon me. One second. our next item on the agenda, a beg pardon. I lost the my my own agenda up here. So, uh it's going to have a update from the superintendent. I turn this over to Dr. Lacata. Thank
you, Dr. Lacata. >> Well, thank you very much, sir. Um just want to give an update on some things that are happening out and about. Um been about to about 160 classrooms and these are not walk-in walkout. We spend some time in there. We talk to the
principal and the AP and we go through a process and what could be better, what is really good we want to see more of. We also see how the service of the students is taking place in the classroom. I I can't see it from my office. So I spend most of my days in schools and many of those in front of me
have known that that that's where I spend most of my time is in schools so I can actually see and learn Fort Pier Fort Worth. I also want to talk about a stopover today that was uh not on my calendar and I stopped at the World Language Institute.
What an absolute gem. We have 400 students on a waiting list. We have 500 students in there. They are multi-ingual. Not two, not three, four, maybe five. They do English, Spanish, French, German, Italian. I got to speak to the Italian teacher a little bit. Uh
they do Japanese, they do Mandarin, and they do sign language. I may have missed one. Um but uh I got I left that place understanding that we we have a gem that we need to expand on. We have 400 kids waiting to get in there. They have virtually 100% graduation rate. They
have a wall of graduates. they're seniors of of all the acceptances underneath of there and there's I mean multiple colleges under each one of these students uh it's 87% free and reduced lunch that that schools they
hold that standard for that child to come in and make sure they reach their highest potential and not shoot for growth or proficiency and I am just thoroughly impressed and we have to expand on that and it will be a topic uh as we move forward about expanding the options for more of our kids to
experience that environment because it is phenomenal. I also want to talk about um our job fairs over the last uh three or four weeks. Um they've been incredibly successful. We've hired nearly 600 new teachers over that time. Um we're still calculating
them and putting them in the system. But more importantly, this past weekend, we had about 248 teachers be placed from the external part of our job fair. We had an amazing amazing job fair. I want to thank uh all the folks that were uh a part of that.
Our regional chiefs worked extra hard. Dr. Ciss uh Miss Spencer, everybody involved on this. Dr. Kushner, what an amazing event. Every school had their own banner, iron cloth, and we rang a cowbell every time. And it was
hard to do interviews or talk to people because cowbells were ringing so often. And I spoke with several folks, some from uh Pier, Illinois, uh Illinois, Pascula, my where I went to high school at Fort Pierce Westwood. So if I ever say Fort Pierce, I mean Fort Worth, but
I went to Fort Pierce Westwood and graduated from there. Someone who actually played basketball with his brother. So it was really nice seeing so many people hearing about wanting to make an impact uh on on on the campuses here in Fort Worth. So um we are holding
an expectation to have zero vacu vacancies when we start and even over hiring teachers as we move forward and having a bank of teachers. So when a student gets to the school and the teacher didn't show up and maybe took another job or got sick for a few weeks, they're not getting a substitute. They're getting a real teacher that can
fill in immediately. And that's going to happen first on our Elevate campuses. I want to highlight our top 10 finalists for our teachers of the year that I got to meet personally. uh a few weeks ago and I've been visiting him ever since. I'm I'm down to about five more I need
to see. Jacqueline Bender from Woodway Woodway Elementary School. Alandre DeLeon Tjo at Alice D Contreros Elementary School. I am really working on annunciating uh these Hispanic names. I think it's important that I learn
this. Um and I'll sneak in an Italian verbage or accent every once in a while, so please forgive me. Marina Mindetta from West Hanley, Luis Ortiz from South High Mount, Dawn Bruns from Pasco High, Gina Marie Paladino from TCC South
Campus. Got to meet her today. She's an amazing math teacher. Uh Francisco Rodriguez from Strippling Middle School, Katherine Smith from Monig Middle School, and Caitlyn York from Leonard Middle School. This is uh a unique also conversation
because I've been attending with board members individually and going to schools that are in their area and we we're down to only having two uh one over there at the end. Uh but it's been very good for them to see what we're doing in classrooms and how we are actually standing by teachers and seeing
what's missing and what is great and how we can expand upon that. But it really I think is eyeopening and eventually maybe you all would like to open up publicly about that. But I think the best visit, and it's not to take away from anything, but to walk next to uh Mr. Steaggle in a school that he actually attended and see
some people that were still there, I think. And uh it was very impressive to see, you know, the connection you had there. But it was really nice to see a lot of you who have children in our district be able to attend the schools as well. Uh which is which is nice and ask questions about what's going on and
see that process of how we are the educational leaders. We are expert teachers. We are the ones that are going to stand by. We're not blaming teachers. We're going to stand next to them and work with them to make sure that the child's getting the best education. We
will diagnose that immediately. And that's why I want to introduce the next group of people. The group of people sitting in front of me have gone through a rigorous rigorous interview process. Not just questions and answers and who
you are and what your resume says, but they've been brought into classrooms with our team of regional chiefs, myself, our uh deputy of school, chief of schools, our chief of staff, and then they are quizzed. And then they are talked about what is going on in there,
what do you see? And it's a performance task like no other. And it's not easy. And they sweat. And I have to tell you quite a few people were turned away at that door after they did not pass that part of the assessment. These are the very best principles that we felt
applied for our positions in the elevate schools. And not all of them are here because some are from uh way out of town other states. But I do want to recognize the ones that are here that may have come out of retirement, that may have just been at their school for a few
years, that gave me the stories because when they walk into my office for final approval, I ask them, "Tell me who you are and don't tell me your resume." And to hear what they have to say about who they are is just phenomenal. So, uh, as I go in order, please stand, uh, so we
can recognize you. U Tamara Dugan, Clifford Davis Elementary School. Juanita White at Vanzant. Tiffany Moody at Marri Watson. Marty, sorry. Robert Berentos at Diamond
Hill. Celia Sanchez at William James. Katie Meyers Alice at Rafina Mendoza. Janae Capshaw at William Green Elementary School.
Amelia Cortez Wrangler at Western Hills Elementary School. Melissa Stro at William Monig Middle School. Marlet Martinez at West Hanley,
Alexandra Montes at WJ Turner, Amber Jordan at Hazel Harvey Peace, Christopher Latson, Wedgewood Middle School, and finally,
Katherine Ridley at Morningside Middle School. I want to tell you that it is a pleasure. I am proud. I am honored to be able to personally say this is your next role. And I know some of it some of you it happened right on the spot because we
saw what you were doing. You some of you were already in that role and you just impressed the team so much even under the circumstances of having so many vacancies in your school not being supported. So those things are changing. That's why we know you've done a great job with little resources, but you guys
are on the front line of some of our most difficult and challenging schools, but those kids deserve you and they deserve us and as a lot of the speakers say, they deserve the very best and this is our effort to make that turn. So, I appreciate it very, very much. One more
round of applause for these amazing principles. I also want to make a really big personal announcement. Uh, this might be the last night for me on an air mattress and four Costco folding chairs because I think my furniture truck is arriving to the new home we bought last week. So, we are in it. My wife and I, we've moved
here. We live nowhere else, but this is where we live and this is where I am going to enjoy the next teen years of uh being around a great great community and a great city that really cares about what's coming for these kids. So, thank you.
>> Thank you, Dr. Lacata. I'd ask we I've had questions. I know board members have had questions about the investment that you're making in the lowest performing schools in the poorest parts of our district. And uh you've acknowledged that there are some
uh schools that are better resourced than others and uh staffed differently. Uh could could you talk for a moment particularly what you're doing in the elevate schools, how you chose the elevate schools and the additional resources and support that that you're
applying to uh our our children who have not received the support they needed in the past. >> I I appreciate that question and it frustrates me a little bit simply because when I first started with the team, we designated so many schools that we really wanted to put this model into.
This is a costly model, but it's worth it. And we were at about 48 schools. Then we knocked it down to 35. I was pushing for 35. And that is a massive budget hall. So we got down to uh the number. And I will let uh Dr. Ciss, chief of schools, explain how uh he
talked me into going down further. But the model that he is uh working with that we are all supporting immensely. And uh it's pretty impressive. But uh just because you're not in Elevate doesn't mean you are not going to get the very best. It's all going to be the
same. But we have to make sure these F schools, which are mostly F schools, are not on that because there are some great teachers in there and there are some great kids in there and we want to make sure all of them are. So I'm going to let you go, sir. >> Good evening, President Garren, board of managers, and superintendent Lacata. To
answer your question pointedly, um, in order for an Elevate school to join the Elevate network, essentially had to be an F-rated school, a D-rated school with a domain 1F, meaning their student achievement is still at an F rating. Um,
their domain three also had to be at a 75 or below, meaning they are really struggling closing the gaps in achievement. Uh, and also closing the gaps for uh, black and brown students. and our special our special group student groups. Uh the unique staffing
model that will be placed at the Elevate schools include uh positions that are very unique to Elevate uh including a learning facilitator, a uh resident teacher. So we are never in a situation in an Elevate school where we need
substitute teachers and we can guarantee uh continuity in the instructional delivery. So our students are not missing any instructional time when a a teacher has to be absent. Uh we will have standardized ratios for our our
classrooms. So we will make sure that no classroom exceeds uh 25 students in any of the any of our classrooms and we are working very strategically uh behind the scenes right now and building out the model uh with all of the cabinet members
uh because it's it's truly a collaborative effort from HR to FMO to the IT team and making sure we have all of our classrooms ready to roll on day one uh when we kick off the 2627 school year. I'd like to add to that that those
resources and that's why we had to narrow it down. Um, and I I'm throwing out a round number. So, gentlemen in the middle that are staring at me. You two, you know who I'm talking to. Uh, this can be anywhere from three to four and a half million depending on
the size of school, additional resources that we have cut out of this building that will be going to those schools. That's how we do this. We prescribe to the schools. We put the very best educational leaders who will not be worrying about buses and air conditioning and waxed floors. That's a
different person that'll be operating. That's a different person. Principles are side by side next to those teachers and they are the best educational leaders of those schools. It's worth the investment. We get that rolling, get them all out of there. We we move to a different model. We make sure all of our
schools are not D or F. A and B is our ultimate goal. Uh so it's worth the effort. It's worth the money. It's worth putting our uh best people in those most difficult schools because those children deserve it and those communities deserve it around there and they they absolutely deserve our attention. So, thank you,
sir. >> Thank you, Dr. Lacata. You alluded to the job fair this weekend and the number of teachers that you that you hired this this weekend. How many applicants showed
up at the at the job fair this past Saturday? This past Saturday, I think we had close to 460 register, almost 500 register. I know that we hired uh approximately 295 teachers and we hired assistants and
such as well. Some just were not there for for the they weren't able to be in front of our students, shall we say. So, overall, I mean, we've had probably close to would it be fair to say almost 600 hires. We're calculating that now. our new chief of HR has been um working
too many hours because I keep sending her questions. Where are numbers? And I do want to say this and I'm not talking about the past. We have a lot of systems that we don't have that we can't get these numbers instantly. And we got to build some systems in this in in the district to be able to diagnose what our
biggest issues are, where they are, how they are. So we're building systems at the same time we're trying to support schools and and you know schools number one is the number one but we have to start building some systems because we're not efficient right now. We're in an inefficient model. So I and not speaking ill of anything but that number
should be handy and it took it took a little bit to get those numbers because it was counted by hand. So we have to get away from those kind of things. >> Thank you Dr. Lacata. Did any of the other board members have any questions? Okay. If we have none, we're now moving
to the action agenda items. Um, agenda item A is approve the renewal and awarding of probationary and term chapter 21 contracts of specified certified employees for the 26 2026 2027
contract year. Is there a motion concerning this item? I move to approve the list of employees recommended by the superintendent for renewal and awarding of chapter 21 term and probationary contracts for the 2026 2027 contract year.
>> Motion made by Mr. Perha. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> We have second. >> We we have a second. Is there any discussion? We'll now move to voting.
We have is Lori the it's moved to the okay pardon me the screen at the on the right the screen on the left moved off the page uh we have
four voting I none voting No, the motion passes. >> We have seven voting. >> That looks like a four. >> Oh, pardon me. I'm I'm just Seven voted. No, our screen is only partly up right
now. So, could we adjust it so we get the all the the names on the on the screen? There we go. All right. Thank you. Seven voted. I none abstained. None voted. No, the motion passes.
We now move to agenda item B. Approve proposed non-renewal of certain term contract employees pursuant to chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code. Is there a motion? Uh, I move to propose non-renewal of the term contracts of the following
employees pursuant to chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code. Um, Irwin Santiago, Kimberly Jenkins, and Danielle Branch. Do we have a second? >> I'll second.
>> We have a second. Is there any discussion? We'll now move to voting. We have seven voting. I none abstained none voting no. The motion passes. Move to agenda item C.
Recommendation to terminate certain probationary contract employees at the end of the contract period in the best interest of the district pursuant to chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code. Is there a motion concerning this item?
I move to terminate the probationary contracts of the following employees at the end of the contract term in the best interest of the district pursuant to chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code. Felix Martinez, John Shade, Stacy
Sweeney, Jaclyn Despero, Mario Kario Sanchez, Leticia Aila. >> Do we have a second? Second. >> We have a second. Is there any discussion?
We'll now move to voting. We have 15 yes votes, no abstensions, and no nos. The motion passes. Seven eye votes. Item agenda item D will night take up
this evening. The last agenda item is agenda item E. Approve proposed revisions to board policy DCE local employment practices other types of contracts. Is there a motion concerning this item? I move to approve the proposed revisions
to board policy declo employment practices and other types of contracts as as set forth in the agenda documents. >> Do we have a second? >> I second that. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. We'll now move to voting.
Outcome seven voting yes, no abstensions and no nos. The motion passes. This concludes the items on the agenda for tonight's meeting. I'd like to close by again thanking all of the community members who came out tonight and that
shared with us. We appreciate your participation in the process. Want to congratulate all these principles here tonight. We look forward to your outstanding success. Glad we had the opportunity to acknowledge you and introduce you. As there is no further
business, the time is 7:15 p.m. and this meeting is adjourned. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat.