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Yeah, two minutes fast. Good evening. The meeting is now convened. It is 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21st, 2026. A quorum of the board is present in the room in accordance with Texas Open
Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551. There are Bobby Aier, Frost Po, Luis Gindo, Mo Rosa, Maria Berdea, Tennessee Walker, and Lori George is going to zoom in on video. I don't
see that she's here yet. Um, and Courtney Lewis will is running a little late, but in with with their absence, we still have a quorum. Um, the time is now 5:01 p.m. on
Tuesday, July 21st, 2026. We'll now recess and reconvene for executive session as authorized by chapter 5501 of the Texas Government Code under sections 551071, 072, 074, and 076.
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Oh, and it feels so good. I feel so good. Feel so good. I feel so good. I feel so good.
Everything so good. Everything so good. I 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 on love. Oh, we're going to take you higher. Oh,
oh, we going to lift you up. 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. We going to take you higher. Oh, oh, we going to lift you up. Oh yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah yeah.
Yeah yeah yeah. We're going to take you higher. We're going to lift you up. Oh, we going to take you higher. Oh, oh, we going to lift you up. We going to take you. Take your
We going to lift you up. We're going to take you out. You going to lift you all. Oh. You take me higher. You take me higher. You take me higher. Higher.
You take me higher. You take me higher. Higher. You take me higher. You take me higher. You take me higher. Higher. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. The best is yet to come.
The best is yet to come. The best is yet to come. The rest is yet to come. The best is yet to come. is yet to come. The best is yet to come.
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Heat. Heat. Down, down, bouncy. Patient Yeah. Yeah. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Come on. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Bill, Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N.
It's a star. 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. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. You okay? Good. Security go. In accordance with the Open Meetings Act, the board opened the meeting at 5:00 p.m. with a quorum present,
recessed open session, convened executive session, adjourned executive session, and now reconvened open session at 6:08 p.m. with a quorum present. Please stand with me and and welcome
Emma Zuniga from Diamond Hill Jarvis High School who will sing our national anthem. And after that, we'll pledge allegiance to the United States flag and the flag of the state of Texas. Oh, say by the dawn early light.
But so proudly we held at the twilight last gleaming whose brush stripes and bright stars
through the perilous fight or the parts we were so gallently streaming.
And the rockets reds burst in gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh s that star spangled b or the land of the free and the home of the Wow. Please join us in the pledge. Thank you. And and Emma, thank you.
Magnificent performance. Goosebumps. Thank you. Before we begin public comment, and I only do this as a reminder because it's a change in policy. Um, we've changed the guidelines regarding signs. Obviously, not not an issue tonight, but
when you make a change, it's important just to remind folks so that we don't have a misunderstanding going forward. Signs will will be permitted in the boardroom only if they comply with the district's updated posted meeting guidelines. Signs must be handheld, may not exceed 11 by 17 in, and may not be
attached to poles, sticks, or other supports. Signs may not obstruct anyone's view, block aisles, entrance, exits, or safety equipment, create a safety concern, or disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting. If a sign does not comply with these guidelines, uh we would ask that it be removed. Thank
everybody for complying with that existing protocol. Our next agenda item is public comment. We truly value public comment and thank all of you for turning out on a weekday
evening to to share your views with us. Before hearing public comment, I want to share a brief reminder of our processes and expectations to ensure everyone has a fair opportunity to speak. Public comment is conducted in accordance with the Fort Worth ISD board policy and the
Texas Open Meetings Act and must be managed in an orderly and consistent manner. 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. Presiding officer may make adjustments when needed to manage time and ensure everyone is
heard. At regular meetings such as we have tonight, speakers may address any topic. At special meetings, comments are limited to items on the posted agenda. The board listens to all public comments, but we do not ga 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 their own child if they choose. Speakers are also encouraged to avoid naming individual employees or volunteers and instead address concerns at the campus program or district level where appropriate. We also ask that concerns about individual employees or
students or other confidential matters be directed through the 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 and
conclude your remarks promptly when your three minutes have expired. um just ask that everyone accord every speaker the duty the duty of respect uh that all of us would expect for for
ourselves. Um okay is we have 22 speakers signed up. I see we have an elected official president in Brandon Hall. But Mr. Hall, you you have not signed up to speak, have you? Okay.
Our practice is to move elected officials to to the front. And uh thank you for being here tonight. Thank you for your service to our kids. Again, we have 22 speakers. Our first speaker tonight
is Mr. Bob Willoughby and Mr. Willoughby will be followed by Lauren Chong. Uh Mr. Willoughby, please come forward. Thanks for being here. Well, I've been complimenting you a lot, but the honeymoon might be over with now. I've got a uh an issue that's been
going on with this ISD for over several years. One is not getting return calls. Now, I listened and I went back and I looked at the rules to see if there was anything about it. And I noticed you say that uh you prefer we not mention
employees names and stuff like that. And I wholly agree with you, but when the administration's not doing its job, this is the only place left to say it. And I called three times to the city manager's off the three times. I told his aid last
time, not calling again. I've been for a month trying to find out who sets the school policies for renting a school. I've been trying to rent one for over a month. A month. No one will answer that question. Now, the
neighborhood alliance, Menbrook, just had a school last night and they had y'all there and they host it. They use the school. I can't get a return call. Now, this is the dead end. This is a brick wall. And I'm going have to keep hitting this wall till we get past it. Now, when y'all did something about the
school rentals, you had to have an insurance. You didn't have to have that before, but now you do. Whatever. So, I want to find out who sets the policies. How can I go back? I want the rental library elementary school in September. Now, I'm going to move it up another month because I'm running out of time now. There's not time. I promote things
when I do it. I put out leaflets, signs, and all kind of stuff, and it takes time. Mike Nonham will not return calls and he's done this in the past and he don't answer and I've got plenty of recordings with Mike. I will put them out publicly on Facebook and everywhere. I You know
what? The employees that work for the government should be held to the same standard as the private market. Now, I used to thought employees for our government here locally and stuff would be hired held to a higher standard than the private. They're not. to a lower is
what I find out. When someone like Mike that makes over $128,000 a year and can't return a free phone call, that's disrespectful. And this is not the first time. This is multiple times. And like I said, I called his office three times. I said,
"No more. That's enough." Now, I've gone through that route. It's not working. I'm coming to you. I want someone to tell me who sets the policies and I want to talk to them and say about renting a school. You got my neighborhood association shut down. I can't rent
anymore. I'm at a brick wall. So, let's see if transparency now action, not words. Okay, I would appreciate it. And this is such a simple thing. Can you believe a month of several calls and emails and back and forth and no answer?
That's ridiculous. Do something about it. Call me. Let me know. Thank you. Have a good life. >> Thank you, Mr. Willoughby. Dr. Lacano. >> Mr. Willoughby. Uh well, I'm not sure how your message has not got to whomever, but I have my COO and my chief
of staff that'll gladly talk to you and resolve anything you need at this time. >> Right now, >> yeah, right now. >> Which one? Both. >> Go with go with Miss Spencer. But thank you. >> Which one come? I'd be glad. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you very much. >> No, you're welcome. Thank you for bringing the attention.
>> Thank you, Mr. Willoughby. Our next speaker is Lauren Chong. and Miss Chong will be followed by Reed Bills. >> I'm Lauren Chong, the parent of two Fort Worth ISD students, and I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
How does exceptionalism and academic success happen? It is nurtured in the classroom. When I was a student at Pascal High School, Fort Worth ISD entrusted the teachers with the treasured gift of autonomy. As a result, I benefited from a variety of creative learning styles that the teachers would
tailor to the students in their classrooms. We read full texts of Shakespeare, had philosophical debates, and came to understand the world from a global perspective. These were just a few of the intangible benefits of my Fort Worth ISD education
in the 90s. But tremendous creativity on the part of the teachers was at the root of it all. The teachers I had at in Fort Worth ISD opened the door to my future. And to my astonishment, I walked into an Ivy League education. A few years before me, Taylor Sheridan and a self-described
theater kid would graduate from Pascal and go on to conquer Hollywood. The accomplishment of Fort Worth ISD high school grads range from playwriting to business and everything in between. My point is that up until now, a Fort Worth ISD education has opened incredible doors and infinite possibilities for
students. up until now because now we have the TEA takeover. Our talented students can of of course still achie achieve success but I feel that it would be in spite of not because of the TEA takeover. Since the TEA takeover, we have witnessed the untimely ousting of
our wonderful dulyeleed school board members, the dismissal of Dr. Karen Molinar, and according to the Dallas Morning News, the exodus of 800 beloved teachers across the district. The tea takeover has established an atmosphere of fear, demoralizing teachers, parents, students, and administrators. This
draconian micromanagement is going to choke every ounce of creative energy and drive out of our beloved teachers and make academics who make academic success possible. The TEA takeover is an innovation and creativity killer. My Fort Worth ISD high school student
shared a list with me of problems with the TEA takeover. It's unfair to students because students cannot have needed breaks during long classroom sessions. Students are restricted if the many of the many uh from the many freedoms they previously had, such as
off-campus lunch and free time during class. Many learning methods that would be considered more fun, are no longer allowed. She says it's unfair to teachers because teachers are forced to limit their decorations and self-exression in the classroom, making the spaces less
inviting and fun. She lists unre unreasonably strict rules such as needing to keep lights at highest possible brightness and maintaining fluid seating. Teachers are constantly at risk of termination and many have already been out of a job for unre unjustifiable reasons. And finally,
teachers are unable to sit or grade work during class because they must aggressively monitor students which creates more work for them after school hours. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss John. Our next speaker is Reed Bills and Miss Bills will be
followed by Ambika Chararma. As I read the headlines in local media, the Fort Worth ISD appears to be in crisis. There is a shortfall of funds and personnel for the upcoming new school year, which begins in a few
weeks. and this board is ftting over ethics policies governing their own and future boards or maybe only the distant future elected board the agenda item is not clear.
Additionally, you are rushing through changes in the student code of conduct without any indication that you have sought input from teachers or parents who are most affected by these new policies.
I am not objecting to the changes. They are needed eventually, just not right now. I suggest that you postpone these policy proposals until a later date when your time and energy are not needed to
address the current problems that you were appointed to solve. Thank you, Miss Bills, Miss Chararma, and Miss Chararma will be followed by Gordon Appleman. >> Okay. Um, good evening. I recently read forth ISD's response in Sheam Alzub's
lawsuit. It was filed by your attorneys on July 17th, I believe, and I came away obviously and of course with more concerns than reassurances. The district tells the court that Miss Alzubi violated no district policy and no state law. She it says that she remains a valued employee. It even argues that
removing her as the incoming principal of Western Hills High School was actually a promotion because it included higher pay and a district level leadership role, something that principles eventually aspire to. The district's explanation or reassignment or promotion, whatever you want to call
it, it rests on allegations of threats. The filing references a threatening postcard and a threatening phone call. Yet, it only states that the phone call was reported to the district safety and security department. Did Forth ISD report these threats to the Forward Police Department? Did a report to the
FBI? Uh, were these threats investigated as potential criminal acts such as hate crime? If these threats were serious enough to justify removing an incoming principal, why weren't these serious enough to warrant a criminal investigation? I'm also troubled by district's
litigation strategy. Forworth ISD is asking the court to decide the preliminary injunction based on filings rather than a hearing. Yet the district's justification dispend depends on disputed facts. Who made the reassignment decision? What threats were
received, how those threats were evaluated, and why reassignment was chosen over additional security. Those facts should be tested under oath. Public confidence is not built through compelling compelling or compelling legal briefings. It is built through
testimony, evidence, and transparency. Finally, the district tells the court that the board of managers had nothing to do with Miss Olivia's reassignment. That should concern every taxpayer in Fort Worth. The board of managers was appointed to govern this district. If
the board played no role in one of the most consequential personnel decisions since taking over, then who did? Who authorized the reassignment? Who reviewed the decision? Who exercised oversight? Leadership without accountability is not governance.
Forward is cannot have it both ways. If this truly was a promotion, then explain why the incoming principal of a high school had to be promoted after some trolls online created controversy in hatefilled echo chambers. And if this truly was a safety decision, then show
that public then show the public that every reasonable step was taken to investigate those threats and protect the employee before removing her against her will. The case is more is more than just an employee. It is about whether forth ISD is willing to stand behind decisions of its employees. If the
district believes it made the right decision, then it should welcome public scrutiny. We demand a hearing, not written filings. Thank you, Miss Chararma. Next speaker is Gordon Appleman, and Mr.
Appleman will be followed by Baze Mega. >> Good evening. My name is Gordon Appleman. I want to express my appreciation to some responses that I have gotten to some of my emails. However, multiple questions remain about
the new RFP for the seven tracks adjoining Fington Field. It seems that several actions that could have been taken before receipt of responses have not occurred. Without them, how will the district analyze which, if any,
proposals to approve and on what terms? The RFP number two response date is July 24th, this Thursday, Friday. How many proposals have been received? Was RFP2
motivated as stated by a sudden impulse for transparency or by the law by the few responses to RFP1? Examples of some open questions follow.
If the answers are no, why not? Have the title opinions on the tracks been obtained? Have the tracks been appraised? Have any efforts been made to identify other sources of funds to repair for Fairington Field, for
example, the fund reserve, a capital campaign, tiff funds? Have you talked about alternatives with knowledgeable people who are willing to help? Some have self-identified and others have been suggested.
Savings from school closures. The 20267 budget just adopted has a $49 million deficit. Our Nash school sales proceeds dedicated to repair
year round programming like in Mansfield, which just opened a new stadium. Stadium repair costs have ranged from 26 million in 2022 to 55 or so million now. But when I
asked for a written report, I was told that there is none. Why was the sports anchored criteria for the seven tracks removed from RFP2? Why is a data center not prohibited in
this area? If these questions have been answered, they have not made it into the district's new transparency regime. At the Pascal High listening session, it was stated that a transcript of the comments would be posted on the district
website. If it has, I have been unable to locate it. Is this project going to be subject to a mandatory Mike Morath script like the stad like the curriculum? And even if a sale
of Fington and Billingsley is not contemplated, development of the adjoining projects could merely materially adversely affect the use of Fington. >> Thank you, Mr. Billingsley Fal. >> Our next speaker is Bae Mego
and Mr. Mego will be followed by Rita McWaters. My name is Bass Migo. Today I sent the board an email about my speech. I hope you were able to get it. I also wrote Parren just a brief summary of that
email that I was going to give to the lady with a clipboard who monitors the speakers today. U she was not here so I gave it to another gentleman who will uh deliver that letter to you Mr. Garren after this meeting. If possible if I could reclaim
my time now to to start my speech if possible. >> Well please proceed. Okay. Again, uh thank you everybody for being here and taking the time uh to attend this meeting. Uh my name is Bass Migo.
I'm an educator with the uh Reach Disability Center downtown Fort Worth. And I advocate for for the folks at REACH. Uh and uh one of the things that we do uh is we we speak at various uh
city and county uh public comment sessions uh including the mayor's committee on persons with disability, the Tarant County commissioners court as well as the JPS board meetings and
the Fort Worth city council. Those websites are very straightforward uh when I help those who I'm advocating for to sign up for reasonable accommodations and
it's a very simple process. Uh unfortunately with the Fort Worth ISD uh I noticed it's it's almost non-existent in in having that process easily available. I did a search. The closest thing I came to was under the
framework of employee reasonable accommodation uh to to suit workplace type issues. So, uh, that is the the main thing I'm addressing today is that they the website really needs to be improved to
to where the request for reasonable accommodation, especially those who are making public comments during the sessions. uh to have that to where those who are disabled can easily find it, apply for it, and then be able
to speak uh without any types of disturbances. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Mingo. >> Sure. Dr. Licato would like to speak to that.
>> Mr. Rigo, I appreciate your time and coming forward and speaking with us. Our new communications chief is in the room right now and he will be handling the website and I think it's important that he has an opportunity to speak with you and get your perspective on what our new website will look like because we are in
the process of looking at how the new website should operate and I really would appreciate your perspectives on what it's like to navigate and as we go through these contracts and look at it. It's an invaluable uh opportunity for us to take advantage of your uh perspectives. So, thank you very very
much. >> Thank you. I appreciate >> Thank you, Dr. Lacata. Our next speaker is Rita McWaters and Miss McWaters will be followed by Sabrina Ball. Hi, good evening. As many of you know, Literacy Roundup has spent the summer
testing children for dyslexia across Tarant County and 14 community centers, five libraries, three freedom schools, and as well as on the fly for anyone who asks. In June and July alone, we screened over 600 students, and two of them were identified as at risk for
dyslexia. So far, we've met with almost all those families to explain what their child's results mean and to walk them through next steps. Every one of these families has been offered advocacy by our organization. Advocacy looks different for every family. It can mean
helping them make and manage appointments with their school, uh explaining timelines and evaluation processes, uh tracking down the right contacts at their school. Like you said, we've also had trouble using websites and tracking down who to talk to. Um clarifying what testing means and even
going with uh families to meetings at the school. So why am I telling you this? Because our goal is simple, to find every undiagnosed child in Tarant County and to get them the services that they need to thrive. What does this mean for Fort Worth ISD? It means that more families are going to be showing up at
your schools informed, prepared, and aware of their rights under the law. So, I ask you, will you be ready to serve these students? Will there be staffing in place? Will you have enough diagnosticians uh ready to test? Will you have enough certified academic language therapists ready to go? Um, are
parents going to be able to use the website and find the information that they need? Um, and are they going to have the supports that they're legally entitled to? Uh, so we're doing our part to identify all these children and we're hoping that the district will be ready to serve them. Thank you.
>> You know, your voice broke when you said the number of students that you identified at risk. I didn't hear that number. >> Almost 200 over 200. 209 to be exact. >> 209. Thank you. Thanks, Miss Mcer. Next speaker is Sabrina Ball and Miss
Ball will be followed by Amanda Annai. At the last meeting, Dr. Lacata repeated, "We're going to do what's best for kids, not adults." Sir, a lot of us are parents, and insulting us with a Heritage Foundation talking point is not in the best interest of our kids. We
have the right to be here. I don't care if you were hired by our elected board or forced on us by the Texas GOP. We have the right to hold you accountable for your words and your deeds. This is Texas where our Constitution recognizes our right to direct our kids education. When you and your chief act chiefs act
in ways that drive away good teachers and principles, you're not doing what's best for kids. When you're dishonest about the numbers, you're not doing what's best for kids. When you try to move a principal with proven results to a desk job at the behest of a white Christian nationalist, you're not doing what's best for kids. When you move a
beloved teacher and soccer coach to a school without soccer to appease the same guy, that hurts kids. So take that phrase, Dr. Lacata, and throw it back on the steaming pile and apologize to this community. If you want us to be partners, treat us with respect. We were
not complacent. We wanted change. We just don't buy that this is evidence-based because you have not shown us any evidence. Mr. Garin, you said reading is a civil right. And when I hear those words come out of your mouth knowing your history in this town, all I see is a drained swimming pool.
When public pools were created in this country, communities chose to drain the pools rather than let black kids swim. The Texas GOP has been dismantling public education for the same reason. They poisoned public education with inequity like the acid they poured into
the pools. They created charter schools that segregate students, profit from public dollars, and answered to no taxpayers. They funded private schools like exclusive swim clubs of the past. And now this takeover is pulling the plug on the same thing. It is the same.
It's white kids. If white kids have to swim with black and brown kids, nobody swims. Instead of giving every child the best opportunity, regardless of race, the Texas GOP is draining the pool. And all of you are helping. Mr. Garin, you have no evidence this model works. None.
You have evidence from Houston that it's failing. Yet here you are carrying water for the GOP and calling it civil rights. If this were truly about civil rights, you'd repay the $262 million in misspent COVID funds to black and brown schools. You'd implement stronger language
programs instead of regressing. You'd make sure kids have food, supplies, and books that reflect their lives. You'd tell the GOP where to stick it. And you'd bring back programs like Girls Inc., My Brother's Keeper, and Con Me Madre. You don't get to dismantle public education and then claim you're fighting
for it. You don't get to create inequity and then wrap yourself in the language of civil rights. And you don't get to drain the pool and expect us to go along. The more than 1,000 teachers who have left this district as of June wanted more, and so do we.
Thank you, Miss Ball. Our next speaker is Amanda and I, and she will be followed by Randy Wheeler. Good evening. Um, Dr. upon your arrival here before you ever spoke one word to a teacher, you got on the news station and said uh you know
mediocrity and stuff like um we don't have the right or whatever you said to be before teachers or before students. I'm sorry. I'm a little frustrated tonight. Um you said that basically we didn't have the right to be before kids.
Uh well wish granted. 1,026 teachers. 1,026. Um, you cannot possibly tell me that all those teachers did not care about their kids cuz I know I'm one of them. I got extremely amazing results this year in a
very difficult place because it was a school that was has been underfunded for decades. A matter of fact, this past Saturday, my family and I spent our Saturday morning passing out food to my former students who are starving because you closed their school. Now, that's the mass exodus of teachers. Now, on to this
level three grievance change that y'all snuck in. You wanted to be all glorified up here saying, "Oh my goodness, we're going to say that, you know, uh board members can't take a certain amount of money from the community," which it really doesn't matter right now because you're here, not elected officials. What
matters right now is the injustice that all of you are serving to our kids. That's what matters right now. So, level three grievance, let me get to that. For years, we have had the ability to come and either say, "We want to hash out our grievance in this back room over
here, or we want to hash out our level three grievance out here in the public for everyone to see." And now you're trying to rob us of that, right? And not only that, not for the whole board to hear it, but let's appoint three board members to hear it. That is out of control. And that is not transparency at
all. At all. and we deserve the right for our own transparency should we choose it. Next, I've gotten so many complaints in the past two weeks of teachers and subs not receiving their proper pay. And then they're reaching out to HR, I don't know, payroll,
whoever it is, and we can't get our check stubs. That is asinine. If we I don't know of any employer I've ever worked for since I was a teenager that could not give me my check stub. So, please get these people their check stub. And if you messed up their pay, give them the right pay. Okay, thanks.
And mostly it's teachers that have resigned and then it's substitutes that had long-term substitute jobs and they weren't paid long-term sub substitute pay, but regular substitute pay. So, I need you to fix that, please, for the people. Now, lastly, inequity of
distribution of funds. You're driving all the Title One money, all of that money to elevate campuses. Mind you, they need funding. I will not dispute that. But what you're going to do is ignore the high other high-risisk campuses that also need the funding and the extra support and in the next one to
two years there are going to turn around and be elevate campuses too. So that is not equitable for principles to work without a budget to support children. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Randy Wheeler and Miss Wheeler will be
followed by Nelie Cardanis. Do you have everything you need? >> I do. I just just I just don't want to interrupt. >> Please proceed. >> Are you sure? >> I'm sure. Yeah. Please proceed. I I you know I want to make sure you guys are it's hard to like text and you know
listen and talk all at the same time. So Oh, I don't think that's fair. >> No. >> Can I get my three minutes back, please? >> Please proceed. >> Well, oh, thank you. So, here we stand again talking about another misstep under our takeover. While our intuition
has told us that there's been truths spoken in private meetings with falsehoods told here in public, private has now become public. Leadership styles rooted in intimidation and fear do not build strong school systems. They drive people away. And we have watched highly
qualified educators leave the district in unprecedented numbers. While others have chosen not to come here at all. We've seen hiring fairs after hiring fairs. We have had 5% raises. and we've seen them do no good to attract talent because the organizational culture and
reputation of Fort Worth ISD right now is hostile. When the community asked months ago, myself included, many of these people here, for your plan to recruit and retain highquality educators, which I believe is part of our five-step plan, we were told a plan was being developed. I can't tell you
what it is, but it is being developed. Well, today with less than 10 10 days left before teachers are supposed to return, campuses are still working to fill those classrooms. In fact, we heard from a private meeting that it was an emergency. If there's a comprehensive plan, we deserve to hear about it today.
Today. When this community warned you that investigating, removing, and reassigning respected educators would send a message far beyond one campus, these are the consequences. The message many educators heard was that they would become the next target. People do not
choose to work where they believe they can become the next headline. Instead of listening, the board continued to approve these actions. Our children will live with the consequences. Our remaining educators will be asked to carry even heavier burdens. And our community
will feel this effect. Now, the community is not asking for perfect news, which I think has been what we've been given. What we are asking for is honest news. So, what we need is for you guys to continue your unanimous unanimous voting record, and we need you
to put it to good use. Will you each commit tonight to holding the district responsible for publishing weekly staffing dashboard through our first grading period that shows by campus the number of classroom teacher vacancies, long-term subs, and uncertified teachers
of record. I have 45 seconds. I don't mind. I would like to know. I'll email later. >> Thanks, Miss Wheeler. Our next speaker is Nelie Cardanis and
she'll be followed by Nidia Cardinos. Uh good evening. Um I've worked in education for more than 20 years and I learned to categorize people into two categories. Those for kids and those against kids. In June of 2019, the forworth ISD board
voted 8 to zero to terminate an English teacher at Carter Riverside High School following a series of public tweets she sent to Trump intended to be private, asking him to remove the illegals. She had a history of mistreating students
and making derogatory comments towards them. She referred to a student as white bread. When a student asked to go to the restroom, the teacher asked, "Show me your papers. you are illegal in the classroom. The teacher filed appeals, including one to tea. Mike Morath ruled
that the teacher's tweet was protected by the First Amendment and that the teacher was entitled to either her job back with pay back pay and benefits or one year's salary. Thankfully, our school board continued through all the
legal procedures necessary to continue to stand up for the kids and our community and win the case in court. Mike Morath wanted the district to put a teacher who hurt kids back in the classroom. That is definitely against kids.
Mike Morath brought you here. So, you started in the against kids team. Sadly, you have remained there. You have voted for so many things that go against kids. And since I only have a
few minutes, I'm only going to highlight a few. On April 14th, you voted to delay ADSY, not realizing that would leave some kids without access to food this summer. On April 28th, including in all the people you fired, you fired speech language pathology assistants who
provided therapy to over a thousand students. And then on June 21st, you put SLP assistants in the possible positions to hire from a contract company. You fired the ones that worked here and were doing a good job and cared for our
students and now you're going to pay a contract company more money for SLP assistance. Clearly against kids and spending more of our money which you keep saying we don't have. In May, you promoted Mrs.
Zulie to principal at Western Hills and then you reassigned her for no valid reason. She didn't get to get to her students graduation and is still not reinstated again against kids. Having new teachers and uncertified
teachers and so many new administrators is just chaos. And that is what your decisions have led to. Since you started, you have voted yes to so many things. And I haven't seen one of you take responsibility for the consequences of your yeses and your nos, which there
hasn't been any nos. So, of your yeses. The elected board made some great decisions like firing a teacher who hurting kids and others that weren't so great. But you know the difference? They were held accountable for their decisions and you are not.
>> Thank you. >> Next speaker Lydia Cardinus followed by I'm sorry there's a hole punch in the first name but um surname Maryfield. >> Casey >> Casey Maryfield. I proudly follow my sister. Uh she's led
the way in many times in our parent in our lives and uh clearly we both care deeply about public education because it shaped us and gave us opportunities. So this should be the word. Okay. I was saying that I'm proud to follow my sister um and I agree with everything that she said. But I'm actually here to
talk about um what I think is a real crisis in all of our government entities in Tarant County, which is a crisis of listening. I feel like what's happening both in the county and the city council and in this board of managers is that you would rather us not be showing up
and maybe you're trying to solve the problem of I saw there's an adjustment to the public comment um that talks about you know if somebody starts yelling or disrupting and I think you're trying to solve the problem of how do we get people to stop yelling or coming to these meetings the same people right and
maybe you practice empathy and and I brought prompts because I actually teach listening um I've been doing it for 10 years now. And this is a pro. Well, shout out to the woman project. So, I made these. This is a hammer because problem solving, you know, that's one type of listening where you just identify the surface of the problem and
then you just try to bang in a solution, right? And then maybe you listen with empathy because some of you are community members who care actually care about what's going on. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you all are. Um, but sometimes when you're listening, you start making it about yourself. Well, like, well, I care about kids, too. I'm here because I care about
kids. and you stop practicing curiosity for the people who are actually coming up here and expressing their concerns maybe in ways that don't feel good to you but that are very profound. So you're sort of absorbing other people's energy and this is a close pin where you're attaching yourself to someone else's story and it stops being about
them. But really what you need to be practicing because you're overseeing the most critical thing that we have in our community which is our public education and what does generative listening look like? So that means you should actually think of the people who are coming here all the time. Every time somebody's up here, they're the smartest person in the
room. What do you have to learn from them? And I think instead it's very performative. I went to one of the listening sessions. I thought the questions I I'm happy to offer suggestions on how to ask better questions because that's part of good listening. Um and there was no way for you to actually practice curiosity with the people who were showing up and
offering their initial answers to the question. And from doing listening training for 10 years, I know that the first problem that comes up is rarely the actual problem. It's just the thing you see on the surface, but there's a whole bunch of things when you start practicing reverence and curiosity for what's going on. And I think, you know,
in the listening sessions, um, maybe you saw some of the same people show up to many of them. Why? Because they care deeply. Uh, but also, if you were trying to solve for the the problem of how do I hear from more people, you know, where there's a lot of people um that you could talk to in pickup lines. parents
are stuck there for an hour, go knock on their window, go hear directly from more parents across all the schools and see how they're feeling about what's going on. Take some people who speak multiple languages um so we can address the diversity of our community. But I just invite you to think about how you're listening because I think you're doing a
really poor job because if you were actually listening then we'd see some change in the decisions that you're making. >> Thank you. Is our timer stuck on two seconds? Is there some reason it stops there and we don't get the sound? That's
happened to the last two speakers. Um, normally we have a chime when it gets >> because it's Zoom live. >> Okay. All right. I say a live Zoom. So, all right. I'll have to watch the clock. Um, that we're not can't count on the
chime. Uh, next speaker, Casey Mayfield. And Casey Mayfield will be followed by Karen Perry. Okay. Hello. Um I'm just here to reiterate some of the concerns that we've been hearing broadly from the community. Um it seems outwardly like
you're taking steps to listen to the people um when they come to speak, but I want to know what you plan to do with the many concerns that you have already received. What will be the outcomes of the community listening sessions? Which issues have been identified? How will they be addressed? And on what timeline?
Um, you listed limitations to the response at the start that it's restricted to existing policies or factual information. So, I'm going to try to frame my question to that specification. Um, what piece of factual information do you have already about the publication that was supposed to address some of
these questions already? Why has it been delayed? Okay. Um, these should be publicly published results available to the community. They should also specifically address concerns in your plan of action to resolve them. If they won't be resolved, an explanation as to why is
essential. Additionally, very important, empty listening does nothing. Will your publications include explicit plans to resolve community concerns? Do you have any factual information or a current plan for your public for your publications to include specific and explicit actions to resolve the issues
you've heard? Okay. Can you at least provide an answer as to where this information will become available or who we should contact regarding receiving it? Okay. With my remaining time, I'd like to touch on teacher resignations and the lack of input and support it seems like
you're getting from educators. I know that turnover is um a normal part of an employment cycle, but this is clearly on a different level. Teachers have been vocal that they are not feeling supported or listened to. On top of that, we've heard countless complaints regarding the level of micromanagement
and rigidity of teaching practices in the classroom. Clearly, there are a number of issues with the testing practices as well. We've heard uh several accounts of that. It seems that teachers do not have enough freedom or support, and they've already made this clear. If you're truly committed to being more accountable and open to discussion, you need to follow through
with your educators, too. You need to start by listening to the ones who are already here telling you what they need. Additionally, you should conduct parallel outreach um specific to your teaching community. If you want to keep them here, listen to what they have to say. Find their issues and develop a
plan that actually addresses them. Do not continue to sweep things under the rug or distract with other policy changes. The first step to stop driving out your educators is to listen to their issues and everything they're encountering in the classroom. Make adjustments to resolve them. You all have the power to do that. you're
responsible for these outcomes and removing the limitations that our teachers are facing. Um, many changes have been made. Many people have expressed their frustration with the effects of the changes. We need explanations as to why there's no data
supporting the efficacy of the changes to curriculum, teaching, testing, and policy and why they would be implementing them in Fort Worth. >> Pardon me, your your time has expired. >> Of course. Do you have any responses to the >> where that information will be made available?
Next speaker, please. I I will speak to the general question of the listening sessions and and later tonight on the agenda, we'll have a full discussion explain the purpose of the listening sessions and uh the process we're going
to take including the listening sessions are going to take us to goals and guardrails. That'll be dis discussed in in great detail later this evening. >> Uh for the record and I'll speak about it later. All the questions and statements and comments are on the front
page linked on the front web page of our district as Dr. Kushner is showing uh Casey uh with those great questions. It is listed. It is a transparent site. You can submit your questions and we will get to you within a week. I do not know of any other school district that does that. So please feel free to submit your
questions. Uh they have been answered. We give about a week but sometimes earlier and you can get everything from those listening sessions as well as other questions on the front page of our web page in the top right corner. So it's up there. Um I ask you to access it and put your questions in because it is
there and it's been there for about a week or two. >> Next speaker is Karen Perry and Miss Perry will be followed by Ben Darling. Good evening. As a parent of three students who will attend three different
high schools this uh August, my primary focus is the classroom experience for students and for teachers. Tonight, I want to ask the board and the administration to work further to improve clarity of communication from
the top down, including parents and students in all things, especially when it comes to what we should expect in the classroom in August. I was going to comment on a few specifics in the FAQ's document that I
found online. Thank you'all for doing that. Um, it was developed following the listening sessions in June, but I noticed that the section I wanted to speak about has been edited like today after I prepared my original comments.
So, I deleted what I was going to say. Um, but I want to point out, you know, I appreciate ongoing and additional clarity any time. I would like to point out though that continually editing that document because it's shared publicly
only perpetuates multiple versions of the truth because people screenshot things and they share them on social media and text and email. I have screenshots of what has already been changed and it's it's not major but what
I want to ask it would be fantastic if there was one written explanation one version of the truth that describes the classroom experiences and expectations for seating required format for teaching
delivery of content that's required or not required classroom decor all the things that people keep talking about and I would love it if it was shared with principles, teachers, staff, parents, and students.
Let's all get on the same page and eliminate room for interpretation by each principal, AP, and teacher. Clear and open communication of this kind would help parents support what you're doing.
sometimes um it would give us clarity when we plan to speak right um it would help parents answer their students questions and say I'm sorry this is the way it is um it would help reduce rumors exaggeration
and misunderstandings before they spread so thank you >> thank you Miss Perry next speaker is Ben Darling and Ben Darling will be followed by Diana Dearor is Ben Darling present.
All right, our next speaker is Diona Deerdorf who will be followed by Elena Montalva. >> Hello, >> welcome. My name is Diana Deerodor. I'm a parent to four current Fort Worth ISD students and I am a board member of both
Fort and Fort Worth ISD Council of PTAs. It was not planned to go right after Karen, but I am echoing a lot of the same sentiments she shared. I'd like to first thank the board for their incredible job that you've been doing in recent weeks to connect with and hear
from various sections of our community. I believe that your work for setting goals and guard rails is the most important work you're going to do throughout this entire tea takeover and I'm really heartened to see that you guys believe the same and that you're
actually trying to prioritize input from the community in that process. I know that many of you are taking significant time away from your jobs and your families to connect. I've seen in recent weeks multiple one-on-one visits between yourselves and members of the community
as well as small groups and I want to encourage you to keep that up because I think it makes a difference. I would also like to acknowledge the hard work that our district administration has been doing over the summer. I know that we were off to a rough start.
Um and I know that we had major vacancies that all of us wish we could wind the clock back. Um, but I do see the hard work and hours being put in by your staff to fill those vacancies so that we all start all of our children
start off well. So, thank you. I do however think we can still do better. I'm asking tonight for your help in improving transparency and communication so that we can work together to focus on improved student outcomes. For example, many of the things that were just
discussed, concerns about what personal items a teacher is allowed in the classroom, is easily solved when a clear, unambiguous message is sent to everyone about what is and is not allowed in the classroom. This not only lets teachers and families feel valued by communicating policies directly to
them, but it also helps you when everyone on our children's team knows what the rules are. that this applies to other areas as well um such as the role of scripted lessons and the policies surrounding campus visits by administrators.
When everyone has a copy of the same playbook, we have increased accountability as well as the ability to best advocate for our children and their teachers during this intervention. We also are more equipped to advocate for you and supporting those policies.
No one in this room wants students to be distracted by the politics of a tea takeover. No one in this room wants teachers or students fearful and not knowing what is allowed in their classrooms. My ask is this. Please issue one single written policy document
addressing the issues that have caused distraction and fear for our students and teachers such as what is allowed in the classroom, the role of scripted lessons, the policies for campus visits, and the others that you've heard here tonight. Thank you, Miss Dearor, for >> Oh, sorry. >> Our little chime has gone away and
>> Okay, >> so I apologize, but I thank you very much for your comments. >> Um, our next speaker is Elena Montalvo, and Miss Montalvo will be followed by Mindia Quittier.
Since the last school district meeting, there have been listening sessions taking place at various campuses. One of the questions in these listening sessions asked, "What are the most important values the community asks for the superintendent to honor?" The value I kept hearing community members
highlight was transparency. to be honest when communicating to the community. We do not feel that the value of transparency is being honored. We have been told that there would be zero teacher vacancies on day one
because despite so many teachers resigning, there's a large number of teachers being hired to fill their places. Yet, information has been released making it evident that forth ISD is still in dire need of teachers and current teachers are continuing to
leave. On the topic of teachers leaving, there are still educators that want to be here and want to continue doing the work to help students and families. Shea Alzubi was one of those educators. Shea was ready to take on the role as principal of Western Hills High School,
a high school that would greatly benefit from the qualified, hard-working, and inspiring leadership she has to offer. If you truly cared about having the best and the brightest leader schools, you would reinstate Sheam Alzubi as
principal of Western Hills. Your actions continue to convey a message that represents a failure to prioritize the values of this community and undermines diverse students. So I feel it is important to recognize a
different message. A message from a leader that truly works in the best interest of the people in this district. I want to highlight the message that Shea Alzubi continues to represent that when we face injustice, we don't accept
it. We stand up and fight it. >> Thank you, Miss Montalo. Miss Whittier and Miss Whittier will be followed by Christopher Robertson. >> Welcome. Last week, Fort Worth ISD admitted in court that Miss Sheam Alzub's social
media posts did not violate district policy. I repeat, Fort Worth ISD's Office of Professional Standards found Ms. Alzub's personal social social media posts did not violate district standards. School starts in less than 3
weeks. An investigation has found Miss Alzub's conduct to be in compliance with district policy. Yet Fort Worth ISD is still capitulating to the baseless attack by a right-wing extremist seeking social media engagement that he can
monetize. By refusing to restore Miss Alzubie to the position that she earned, was offered, and accepted, you have sent a message to every bigot that Fort Worth ISD answers to them. And this is not about school safety. I've had children
in this district for 16 years. School threats have become almost a weekly occurrence. The district has never responded by implementing staff transfers to safety threats. That's not how you handle safety threats. Rather, you implement the established protocols
to safeguard campus safety and you neutralize the aggressor, not bow to them. At the last meeting, Mr. Garin asked if we believe reading is a civil right. Well, freedom of speech is a civil right, too. If you stand for civil rights, then you must always side with
them, not just when it suits your narrative. The way to do that is to reinstate Ms. Alzubi immediately to the post she earned and is entitled to fulfill. And indeed, it's in your best interest to do so. Since one of the reasons Ms. Alzubi got investigated for
was the statement that black lives matter. Do they do black lives matter? because black students comprise 20% of Fort Worth ISD students. So if your rationale for improving literacy across the district
is because reading is a civil right, then you darn well better hope that every single employee of this district believes black lives matter. You won't succeed if they don't. There's a proverb that says, "The best time to plant a
tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." Likewise, the best time for Miss Alzubi to assume her duties as principal of Western Hills High School was in May. The second best time is now. It's never too late to do the right thing. You've said that you stand on the
side of children. Do you stand on the side of civil rights? >> Thank you, Miss Whittier. Next speaker is Christopher Robertson. And Mr. Robertson will be followed by Frank Gaffne.
Good evening, board president, board of managers, superintendent Lacata, and members of Fororth ISTD community. My name is Christopher Robertson, and I'm a proud student at Western Hills High School. I am also a community activist and advocate with CR and Associates. I am here tonight because I love my school
and everything that it does for the students. Over the past year, Western Hills has experienced tremendous challenges. We watched dedicated teachers leave our campus, students transfer to other schools, and uncertainty become the new normal. These were not just vacancies on a
spreadsheet. These were teachers who mentor students, teachers who stayed after school to help students succeed and attended our games and performances when we needed them most. They made a lasting impact on our lives. Their absences will be felt through our entire
school community throughout the school year. Concerns about leadership, communication, and the direction of our campus were raised by students, parents, teachers, and community members. I personally documented these concerns through emails with the superintendent, the deputy superintendent, and the chief
of staff. Well, unfortunately, many of those concerns weren't resolved. I understand. Um, but instead of seeing stability, we experience continuous uncertainty, uncertainty. Our campus
lost a significant number of educators which was 35 plus. Leadership changed multiple times and today we are under interterm leadership while our school continues searching for long-term stability. Many in our community were hopeful when
Miss Shmika Alzubi was assigned to serve as our principal of Western Hills High School. However, after only four days, she was reassigned pending investigation before our community truly had the opportunity to work with her. Now, we have learned
that she declined a a district job that is paying $130,000 and is asking to be reinstated by a federal judge. To me, that speaks volumes because whether or not everyone agrees, I believe that our community
deserves transparency about the decisions that's being made. Next, I would like to speak about the fact that I personally spoke with the deputy superintendent about vandalism in our restrooms.
Well, that that was addressed, but the principle that the vandalism was about has got promoted to a district position and that is not fair to our community at all. When something happens within our schools and teachers and students raise
concerns because we are seeing what's going on within our school and we're making our comments publicly and then there are rec repercussions because of it and we go privately nothing changes. Her name was Bridget and she got
promoted to a district. >> Thank you Mr. Robertson. Appreciate you being here tonight. Our next speaker is Frank Gaffne and Mr. Gaffne will be followed by Trorsy Hollands. >> Good evening.
Uh, a month ago, I addressed this board for the purpose of applauding your decision to reassign an individual who has posted, I respectfully suggest, profoundly troubling material on social material media from the position of a principal of a 2000 student high school
in this school district. Shea al- Zubi has the first amendment right to espouse Palestinian calls for genocide of Jews in the code language of the phrase from the river to
the sea or endorse the subversion of the Marxist Black Lives Matter movement or dissemble about the sedicious totalitarian Islamic strategy for conquest. known as Sharia.
You were not depriving her of the latitude to hold such extreme views or even to state them publicly. You were simply exercising your duty of care to minimize her ability to exploit a leadership role in this school system to
encourage, if only by her example, impressionable young people unquestioningly to believe those views should be embraced by them as well. I've been here for three different meetings in which you have been subjected to harsh and often
disrespectful attacks on your conduct. Seemingly those speakers see nothing wrong with Dr. Al Zubie's biases and I think want to see them inculcated in the children of this school district. I don't believe that in so doing they
speak for the vast majority of Texans in Fort Worth. Neither are they promoting the best interests of this community, its kids, and our country. In my judgment, your actions to date commendably reflect the majority's values and promote an educational
environment that strives to equip children with critical thinking skills, not cultural Marxist critical theories or a dangerously misleading understanding of Sharia's adherence and
their totalitarian and unconstitutional agenda. I urge you to stay the course by not only excluding Sheam Alzubi from positions of leadership and undue influence but by applying the same standard to others in the school system
who are similarly disposed. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Gaffin. Our next speaker is Trice Dorsy Hollands and Miss Dorsy Holland will be followed by Alex Alexander Montalva. Good afternoon. Just want to start by
saying I support Miss Alzubi. Um, this is our final board meeting before school starts and have to be honest, I'm a little nervous. There's no secret that many people are concerned about the massive teacher res resignation since
the state intervention. I'm pretty sure that most people knew that teacher teacher resignation and turnover would happen as a result of the state intervening, but with more than a 50% increase from the previous year tipping us at over a thousand is a is alarming.
I have to be honest, this makes me uncertain about my own daughter and her classmates who need and require so much specialized support. Today, I'm requesting an update from you, the board. Not a newspaper, not something that's being leaked from you guys'
personal meetings about the crisis, but an honest update on where we stand. I'm specifically concerned about the special education and emerging pop and emerging bilingual population. A few months ago, there was a massive cut that affected both of these groups, and I feel like we
as a community deserve an update. Where are you on restaffing these positions? Are you placing who are you placing in these positions and are they qualified? We know that a higher firm was used but to what extent? The commitment that was made to us was that our children will
receive a better quality of support. We require an update. This year my daughter will be going to the second grade. This has been excuse me she will be moved to yet another campus within the district. This is her fourth school that she's
been moved to since she started. Again, she's only in second grade. I never made a fuss about the building because to me, it's more about the building than the support that she's given. But given the climate that we're in right now, how can you guarantee that she's going to be getting quality support? We require an
update. >> Thank you, Miss Dorsey Holland. And next and last speaker is Alexander Montalvo. Welcome Mr. Montalba. All right. So over a thousand teachers have been
removed from Forth either by not being renewed contracts, resigning, whatever the case may be. over 800 in the last three months under y'all's watch while you've been on the clock.
And you want to be in community to say you're proud of what you're doing in this district. I know y'all get real sensitive when we come up here to speak to y'all. You want to cut mics. You want to get in your feelings about
different things. But y'all are the ones who are impacting over a thousand families because they no longer have Fort Worth ISD as a home. And if there's any narrative that you're going to try to perpetuate that these
are the teachers that needed to go, we know too many of these teachers and we know that they are the ones doing amazing work for students in this district and for our communities. This is a failure and does not equate
excellence. You like to say excellence all the time, Peter. That's not excellence. That is a failure. And when you gaslight us to say zero teacher vacancies
and every teacher will be certified and your own staff is in y'all's meetings saying he's got to stop saying that. He needs to stop saying that because that's not possible. We're in emergency. The funniest thing about that recording
was that he said it's nobody's fault. No, it's all y'all's fault. Y'all are the ones that have done this. You're the ones who chose to go into classrooms and try to bully teachers. You're the ones who decided to go into classrooms making students
uncomfortable. And we know that it's not just teachers, it's families, it's students that are also leaving the district. And this is why this hostile takeover needs to continue to be called what it is.
There is no negotiating with y'all or that y'all will fix anything. Y'all are clearly here to destroy public education. Pete Garren sends plenty of money through Sid Richardson to help fund charter schools and everything else.
This has been a concerted effort over the last two decades and you are just the current piece of the pie that's working on it right now. You do not deserve our respect because you have not respected our families, our communities, our teachers, nor our
students. and school is starting and if you think everyone is going to be happy about what's going to happen starting in August, you've got another thing coming. >> Thank you, Mr. Montala. >> That concludes our hearing of speakers for this meeting. Want to thank all of
you for sharing your time with us tonight. I'd like to and item six in the agenda begin with reports. Um, starting next meeting, we're going to make a a change in in the way we organize public
comment. And I want to share it with you tonight. We value public comment and we want to structure it in a way that is most constructive and it supports the dis decision-making of this board. To support both objectives, I'd like to
advise you of a change. We're going to conform our policy to what's practiced in many other governmental entities in the area, including the city of Fort Worth. Beginning August 11, 2026, the public comment portion of the board meeting will be divi divided into three
parts. The first part will be for comments concerning items on the consent agenda. Those comments will be heard before the board consent considers the consent agenda. The second portion will be for comments concerning action items. All
speakers registered to address an action item will be heard before the board begins considering any action items. Public comment will not occur separately before each action item, but it'll be all all take place before we move to the
action items on the agenda. The third portion will occur after the board has concluded its consideration of all action items. During that portion, the rules will remain the same as they are for public comment today. You may address any topic. A speaker who has
registered for only one portion of public comment will gener will receive three minutes. A speaker who has registered for more than one portion will receive up to two minutes during each portion for which he or she is registered. A speaker may sign up for
all consent action items as well as uh public comment at the end. Registering to speak on more than one consent item item or more than one action item does not increase the speaker's allotted time for that portion of the meeting. The
speaker those changes will be put in place our our next meeting. And now I will turn it over to Dr. Lacata for the superintendent update report. >> Well, thank you very much, sir. I
appreciate um turning it over to me. Uh good evening and thank you to our board of managers, our staff, our teachers, our principles, our parents, and our community for continued support during this important time in Fort Worth ISD. Tonight I want to share that just four
months ago into this transformation we have already reached some significant milestones. I also want to do my best version of Paul Harvey. I'm sorry most of you don't know who Paul Harvey is, but he's known for the
rest of the story. When I arrived in our district, we were facing approximately 200 or more teacher vacancies, a number that had become all too common at the beginning of each school year over the past few years here and remained throughout the year.
Tonight, we are looking at about 20 teacher vacancies in our district. I'm going to emphasize that for those that spoke, 20 teacher vacancies in the district as we speak. It is our
plan to not only meet that to zero but add more so we don't have to rely on subs. This is an extraordinary accomplishment and it belongs to our human capital team, our campus leaders and everyone who has worked tirelessly to recruit
outstanding educators. I also want to clarify something very important. We staff teachers based on the number of students we serve, not the number of buildings we operate. Sometimes people assume that discussions about facilities
somehow mean fewer teachers. That is simply not how school staffing works. Our commitment is to ensure every student has an excellent teacher in every classroom. We've also reached another milestone that may not be visible, but just as important. Only a few months ago, it
could take 30 to 40 days from the time an applicant applied for a position until they were fully cleared and able to begin work. Today, that timeline has been reduced to approximately 5 days, assuming all required steps are completed successfully for the first time. Significant time instead of
waiting, teachers waiting to wait and wait and wait on whether they get approved. That is transformational. Great organizations are built on great systems and processes. Every improvement we make behind the scenes exists for one
reason, to better support teaching and learning. Student achievement is our mission and every department must exist to support the classroom. Tonight, you will hear this board discuss policies related to ethics and real estate. I want to thank our board of managers for
focusing on doing business the right way with transparency, integrity, and without outside interests. again, without outside interests influencing district decisions. Those are the kinds of governance practices that build
public trust. Speaking of transparency, we have launched a transparency Q&A directly on the front page of our website. If you've heard a rumor, seen something on social media, or simply have questions about district operations, I encourage you to start there. This is unlike any district
I've ever seen. Social media is not where truth is verified. We are committed to responding to questions within a week and often much sooner. Fort Worth ISD will provide answers directly, openly, and honestly, and
based on a statement tonight. We will edit only after. We will not change what's written in there. You were out of the room, sir. But we will add to it so that creates less confusion. I appreciate that. We are also developing our own de uh district television studio
and communication platform so we can tell our own story. Our students are accomplishing incredible things every day. Our teachers are changing lives and classrooms across this city. Our employees deserve to have those celebrated and our community deserves to see outstanding work happening inside
our schools. Everything you are seeing today is just the beginning of a complete organizational transformation. Yes, change is difficult. Yes, we've seen leadership transition. Yes, we've heard words like chaos used to used to
describe our work. But I would offer a different perspective. What you're witnessing is the disciplined work of rebuilding systems that had been broken for many years, years and years of students reading well below grade level. That is unacceptable.
I never hear children mentioned about how poorly they were doing over the years and that is our focus. We have exceptional people throughout this organization and they are now being supported by clear expectations, stronger systems, and a relentless focus
on our students. Tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m., I have the privilege of welcoming every principal and assistant principal in Fort Worth ISD for a week of instructional and leadership development. Much that someone mentioned here tonight on what is expected in the classrooms, we are telling our
principles and our assistant principles tomorrow for a week of training. The purpose is simple, to support teachers. Let me say that again. We will not blame teachers for the challenges this district has faced. Our responsible as leaders, our responsibility as leaders
is to support teachers, coach teachers, remove barriers from teachers, and stand beside teachers every single day. Our new leadership model expects principles and assistant principles to be in classrooms every day, not evaluating from a distant, but actively supporting
instruction, providing coaching, solving problems, and ensuring every classroom has what it needs to be successful. That is how improvement happens. As we continue this transformation, we know there will be continued organizational challenges. Large systems don't change
overnight, but this year's theme reminds us to stay focused, mission possible, and avoid mission creep. We cannot allow distractions, politics, rumors, competing agendas or adult issues to pull us away from our primary purpose.
Our mission is educating children. Everything else supports that mission. That is why our five pillars begin with student learning. is why we have provided one of the largest percentage salary increases for our classroom teachers. It is why we have launched our
elevate campuses with unprecedented compensation for teachers and administrators willing to serve where they are needed most. It is why we've strengthened our regional instrual support so campuses can receive coaching instead of compliance. Everything points
back to students. Finally, I want to speak directly to our parents in our community. Stay engaged, ask questions, come directly to us for answers, and don't rely on hearsay. We are committed to pro providing truthful answers, transparent information, and timely
communication. If you hear something and want to know whether it's act accurate, ask us first. You have a medium to do that, and that's on the website. We will always do our best to provide the answers. Fort Worth ISD has begun an incredible journey. We still have much
work ahead. But tonight we can also recognize meaningful progress. The foundation is being built. The systems are changing. The culture is changing. And most importantly, opportunities for our students are changing. Thank you for your partnership, your trust, your
commitment as we continue this important work together. Every student, every day, mission possible. >> Thank you, Dr. Lata. Uh if I may, >> yes. >> U appreciate the update on where we
stand in terms of trying to approach zero teacher vacancies. Um Miss Dorsey Holland's asking a lot of people have asked and it's a very reasonable question to ask and reasonable concern to have. Can you give us to close the loop there an update on where we stand with speech language pathologist uh special education supports and dual
language hires? We have a few outstanding there and I think it's fair for everybody to be on the same page where we are in trying to close that gap. >> Yeah. And I've I've heard that we want to post these publicly. I believe we should be posting these on the web page as well so everyone can see and it's
public facing. There is no fabrication for verarication as uh they used to say way back in when I was young. We will post those numbers every day or update them as often as possible. That is fair.
North has two vacancies, teacher vacancies. The south has five teacher vacancies. Central has three teacher vacancies. Elevate has 11 teacher vacancies as of this morning. Rise teachers one, SLP's 25. Nationally, we
have 350,000 empty teacher vacancies in education. There is a teacher shortage and most of the majority of those teachers exist in dual language and in ESSE. It's a fight that everyone's fighting right now and we're offering incentives there. School
psychologists, 11, dyslexia, five, inclusion teachers, four. Bilingual support vacancy status specialists, two bilingual support teachers, 11. We have work to do to get to zero, but these numbers are astonishing low
compared to the historical opening of schools for Fort Worth ISD. Historically low. And yes, we did experience a lot of turnover, sir. But we did also offer an opportunity for teachers to get on board and join because what we were doing is
not sufficient for our students to learn. So, we're still got our work cut out. We're continually to work through it. Miss Presley deserves an incredible amount of of uh kudos because she's been here a month and a half every day working, working, working through holidays. I appreciate your team, every
team, the regional team, but we still have some work to do to get to zero and that's important for us. So, thank you. And we will be posting this every day on the web. and updating it. Thank you. >> Thanks, Dr. Lacata. Any other questions before we move to the other board
reports? >> Well, we don't usually take it, but since I know you so well, we've had breakfast and lunch together a couple times uh and a few meetings. Uh we're going to post that on the What do you think? We should put it on the HR website. On the HR website. So we'll start there with
that. So um the HR you go to the page and then you go to departments and you go right there. So okay uh we heard that on the tech department side to help us out on that. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you Dr. Lacata. We'll now
move to board committee reports. Miss Rosa Maria Berda will present the community listening report. >> Thank you President Garin. As you all may remember, last month our board participated in a training session with AJ Krebel to begin the process of
developing our goals and guard rails for the district. One of the key takeaways from that training was the importance of engaging our community through a series of listening sessions to better understand the community's vision for our students and the values that they
want us to protect. Those vision and values will serve as a foundation for the goals and guard rails this board will ultimately develop. Following that discussion, President Garin established a board community listening session ad
hoc committee for the limited purpose of developing recommendations to ensure that those sessions are conducted in a consistent, thoughtful, and transparent manner. The committee's worked focused on creating a uniform approach for all
community listening sessions. Specifically, we reviewed and refined the listening session script, presentation materials, online survey, community listening plan, logistics, and the process for documenting community feedback so that every session provides
a consistent experience regardless of who is facilitating it. On behalf of the ad hoc committee, I submitted my recommendations to President Garin and then they were shared by Dr. Kushner with the entire board on July 17th. I am
pleased to formally present our report and recommendations tonight. However, before I do, I do want to recognize and thank my fellow committee members Lori George and Jay Steaggle for the time and collaboration that they brought to this
effort. Lori and Jay, as you both know, um we did a lot of work in a short amount of time, and I'm extremely grateful to you both for making this work a priority over all of the other responsibilities and commitments that you have in your daily lives. It's been
a pleasure to work with you both. And I would also like to thank our coaches for their guidance throughout the process, AJ, Carol, and Greg. Their experience helped keep us grounded in best practices while giving us the flexibility to develop recommendations that reflect the unique needs of our
Fort Worth ISD community. That being said, the committee recommends that the board utilize the materials and processes that have been shared with the board of managers for the uniform implementation across our community listening sessions. These recommendations are intended to help us
gather meaningful input from our community in a structured and transparent way, ensuring that every voice has an opportunity to be heard as we shape the district's future. We also recommend the proposed timeline which guides the work from community
engagement through data analysis, the development of draft goals and guard rails, and ultimately board adoption. We recommend that the board consider this timeline in connection with the implementation timeline which is also on our agenda tonight under 8B. And
finally, we would like to highlight the committee's recommendation that the board engage a local university such as TCU, Texas Wesland University or University of North Texas for data analysis and generating summary of the feedback. This may require additional
board action or the seating of a separate ad hoc committee to oversee this process. And with that, President Garin, I move acceptance of the committee report and its recommendations. >> Thank you, Miss Purdea. I I don't believe a committee motion is required
at this time. Um >> that is my understanding. >> Yeah. Thank I want to thank you and Lori George who's joining us on the by Zoom and and Jay Stagall who's out of town for their extraordinary time commitment that they they put into this project.
They worked weekends and Fourth of July. Um they know how important this is. They know how important it is to do it right. They know how important it is to do it as soon as as humanly possible. So I want to thank all of them and the team they worked with with with AJ Crayville
and his colleagues particularly Carol Beckerly. So thank you for for that great work. And you noted later we're going to be talking about the Lonear governance implementation plan and we're going to have to coordinate your all's recommendations with that
with that plan as we go forward. But you've given us a roadmap. You've given us a detailed action plan. Um, you've also have a survey that we want to encourage people to fill out and and would you speak to that because I think that's so important. We want as many
people as possible to come to listening sessions, but we would like everybody who um in this district to respond to your survey. Could you talk about that? >> Yes, absolutely. So, we already starting started the outreach process. We've had
several listening sessions u throughout the community. Um there are individuals that have come to multiple listening sessions and and that is wonderful. However, I do realize that sometimes it's difficult to share your thoughts in
large groups or maybe you go home and you think about it a little bit more and you want to share more feedback. We did construct an online survey. It is my understanding it is live. I got the link but I didn't click on it yet. Um so if
anybody wants to participate in the session but can't attend in person, you're certainly welcome to use that link and answer the questions um and submit them and those will be treated um just the same as if you would have attended a listening session. Your feedback would will be analyzed and used
to um when we develop our goals and guard rails. >> Thank you. And could somebody I don't know if anybody's up to date on exactly where they find that on the website. Uh could somebody speak to that? >> Thank you, Dr. Kushner. And again, thank
you, Mr. Deha. >> Um President Garren, if I may ask a follow-up, >> please. Um I also wanted uh Rosa, well first let me say again echo y'all did yman's work on this great work. Um but I think something that we've been hearing and and asking or getting asked is will
there be an ability for the the public to have a additional input during the goal setting process after the listening sessions. Can you speak to the idea that will be um borne out with that part? >> Yes, absolutely. If you look at the committee report, we included a timeline
and once we um analyze the information and prepare our draft um goals and guardrails based on that feedback, there will be an opportunity and it's on the timeline between September 16th and 30th for us to obtain additional community
feedback on those goals and guard rails that we develop. >> Any other questions of Miss Perha? This will be a work in in progress again as we um coordinate it with the Lonear
government's implementation plan which we're going to talk about shortly. So, thank you very much. >> Yes, sir. >> Our next report is going to be from Mr. Frost Po and it's going to be a report on the real estate uh policy board
policy on real estate. And before he starts his report, I'd like to thank the people in this community that over the time that we have been in on this board, we've gotten considerable input through email and some attended a public
hearing, but letters, email, uh, asking questions about the real estate process. the the Ferington Field issue brought that to a head and and generated so many questions in the community and personally and I know others have received many emails from Mr. Appleman
but he and many others have expressed given us ideas asked questions and and we've been listening and Mr. Po has a has led a committee with Mr. Galindo and Miss Lewis uh that has examined our
board policy uh with regarding real estate. And again, I want to thank all those in the public who have shared their their ideas with us, their advice with us and and their criticism when it was um deserved. So um Mr. Pleo, will you please present your report?
>> Um sure. Thanks, uh President Garren. And this will be a fairly short report. We later in the agenda go through the details of our proposal. So, number one, uh, on June 30th, uh, President Garren created the real estate sales transactions ad hoc committee. There's a
acronym in there somewhere, but I'm not I won't go there. Uh, Restack or something. Uh, and so the purpose of this committee was basically to develop recommendations for this board on on two things. uh one factors and guidelines that we should consider uh when we're
discharging our duty uh fiduciary duty to authorize sale of property. That's number one. And number two, a definition of real estate transactions involving significant financial uh or civic value. Uh and so I want to thank uh Courtney and uh Luis uh who for for all the time
that they've put into uh on this uh we have in later included in the in the U board minutes are recommendations along those two lines. Um and we which we'll be discussing later. I want to say these are pre preliminary recommendations. The
idea is to present those here. as the first time we will have discussed them as a full board, get feedback and then present final recommendations in the August uh in the August board meeting. As President Garrett mentioned, we heard feedback from the community that the
disposition of any uh Fort Worth ISD uh significant uh value or civic value property is of real interest to the community and uh and so we've taken care to include in our recommendation uh
input from the community and uh as city and other uh other parts of or other organizations that might be impacted by any of those sales. So, we'll we'll walk through that uh proposed agenda and just thanks again to uh Luis and Courtney for all their their work on this and uh we'll come back to it later in the
meeting. >> Thank you, Mr. Po. I'll now turn it over to Dr. Lacata to introduce staff to present the district organizational chart report. >> Well, good evening. Uh Dr. Kushner. Uh, chief of staff, would you please, uh,
present this as, uh, we discussed? There's still no sound. It's not. >> We're good. Good evening, board members, board president Garin and Dr. Lacata. You have in front of you the organizational chart
for 2627, the review of changes. This org chart directs dollars through cost savings back to where the dollars are needed the most at our schools and our classrooms. Moving to slide two.
These are the direct reports to our superintendent. The entire ORC chart for your knowledge will be posted on our school district website this evening following the conclusion of our meeting. Move to slide three.
It is important to note I want to highlight on this screen in particular that in the 2025 2026 org chart indicated 15 direct reports to the superintendent. With the 2627 org chart, the total direct reports to
the superintendent is eight. I've listed it there for you the changes for the seven direct report positions that were either realigned or eliminated from the ORC chart resulting in cost savings to the budget. Next slide, please.
I'm going to walk through the eight direct reports now and how th those cost savings have been reflected in the 2026 2027 budget adoption by each of our chiefs. As as you can see, I'll highlight deputy superintendent curriculum and
instruction. He likes to say that he had the most cost savings. There was a competition amongst our cabinet as to how we were going to accomplish that. So, Muhammad won that race with the cuts. Um 23.4 million in cost savings or realignment of of savings as we
described to you in the small group sessions with the budget. His direct reports went from 19 to 10. With regards to our deputy superintendent of district operations, her direct reports went from 11 to 10 with an overall savings to our budget of just over $3 million. Next
slide. I would like to highlight that since day one, our superintendent has shared with our with the public and with the board that we would see an increase in funds allocated in the budget to our deputy superintendent chief of schools as we are elevating, no pun intended, all of
our curriculum with our district and that we are investing in our student outcomes. So that is an additional cost and I will lean on Dr. So in a moment to speak about what those what that cost entails with the $4 million that you see
on the screen. However, through the reorg and program change, there were 32 realigned positions in his organization and his direct reports went from 16 to 7. The chief of staff position is a new position in Fort Worth ISD. It is
costneutral to the budget through superintendent eliminations and currently the direct reports to the chief of staff are five staff members. Next slide. With regards to our chief of talent management, as you can see, her cost savings to the budget is three just over
$321,000. Her direct reports went from six to three. With our chief financial officer, her total savings to the budget is $1.2 million. Her total direct reports went from 7 to four. Next slide.
With our senior counsel, his total savings is there on the screen, just over $261,000. His total direct reports went from 11 to 8. And with our chief internal auditor, you can see she did have one position that we eliminated from the budget with
a total cost savings of 80 just over $86,000. and her total direct reports went from six to five. Can you go to the next slide, please? So, I'd like to talk about what we have done as a cabinet from day one when we
arrived on March 24th through June 9th when the budget became a part of the budget adoption plan through our CFO. Our team met one-on-one as we shared with you and your one-on- ones with myself as chief of staff. Each cabinet member met with me and Dr. Lacata to
share which positions they were going to realign, where they would find additional efficiencies in the budget, and have an understanding that as we move forward, there are going to be continued efficiencies that we look for throughout the school year so that we can continue to find positions in the central office where we can place money
back, take it out of the district overhead in the district office and place it back at schools. This is just a high level overview for the board regarding our org chart for the 2627 school year. And I'd like to highlight that this is not a one-time
deal. The ORC chart work is really year round as we continue to look for additional efficiencies in our work chart. Thank you. >> Hold on. Um we are carrying a budget similar to last year. We have the ability to write a check for that and make it zero, but
that would be irresponsible. Our job this year is not to write a check to make that balance zero out of our savings. Our job this year is to continue to reduce that number internally as we move through the year.
We've only been here 117 days. 117 days and we've done these massive changes to the organization. We've reduced significant and millions of dollars putting back to the school. But we're not going to simply write a check and move it into savings from savings and
into zero our balance. That's irresponsibility. What we're going to do is go ahead and continue to cut from that during this year as we move forward. That is how you balance a budget and that is how you save money and protect children and be
able to give staff the best and biggest increases around in the state. So I thank you for that. Dr. Kushner, I appreciate that. And I think Dr. Ciss, are you stepping in to go over your piece or no? Are we >> If the board has additional questions
about any of the pages that we re just reviewed, I can answer the questions and or if you'd like additional context from Dr. Soul regarding the investment in our uh chief of schools division. >> Dr. Kushner, um can you repeat what were what were the total savings in the in
the reorg? So, I can compile it into one number if you'd like. Right now, I have it uh divided out by division and provide that to you as a board follow-up. >> Make sure we add in where we added so no one thinks we're trying to move numbers
or trick the public. Make sure we add in where we put money back to schools and took it from the building. Give the rest of the story. >> Sure. >> Any other questions? >> Um, yes. Do you have a uh give us an idea of how much was reduced from
administrative staff and how and how much was increased in uh teaching staff? >> Sure. So that would be a a board followup just to give you the exact dollar amount of positions that we removed from central office but through our work on cabinet those were the
positions that we did cut. They were all central office positions where we looked to realign efficiencies with staff that were here in the building. We eliminated positions that were open. Our HR department was able to provide us positions that, for example, may have
been open for seven or eight months and were not filled. So, we looked at that as a cabinet and determined if this position at the central office was vacant for this long, then perhaps we don't need it. So, we cut them in addition to additional positions that we eliminated right from this central
office here and looked at that dollar amount and realigned it to our school's division bud budget. So, I'll provide that a very specific outline to the board as a follow-up >> and we will have it to you by the end of the week. >> Sure. We have the information available. I just need to compile it for you in a
in a one easy to read document. >> Dr. Kushner, thank you for this report. I'd ask you also put the answer to these board questions on the frequently asked questions website so it'll be available for the public as well. >> Sure. >> Thank you. And when we do a PowerPoint next time, can we make it a lot larger
so we can see the squares? I know it's going to be posted on Yes, I know it's going to be posted on the website. Uh the entire actual work chart that goes uh 25 26 pages. Um but we also have the ability to load it up here. I know you and I aren't used to that, but we can load it up here and they can see the
PowerPoint presentation from from these screens up here. >> Yes. So the the total org chart in totality just for our board and for the public is 24 pages. Each of our chiefs has a couple of pages and the tonight the community will have access to the entire work chart.
>> But I second Dr. Lacata's request that uh consider the font size when you put these things up on the screens here. >> Yes, sir. >> And thank you. >> I think cuz I I looked at it, but do we have contact information underneath um
the positions on the orchart or at least for the from >> each of the chiefs? at least for chiefs um you know not necessarily the the classroom teachers by any means but any really one above that that's on there if we could include because that's some where people are going to go if they're looking to contact someone. >> Sure.
>> It's not currently but we can certainly add contact information on the org chart. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Okay. Any other questions or comments? Dr. Kushner, thank you and your team for your excellent work. >> Thank you. >> This concludes the reports for tonight's
meeting. I want to thank the board members. and Dr. Lacata, Dr. Kushner, and all the staff for these reports. We'll now move to the consent agenda. As board president, I'm making the following statement accord in accordance
with board policy BBFA local, this is a reminder to all board members of the legal conflict of interest requirements and disclosure requirements you may have for matters under consideration on the agenda for this meeting. If required by law, board members shall recuse themselves from all discussion and shall
abstain from voting on any matter pertaining to such a disclosure. I'd like to make a note regarding consent agenda item 7F, approved revisions to board policy DC local employment practices. There's been
a change to the recommended policy revisions. That change is noted in the second paragraph of the policy related to posting vacancies. The revision will require that all positions be posted for no fewer than five working days. One other change, such hires shall be made
in compliance with the board approved compensation manual. Each board member has been provided with a copy of that revised document. Board members, we've been provided an opportunity prior to tonight's meeting to submit questions and receive responses concerning the
consent agenda and action agenda items. Are there any questions or comments at this time specific to the consent agenda? >> I do have a question. I'm not sure if this is for legal or proper procedure here, but with regard to uh consent
agenda item N, which is the code of conduct. Um, it's quite lengthy and I did spend a lot of time today going through it. I don't have any qualms with it per se, but my question is going forward, is there a process to elicit
potential community involvement in through a committee and looking at that document for years going forward so that it is a a document that the community can take ownership as well as the board. >> Yeah, I heard that tonight. We welcome that. That's what I'm used to making sure understand there are some legal
guidelines and statutes that we have to stick with and we also know that there's every area has its unique culture about student behavior. Um I think that's an excellent idea and I believe that as we bring it forward next year we will work the entire year especially through my
speaking engagements over the entire year uh to the communities. I think we're going to go ahead and do that and make sure we do it as uh as the community can get their input. that is the way to do things and we appreciate that and I heard it tonight and I'm I'm excited to do that and uh again uh this
will be the runway for this year. So thank you Mr. Walker and I also want to acknowledge Miss Bills made that point in public comment and appreciate her bringing that to the board's attention. Any other questions? Is there a motion to accept the consent
agenda? Do we have a motion? >> I move to accept the consent agenda. >> Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> I'll second. >> Have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Okay, we'll
now move to voting. All in favor, vote yes. All oppose, vote no. I don't believe there is a is there a way to record a vote from Lori George on Zoom. >> Okay,
>> Mr. Garren, we're unable to take her vote because she's unable to be on video. >> Okay. All right. Well, we have seven yeses, no abstensions, and zero nos. Um the motion passes.
The next item on the agenda is approve the Lonear governance implementation timeline. Is there a motion concerning this item? And and we're anticipating a wholesome discussion of this matter,
but the con the discussion won't proceed and until we have a motion and a second and then we'll open it up to discussion. So, uh, do we have a motion concerning this item? >> I'll move to approve the Lonear governance governance.
>> Okay, we got a motion. Do we have a second? I'll second. >> Uh, is there any discussion? And and and yes, there is. Uh, we're going to have AJ Cray Bill join us on Zoom. Um, I I
don't see Mr. Crayville yet, but before we bring Mr. Crabel on or while we're waiting on that, could we pull up pages two or page 279 of the of the agenda, please? Point of privilege, sir. As we're
getting ready for all this, I want to thank the board and I also want to thank uh AJ for calling me and saying that this is a very fast timeline. It's heavy and with all the new things and changes going about and the focus being students. He asked me if there's going to be enough runway and I said it's not
optional. We will have to do this in this time frame. It's not really a matter of my decision. It's a matter of what's most important in getting this done so we can establish my goals and start establishing the goals for all all our principles and all our leaders. So, uh I know it's heavy. I know it's going to be fast, but it's not it's not an
option. Uh we have to do it. So, I accept it. Uh even though we have so much going on, but I appreciate asking and offering. Well, as we go through the discussion of the timeline, we will have to make a final decision on on these
dates, but we also need to coordinate these dates with the the listing committee. So, um, over the course of the the next couple of weeks there, we could have some adjustments in it, but we need to leave tonight with a with a
final deadline on when this report will be ready for the for the district. >> AJ's on. He's just >> Okay, Mr. Crayville, thank you for for for joining us before uh we and I'm
going to ask Mr. Cray bill to to walk through us with it. And this is opportunity for the both the public and and the board to to better understand the nuances of of the task we have in in front of us. Um, one of AJ's colleagues
did say this is the most ambitious, I think he may have even said aggressive calendars. Um, and we're going to do our our best to um meet meet all of those deadlines. that you're going to see in a moment as I walk through this that uh
we've had to adjust some of those deadlines already. But let me just give you a quick summary. And this type is um I guess is it possible, Miss Enzar, to bring up page 279.
Um there we go. That is 279. Uh, I'd say it's not wouldn't even qualify as an eye chart. Uh, please go to page 279, though. Um, just real quickly, the vision and goals. Uh, the board is going
to adopt student outcome goals. Um, we're going to have progress measures referred to as GPMs. We will have adopted constraints, guard rails. And these goals, guardrails, and vision will represent the prioritized
values of the community. We're going to have project measures, interim guardrails that we'll use to uh guide us along the way. At least half of the time. Uh we're going the board is going to focus on improving student outcomes.
The board evaluates but does not interfere with progress towards improving student outcomes. Our number seven, systems and processes. The board operates in a way that allows the superintendent to accomplish its vision. The board promotes the vision. The board works collaboratively with the
superintendent to lead towards the vision. If you turn to page 280, you'll see one where we're already already slightly off track as you'll see in the right hand column. And I apologize these uh these slides are are
not not readable from from the audience but so I'll read the ones where we are making some corrections. Vision and goals one and three board finalizes community listening plan and commences listening sessions. Add a tab to the board landing page that includes
listening session session schedule. Link it to a survey. Um we showed a date of 625 for that. that that is a work in progress. Tonight is a major step forward in that, but we're going to that's the responsibility of the board
chair and we're going to have to um adjust the date on that. We did not accomplish it or I did not accomplish it by 6:25. Um 7:21 you'll well you can't see it. The board revises and updates the draft implementation plans. That's what's
happening tonight. Um, we show 811 board reviews, updates, and adopts ethics and conflict of interest statement. You're going to see a provision shortly, a first reading of a conflict of interest. So, it shows 811 on here. First reading
will be tonight, 7:21. Um, board determines how it will engage the community with the draft goals and guard rails. uh that is well underway and u the committee report that Miss Berdea provided lays out that plan. Uh
we show at 7:21 the board facilitates its own discussion of its own strategic communications needs if desired by the board. The board may delegate responsibility to a board ad hoc committee to propose a board comm's plan. Uh we have not done that yet. We
are in discussions however but we don't have that finalized tonight. The date shows 721, so we're behind on that. Um, and if desired by the board, the board may delegate responsibility to a board ad hoc committee for evaluating current real estate policy and making
recommendations. You see 710 on that. You heard Mr. Po speak to that earlier and and that's on the schedule for tonight. Those are the only updates I'd offer at this time. if you look further into that and this uh document is is on
the agenda so it's available to anybody that would like to to pull it up. Um everything else is in the in the future and it's a tight timeline. We got a lot of work to do. And now I'd like to turn it over to Well, before I do that, any
comments or or observations or questions by the board before I turn it over to Mr. Crayville? Okay, Mr. Crayville, thanks for joining us tonight and thank you and want to particularly commend your colleague Carol and and Greg for their excellent
uh support work over the last several weeks. U we have uh they have put a lot of hours into their work for our kids and we we thank you very much for that. No volume. >> Um, we've got a problem with the volume
or with the mic. Um, I think we had this last time. >> Mhm. I don't know who we look to to correct. I beg your pardon. >> Check. My check. Is he?
>> Hello. Hello, >> Mr. Crayville. There >> mic check. M check. You hear >> rais the question about whether or not it's a problem on on your end. Do you know if you're on mute? No.
Okay. I apologize for for this delay. Mic check. Mic check. Testing. One, two, three. Testing, testing, one, two, three. >> Yes, we can hear you now. >> Excellent. Thank you. Um, and thank you
for having us. Um, and yes, I have had a great joy being able to work with Carol and Greg as well. Uh, I knew that, um, I knew you'd benefit from their services also. And so, uh, we're ecstatic to be of service. Um there's been a lot that
has happened so quickly. The intention of this implementation timeline is to try to put in writing what the board has said it wants to accomplish. Uh part of the construction of this comes from interviews um on our part with board
members one-on-one as well as with staff. Um part of this comes from uh things that you all have described in your meetings of the things you want to accomplish. But our experience is that boards often say a lot of things that are important to them that they want to
do, but if they don't actually write it down and have a plan um that includes due dates and who has responsibility, then more often than not, these things simply don't happen. And so the intention of this roughly 25page document that spans from June of 26 I
believe to June of 28 um is to try to codify what are the things that the board has said it wants to do on behalf of your students and what is the timeline on long which you want to do those and this is a living document and so you will make modifications. In fact, as you're looking at some of the due
dates you may notice that some things have been moved up um and dates haven't been adjusted. some things will get moved down. And so this isn't intended to be in stone, but it is intended to be a clear guidance. Is the board following through on the things it intended to do
um in roughly the timeline that it intended. That's why uh part of our coaching work is to work with boards to first and foremost to get clear about what are you trying to accomplish and let's just um let's put that um in writing. make it clear for the board,
but also make it clear for the board's community as well. Um, you all have had this document. Um, and so hopefully you've had a little bit of time to go through it. What I most want to do is try to answer questions you have about what things in the document
mean or what are challenges there. A common thing to do at this point in the conversation is for you all to be questioning, is this the right timing? uh is there something that's suggesting that it will take um 3 months that you think should be done in 1 month or
should be done in 5 months those sort of things timing of uh items and the definition of items are the most common questions that come up at this point in the process. And so first before we do anything else I want to open the floor for those. So, if you have any questions around the timeline, um, you know, why
does this take this long or is this something that we should think should take longer or what does this item mean? Any of those type of questions, I just want to open the floor now. Um, so that as you have those, you can ask those. Once we've gotten clarity on some of the more technical and tactical matters uh
then we can come back and look at the document overall um to talk about the major chunks of work but then ultimately it falls to you all to make the decision on uh whether or not to adopt it. Um once you all have adopted your timeline then that becomes the marching orders
for us your coaching team uh that's what we're supporting you and implementing. So we're so so our work once it's adopted is to help you all accomplish the things that you all have said that you wanted to do in your timeline. So with that, but before we get to that part, what questions you have either
about timeline issues or questions about what items on the timeline mean? >> I've got one and um AJ, I'm not sure it's for you or the members of the uh listening committee. I know it seemed to me that we've got some very aggressive goals there in time and and which are
dependent on not only our schedules but other organization schedules and other people's schedules and so I just how are we looking on on that timeline at this point? I know you guys have been working very very hard uh on that and uh but that just struck me as aggressive and uh
would love an update on that. So, if you remember, our goal is to be able to provide the goals and guard rails to Dr. Lacata when they start working on the budget in October. And so, this is the time frame we have to work with. Um, if you look at the
materials that were forwarded to you by Dr. Kushner, you're going to see the spreadsheet that was created. And upon AJ's recommendation, um there's board members that sign up for place one and place two. And so board members who signed up for place
one, they're responsible for doing the outreach and scheduling um those. And so in one of our trainings, AJ mentioned maybe the number 60 to try to do 60 in this time frame. Um, I know it's it's
ambitious, but I do believe it's doable because we would have at least two board members at each listening session. Yes, we can have more um but at least two. And so when we divide up the work, I feel like it is doable in this timeline,
especially because um based on how many number ones you signed up for. Um, if you need help and you need somebody else to step in in some of those, um, please reach out and we we
can work on that. Um, I know it it's a short time, but I feel like if we all work together, we can pull we can accomplish this. >> You know, just a point of clarification, the and
the they'll begin working in November. Isn't that correct? It's November. So, um, and I I I suggest that we consider having the end of October as the date
instead of o October 15th. That adds adds two weeks. Um, and I I think that that kind of flexibility will be important. If we can get it all done by October 15th, that'd be great. But, um, M Dr. Ciss just confirmed it's it's
November. So with with that understanding um I I recommend that we use end of October for our date not not mid-occtober. >> So we have a board meeting scheduled for October 13th and according to the timeline that is when we would um adopt
those goals. >> I I don't I think we should use the extra extra two weeks. I I just I think it's um it's will be aggressive even with
that that timeline and um I I I just I think we those extra two weeks still is going to will be very pressed for time but again now confirming that it's November that they they need the information um I I I just
strongly urge us to >> okay >> to slide two weeks I I think it's going to be hard even with those two weeks. Um but every with everybody's commitment, I know we'll make it work. But that's um just considering all that's in in front
of us and a very aggressive schedule on so many fronts over the over the next three months, I I would ask that we that we move it back to that time. Thanks. Yeah.
Okay. Um do we have any other questions or seek more guidance from um Mr. Crayville? Um any
uh exoratory comments before you sign off, Mr. Crabel? It's very >> no what whatever timeline works for you all u we we're taking notes as you all uh deliberate this evening and um whenever consensus is uh reached we will
just proactively make those adjustments to the timeline document and then provide those back to you all. Um and so whatever you all choose to do with your timeline we're perfectly comfortable with that. Uh we'll just make adjustments in the timeline u and then support you all accordingly. Um, one
thing that might help with some of this as you all are thinking through some of your questions or thoughts about the timeline is, uh, normally how we operate is once you all have adopted this, we use this as our project management guide. And so in monthly check-ins with
the board leadership and administrative leadership, uh, this is essentially the agenda for those meetings. will check in um and once a month we'll look forward to the next 60 to 90 days to figure out what are additional things that the board needs to agendaize or to attend
to. And so that's how we use this from a project management perspective. Um and so u if there are things that you want more time on uh then that is an important thing for you all to make the decision on u because that will impact
uh our project management um practices. And just if if we were as as I understand from the guidance from um one of your colleagues, uh tonight we must come away with that final date for you and as I
understand what you just said and my my hearing is not great. um as we if we make adjustments in any of these uh tasks along the way um in most cases it will involve your support from you and
your staff. So we make we must make sure that we clear any of those changes, make sure they work on your end as well as our end so you can appropriately >> um absolutely not. um um you should not take into consideration um our
logistical uh needs. We will do what is necessary to work around the demands of this board. You all have pitched a fairly aggressive timeline. I realize it spans two years and it sounds like that's a long time. You all have tried to cram into two years what often boards
will try to accomplish in three or four. Um and so you all are moving planning to move aggressively. We will adjust our schedules. That's why you have three of us and not just one. We will adjust our schedules to try to accommodate whatever you all needs are. So, please absolutely
do not consider um our scheduling well-being uh as part of your planning. Go as fast as your children deserve. >> Mhm. >> And and we will and we will keep up. >> Okay. Any any other questions? Um >> um I do have a quick question. I know we
have a a listening session on September the 10th, but I noticed on the timeline it looked like we were supposed to be done by the 4th. Should we cancel that session? It No. >> No. Based on um President Garin's
request that we um take the entire month of October, we'll have to adjust the date. So that'll give us more opportunity. Okay. >> So don't cancel it. Yes. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. what what we would do is we would work with your uh committee leadership. We try to identify what is the actual
date um at the end of October that you all want to likely have a special meeting specifically to address this and once we have that final final date at the end of the month then we will work backwards to adjust all of the other uh relative dates that are impacted. Um,
but based on this conversation, uh, no, it sounds like, uh, it's full speed ahead. >> Mhm. >> And we'll go over this in detail with the board, but this is going to require at least one full day meeting. Um, and
we'll have to work schedules to to make that happen. And and we have uh two or at least one more that'll be a a half day meeting is is what the recommendations are. So there's going to be some real scheduling work that'll
have to be done and I know Dr. Enzar is is going to assist us with that. But so we'll start working schedules immediately to make sure we get those on the on the calendar. >> Great. >> Okay. Any other other questions? >> So as you all have additional questions,
concerns, reflections beyond this evening, don't hesitate to reach out to any of the three of us. Whoever you've been communicating with, you're welcome to communicate with them. uh we'll manage the job of staying coordinated among the three of us. So if you talk to any of the one of us, we'll make sure to connect the dots among ourselves. But if
you have any other questions about this or any other concerns that come up, just reach out to us. Um and we will work with your leadership to make adjustments as are needed. Um again, it has been really wonderful working with you all. You all have been very aggressive and
moving fast. You all have been diligent and we appreciate that. um that is not always the case. And so you we appreciate people just take as seriously the task of um being public servants as you all um have done uh so far and we
expect you to continue to do. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Craraven. Um we have any other questions? All right. Thanks for joining us this evening. Um any further discussion?
Um, we'll now move to voting. The one change that we're going to reflect going forward is uh the March, pardon me, October 31st will be uh the final due date. Um,
no, I hear a chuckle from the Dean Aier down there, but I'm not going to acknowledge it. So, >> I was having technical difficulties. >> Technical difficulties. Okay. All right, we'll now move to voting. Um, all in
favor, please vote yes. Any opposed? Vote no. I see we have seven votes yes, zero abstensions and and zero nos. The motion passes. The next agenda item is approve delegation of authority to a board
committee to hear level three grievances under board policies. Um and quick summary of that is instead of having these grievances come before the full board, we would appoint a a threeperson board to hear the grievances within with
a fourth alternate. And the plan would be to rotate that that responsibility. Uh so that no three board members are um required to to shoulder that very important responsibility uh forever. and I've gotten a indication of interest
from Lori George that she'll serve on it and I will serve on the one coming up and I'm going to need a a third person to volunteer for that and um and then a fourth alternate. So, um is there a motion concerning this item?
>> So moved. >> Have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Is there any discussion? >> I'll second. >> Pardon me. Got a second. And I thought I heard one, but Mr. Walker, we'll now move to voting. All in favor, vote yes.
Any opposed, vote no. Outcome of the vote, we have seven yeses, uh, zero nos and no abstensions. Our next item on the agenda is the first
reading uh for the conflicts of interest policy. Um, and it's a first reading. We're anticipating final consideration and uh where the board will make its final decision at the August meeting. Uh, but
do we have a motion concerning this first reading? >> Mr. Pilo's lights on. Um I have motion to approve the first reading of the revisions to the board policy BBFA local regarding ethics and
conflict of interest disclosures. >> Do we have a second? >> I'll second. >> We have a motion and a second. U is there any discussion? Um I'd be glad to respond to questions, but I'd like to give a quick quick
summary of this. Our goal is to have the the gold standard for ethics policies in in the state of Texas. And this is the first step in moving in that direction. It defines what a conflict of interest is. And uh if those
who have their agenda, if they look at it, the text that's printed in black is the current board policy. Uh the red are the recommended amendments and it defines a conflict of interest and it also addresses concern about the
appearance of a conflict of interest and how u the concern that we have for that as board members to ensure public trust in in what we do. On the second page, page 204, which is 309 of the board agenda,
we define conflicts of interest. There's that is not in our in our current board policy and uh this conflict of interest policy if passed by this board would go into immediate effect and it's um
I'd like to just raise or point out some of the specific things board members are will be prohibited from accepting anything of value or benefit in from vendors or those who plan to be vendors including but not limited to entertainment sports tickets, travel,
food, lodging from any entity the board member knows or has reason to know is interested or is likely to become interested in any conduct. And you turn to the second, pardon me, page three. Currently, there's a $2,000
campaign limit annually um for contributions to political campaigns for people running for office. uh this drops the campaign limit to zero and it extends the prohibition not just to the entity but its employees or partners of
a of a vendor. So you cannot have a vendor u avoid this limit by having uh partners make contributions and this is an addition if you look at the current board policy board members
are required to disclose that's the requirement disclose now state law goes on and explains u defines conflict of interest but we don't have anything in our policy and so under this policy um a Board member with conflict
would have to recuse himself or herself from voting in from voting refrain from participating in have to leave the room during any discussion of a contract proposed contract or transaction in which the board member has a substantial interest in a business entity or real property and I won't read all the the
rest of the the paragraph but um it's a recusal and then that person uh unlike in the past only had to disclose under a local policy uh they must refrain from voting. Um I anticipate over the the
next few weeks we'll continue to get input from other board members and from from outsiders and um expect that we'll come back to the board uh in August uh with a with a document that um I'll
recommend for us to consider and and pass. Um any questions or comments? Okay. If hearing none, um we have a motion and a second. Uh all in favor, please vote yes on this first reading.
Any opposed, vote no. The first reading is approved. Okay. Our next pardon me. Did you have a question? Yes, Mr. >> Okay. Okay. Our next agenda item is approve first reading of revisions to board policy uh CDB local other revenue
sale lease or exchange of schoolowned property. Uh we before we have discussion and it will be led by Mr. Po uh we need a motion >> jump out there. >> So moved. >> Okay. We got a motion by Mr. Walker. Do
we have a second? >> Second >> by second by Mr. Galindo and also I'd like to again acknowledge Miss Lewis's Miss Galindo's uh work on this threeperson committee and Mr. Po chaired it. Thank all of you for your excellent work on this. Mr. Po.
>> Sure. And I I I'm not sure if there's a vote that we'll do on this or not today, but I know it's an opportunity for discussion. So maybe >> let me speak to that. I I asked about that earlier. It seemed odd to me to to vote on a first reading. Um, but I was
told that in fact that that that is customary, but it's understood that it's a vote on the the the first reading. So, it acknowledges the first reading. So, that's uh that was a council I got from board counsel and and that's the direction and that's what this language
refle reflects. So, all right. Well, excellent. So, um I'll go through this and uh Luis and Courtney can chime in on all the topics I've missed. I'm not going to read that uh ver word for word. It's in the uh it's in the document, but there really two things that that this committee was charged with. One was
propose a definition for a significant real estate transaction. So, this is a transaction that would meet a certain bar of which we would ask the administration and the board to do additional due diligence. And so, uh the first part of that was the definition that uh we've applied is really two main
parts of it. one either if it's a financial value of over over $5 million whether that's the appraised value um or a lease or or series of related issues where you have the total expected value of $5 million. So it could be that or uh
that it has significant civic value. Um and the the definition that we're working with right now uh from a civic value that we landed upon was uh was written there but basically showing either shared use joint ownership or use uh or a use agreement with the city of Fort Worth Taran County or another
public entity. So whether it acts as a de facto park, recreational or open space uh that would require some coordination with uh other government entities or is listed recogniz recognized in the historic register um as a uh place with significant cultural
significance. So that's the and or and and then also you couldn't aggregate you couldn't take a bunch of one five $1 million transactions put them together and and to circumvent the $5 million trans uh value size. So that was that's the first part is does it meet this
definition and then uh the second part was was for us to propose uh review factors in the administrative process. And so the administrative process here was to make it very clear to the administration uh what we we as a board
expected uh from a due diligence and community outreach perspective uh to do uh in order for us to have essentially a checklist. And if they have have have have met those items that then the board would would be um uh would would be very
favorable to approve to approving it if they'd gone through these this checklist and which so I'll go through that now. So the the process was first was for for the administration to to have a uh classification declaration. So whether or not this property meets this
significant um significant property or not. uh and so they the first step would be for them to to present why or why not the property does that. A second if assuming it it goes into the significant uh property bucket. Um the second would
be to for a baseline due diligence package. So, I've listed listed that, but that includes indep independent appraisal, title and deed restriction review, um environmental screening, uh a summary of current community uses uh for
for the property, um and a survey uh site condition survey. So, here are the things we'd we'd like to see on preliminary due diligence regarding this property. Uh step three would be uh there. So, by law, uh, we need we as a district need to offer charter schools
or public part other public partners notice that this is, uh, that that the property will be being sold. There's a 60-day window for that. Uh, the they can make, uh, proposals. We're no obligation to accept those proposals. Uh, but they
do have a a ability to frontr run or at least take a first look at these properties and come back with proposals. Uh step four is uh working uh with uh the city and county economic development staff to understand whether there's a a
turd or a tiff that that u the property lies within or adjacent to um and has an incre that um uh that should be considered. Um and so uh we in step four would be looking for opportunities to align the disposition of this property
with an adopted with adopted city or county plans. Uh step five is a community input plan. We certainly heard with Fington and others that uh the importance of community input. Um and so basically the administration would submit an engagement plan that would
include at least one public meeting a a written count content channel open for 30 days and targeted notice to uh adjacent property owners. Uh step six would be uh the marketing of the property then uh by the published criteria. Um and that would be through a
competitive bid process with a no contact rule uh from the time of the issuance of the RFP to the award recommendation. Um and then step seven would be board action with required fi findings. And so the administration would uh come and uh would would would
bring it as an action item for the board to approve a real estate transaction. uh with the you know based on the based on adopting the written findings um and and then step eight actually is a postc close would be a a scoring sum scoring
summary engagement summary uh posted agendum item oh I'm sorry that was that was the the board vote the board vote um and then uh and then it also includes uh for inclusion in the in the board in this policy is the review factor so
essentially we'd be looking at aligning uh you know whether does the sale align to the goals and guard rails that we've adopted. Uh are we seeing uh financial adequacy from the proposed sale? Have we considered community civic and community impact? Uh have uh we have has the
administration received and and related community input? Uh do we have intergovernmental alignment with respect to tiffs and turses and those sorts of things? Um, and then is is the deal uh conducted with integrity, meaning confirmation that uh the no contact rule
and the RFP was uh was um was handled in accordance with the procedures. Um and then finally or two more things and then understanding the risk and reversibility. Are there any risks to uh selling the the property to the proposed or leasing it to the uh proposed uh
buyer? Um and then and then confirming that the proceeds will be used for the purpose that uh is designated by the board. So that's kind of a lot. I uh Luis or Cornney, any comments on important points I missed there.
>> No, let me just point out I don't think you missed anything and I think you did a really good job as chairman of this committee to put this together for us. Uh the only comment I would have folks is we looked at this in light of the comments we've heard the public reaction to what we've heard discussions here in
this very room concerning sales of property and and we try to reach a balance between the responsibilities of board members as well as the administration in administering these things. But I think one of the key components that's going to make this work is going to be public
participation. Uh this is the first reading which means it's out there for public comment and we'd love to hear from you guys. We need to hear from you guys what you think about this policy before we become final policy. And secondly is is see where the engagement is with the community and see
if that meets the requirements that we keep hearing. You all want to be more engaged. Well, does this meet those requirements? If not, let's hear from from you all about that, too. Other than that, I don't have any comments. I think I said we uh we try to address all those issues. Courtney, any
other thoughts? Okay. Yeah, happy to entertain any questions or discussion for any any of us really. >> Yeah, just question. I think really use point of clarity um in reading through it. One again, great job. I think y'all did a wonderful job as a committee. Um I really like what you put together. The first thing that jumped off at me
obviously was the um initial requirement to offer the property for charter school or public. But my understanding of that is that's a statutory requirement. It's not I just want to make that clear. That's not something that we cut out a whole cloth, but that's a statutory requirement. And as Frost pointed out, we're not required to accept any offers
that are made based on that initial offering. That's correct. Yeah, as I understand it. Any other thoughts, comments? And and echo Lu's point that uh this is uh the reason we have a first reading and a second reading is to hear from the
community. So, welcome comments from the community on this as well. Okay, no further questions. Um, again, I want to commend Mr. Pilo and and uh his whole
team, Miss Lewis and Mr. Galindo for the great great work on this. You can tell by the work product how much effort went went into that and balancing um the the roles of the the board and the board's responsibility.
uh but um identifying the the work that the board will ask the the staff to do before presenting this to the board for a vote. So we have a motion and a second acknowledging uh the discussion of this
first reading. We'll now move to voting. All in favor vote I. Any opposed vote no. Um, we have seven yeses, zero abstensions, and zero nos. The first
reading passes. Thank you. We now move to consideration and approval of an application to request an extension of HB2 uncertified teaching provisions through the 2029 2030 school year. Uh, is there a motion concerning
this item? Move to approve. >> Got a motion from Mr. Aier. Do we have a second? >> I'll second. >> Got a second from Miss Lewis. Um, is there any discussion?
>> Doc, Dr. letter. I think it might be helpful for you just to explain this to the I we've discussed, but it be it'd be great for you to summarize uh what's going on here. >> I I would like to pass this off the staff. We have had multiple multiple discussions about that. Um would you
like u Yes, Dr. Solis. Um talk about it. We've we've worked through this. We understand this. Uh and we wanted to hear from HR. We wanted to hear from chief of staff. wanted to hear from the schools area and even previous HR. Um,
so we wanted to make sure everyone got together and gave their certain opinions on it because we know what it means. But I want Dr. Siz to pick up on this. >> Yes. Good evening, board of manager, superintendent. Um, to give some context on this particular um item here, House
Bill 2 restricts school districts from from using uncertified teachers in instructional areas. What this exemption is requesting or what we are requesting is an extension to that uh house bill uh essentially granting us the ability to
hire uncertified staff should that need arise. Now we will continue to prioritize our uh hiring certified teachers. In fact, uh we have hired between uh the last two months, June and July, 998
certified teachers in our district. And uh what this does is this allows us to get to that zero teacher vacancy goal while working intimately with those uncertified teachers that are that are hired to get them certified and retain them in our district. Uh the plan
requires us to partner with an al- alternative certification program to make sure that they are making adequate progress towards certification. Our regional staff, our regional leaders will be uh actively monitoring any uncertified teacher to make sure they're
getting the support that they need uh to provide quality instruction to our students and to make adequate progress toward earning certification. Um and by with as outlined in the planned by the year 29 uh 2029 2030 all all teachers in
Fort Worth ISTD must be certified. >> I want to add two things to this and maybe it'll answer a question or two. Uh our CTE department is probably the biggest one that benefits from this. Um we have so many industries that are popping up and as we want to expand that
significantly and we'll talk about that in about six months. you'll see a massive plan of moving forward. We don't have teachers that go to school to become AI teachers or network security. That's just not. But they have the state-of-the-art at their at their job
place now. Now they want to teach our children, that's what we want. But if they can't teach our children because they don't know how, that's not really what we want. So we have to monitor this very closely. Uh some of our very best teachers uh were uncertified. I'm not
saying that I was, but um when I came out of the University of Miami, um I didn't have time to do education courses. I had to graduate so I could get a teaching job. So I was actually an uncertified teacher uh when I became a teacher um back in 1993. Um uh so I get
it. I get it. I understand. We want certified teachers. We're going to and we're going to monitor it. Uh but there's some areas where we really really get some great people from the industry that just make a difference in the classroom and offer our students opportunities career-wise. So yes, it's
something we got to balance. We got to keep an eye on. We got we got statutes we got to follow through. Uh but it certainly is um great to see that some people want to get into the teaching field and leaving their profession and we should be able to support them somehow some way. Now, we're using region 11 as our um certification piece,
but I do know that other colleges here also have that. Uh you u we met with UTA the other day and they they do that as well. So, we want to make sure that we're exercising every opportunity. Other questions, Mr. Brea? Um Dr. And I don't know whether I should
address this to you, Dr. Latiz. >> Um I don't >> me. >> Okay. Um Dr. Ciss told us that over the last 3 months we've hired 998 certified teachers. Um when we look at at the
teacher population um on August 10th, what number of those teachers do you anticipate will be uncertified? >> Dr. And I believe um
Miss Presley may have some backup if you don't cover it. So you go first, Dr. M. Presley will go. >> What I will tell you is uh President Garren, and then I'll pass on over to Chief Presley, is that our plan puts a cap on the number of uncertified teachers, even if this is an ex
exemption that is granted, it puts a cap on the percentage of teachers in Fort Worth ISD that can uh be uncertified, which I don't ever see us even approaching. uh which is 12% that's outlined in the plan and then each year we have to decrease by 4%. Um so we have
to show that we are making progress toward that 0% of uncertified teachers by the school year 2029 2030. And with that I'm going to pass it over to Chief Presley. >> Sure. Thank you. Um so we currently have
over the last two months we've hired um 142 uncertified teachers. I do think it's important um to Dr. Lacata's point to understand that the district of innovation plan has been active in Fort Worth ISD since 2017 and we've had over
120 um uncertified teachers in our school district. So, this is is it it is an expansion and it is something that we're monitoring. We have um we have identified um staff members on my team who are who are going to monitor and
make sure that all of our uncertified teachers are engaged and enrolled in an ACP and are are making adequate progress. Mhm. So you project that as things stand now,
of course you have a 20 and change to to still fill. Uh but you expect there will be a 122 in our in our workforce. >> I I suspect that we will be well below the 12% that um that is it is that is
allotted in our um application. And so I don't I don't see that we'll go over 200 to 250 um uncertified teachers. >> But right now we don't know the numbers right now of uncertified teachers that are in the mix.
>> Even if we fill the remaining 22 spots with that, it still leaves us at about below 150, I think, or 16. What was the number we started with? 142. We have 142 that hired, but there were already about 115 in the district. I can get an exact
number to you as a follow-up. >> Okay. Well, that's that's an important point to clarify. So, in the district right now or last school year, there were hundred and and that doesn't include substitutes. There also were a large number of substitutes, were there
not? >> Correct. >> Um, >> correct. We we started the school year with 239 vacancies and most of those were filled with substitute teachers. These are um and we had uncertified teachers as to Dr. Lacata's point that
were teaching in mostly um our CTE uh classes. >> So those uncertified teachers were on top of the substitute teacher number. >> Yes sir. And historically those substitute teachers are majority of them are uncertified as
well. So if you're really going to look get a picture of what the uncertified teacher workforce looks like in in 2526 some percentage of the substitute teachers plus uh the other uh to get a complete picture. >> Yes sir.
>> Okay. Do we plan to hire any full-time substitute teachers? We do plan to hire um full-time substitute teachers. Um we currently have roughly 25 or 26 that are that are hired. 25 substitute teachers that are
hired. Um and then we also have a um we have a group called associate teachers which are teachers that are degreed and um are long-term subs should we need them. >> Okay, great question. And I guess what what would the 12% number be roughly?
What would that because the I guess the materials we were passed out on um >> for item F >> 12% times 4,700. >> Yeah. >> Dr. Ciz, do you have that number? >> I guess what what I'm looking at is it says the number of certified teachers
hired in 2627 was 308. And that includes CTE teachers. I'm just trying to figure out what the what the numbers are. If if we had 4,500 teachers in our district and we're at 12%, that would be about 500 roughly.
If my math checks me up, >> nobody jump up quick to check. >> I can provide the context. I can provide the context. The board received data yesterday regarding the number of uncertified teachers. The board data
request showed 161 uncertified teachers that were in the district last year serving in a CTE teaching capacity. This school year as and this was data as of Saturday. 308 of our teachers are hired as an uncertified status in that
includes teachers that were hired since we arrived plus the teachers that were already on staff last year in a CTE teaching position. >> Yeah. Thank you for for for sharing that. So when we look at these these numbers of
uncertified teachers, we have to consider the ones that were in the workforce last year as well as as the new ones. I I think that's important to understand that. >> And I have a quick question. Um do we know the number of teachers that started out uncertified over the years that have
been certified now? Do we have data on, you know, in two years, are these uncertified teachers that started two years ago, are they now certified? >> I'd like to start tracking that if we don't have it. I think that's a really good indicator of where we are, especially if we want to be at in 2029
um at >> zero. So, I I think we should start tracking it. We'll talk to uh technology over there and see if our system does that since we're barely utilizing it. We're still counting by hand on some things. But I think that is a great movement to get there and give us a
beacon on how we got to get there. >> Superintendent, if I may add to that. >> Go ahead. >> Our regional offices and and Chief Presley's team, any teacher that is hired uncertified will get monitored and
communicated with on a regular cadence to make sure that they are making progress towards certification. So, we will be tracking any teacher that has been hired this year uh that is not fully certified to make sure that they are earning their certification or
working toward earning their certification um with in outlined in the plan uh with employment consequences should they not get certified? >> I just have a simple question. How long does it take to get certified?
>> Well, it depends. I know with UTA they can do it within the year. It's 20 hours of course online at their own convenience. Um but there's a $5,000 charge for that as well as region 11 is roughly the same. It's all online. Um there's some mixed reviews about online
and and training. But one of the things that we'd love to do that uh some other neighboring districts do and I I'm already it's already turning in my head. It's tough to get a first year teacher that wants to become a teacher that really good and wants to get certified in the 20 hours and charge them 5,000.
So, we're looking for grants to pay for their tuition to get through it to help encourage them because $5,000 may mean I'm just going to work this year and not do it because I don't have the $5,000 to pay for the coursework and just do something else at the end of the year. We don't want that to happen. So, we're going to look at grants to try and pay for these things.
>> I just had a comment just uh thank you. I mean, the number of vacancies down to whatever that number is, I know that's been crazy amount of work for y'all and the team and getting good people on board and is uh is a huge effort. So, I just want to thank you and the whole
team for all your efforts and uh really look forward to a great start of the school year. It's certainly has been an extraordinary effort. You know, I'd like to just ask the Dr. Lacata, the staff to speak to concerns that we've heard regularly over
the last few months about the ESL and and and special ed and dyslexia specifically. And you see the staffing shortages there that Dr. Kushner provided to us. you know, it's X out of and we don't know, you
know, what the the denominator is, but uh I'm aware of the extraordinary efforts you've put in on the special ed front, on the ESL front. Um, and in acknowledging that we've had uh many
speakers that have uh asked us questions about it as we move into this school year, uh can um dyslexia specifically. We had a query um tonight and we had a query from um another person about the
special ed and could you address the perhaps start with a the numbers of the vacancies we have in those areas and then uh tell us how well prepared we are to begin this this school year in those two fields.
>> Dr. Kush Dr. Dr. Kushner, would you review the numbers at the back page of your handout so the public can hear that we what you handed out? Um, and then I'd ask u for uh Mr. Chowdery to follow up on what the landscape here has looked
like in the past simply because many of us weren't here, but more importantly how it looks forward and how the other districts are also struggling with this because ESSE is one of the biggest empty areas and not enough teachers in the country. But that doesn't mean we're not going to try and do it and and clear it up. So start with the numbers so the
public can hear what it is so we're transparent, everyone sees it, we're not hiding anything, but more importantly uh uh Mr. Chery, would you give your perspectives because I know you've been in this field for a while. >> Uh thank you Dr. Lacata. So I can provide the vacancy updates as of
Monday, July 20th with regards to our sped vacancy updates and our bilingual support updates. And then my colleague, Deputy Superintendent Muhammad Chowry will provide you a brief highle overview on the program change and how that how it was affected and where he realigned
the supports to ensure that those students continue to receive a high level of service. With regards to the sped vacancy updates, our rise teacher, so that's our self-contained classroom, we have one vacancy currently. We have 25 SLP
vacancies. But I want to make a note that in the current implementation model, Mr. Chowry has put forth 100 full-time SLPs to implement the model this coming school year. 75 of them are already secured. 15 are full-time
secured in a contract status. So, we are starting day one as of today with 90 full-time SLPs. and we are employing a strategy that he will describe to fill the remaining 10. Now, of course, the goal is to not have to utilize the contract SLPs, but in that that is one
of the board items that you passed in a recent board meeting for this exact purpose. School psychologist openings, we have 11, dyslexia teachers, five and inclusion teachers, four. That's our sped vacancy update. with bilingual
support. As of Monday, July 20th, two specialists are vacant and 11 bilingual support teachers are vacant. >> Now, now Dr. Kushner, the F in dyslexia, that's five out of how many spots? Um
>> I'll pass that over to my colleague to review. >> So the five vacant dyslexia out of how many? So we actually have probably the best ratio for dyslexia out of all of our urban peers. Dallas is Dallas is 1 to 50. Houston is 1 to 50.
We're actually 1 to25. We have about 113 114. My team always says 114 113 but we have basically roughly 114 dyslexia teachers. We've had a lot of stability there. Um I mean we've have some five
vacancies turnover but in terms of dyslexia teachers and stability there we've had stability and we've actually implemented a new program this past year one of the best out of Scottish right take flight right we went districtwide take flight we're implementing Wilson
across the board in our secondary level um that all happened last year but dyslexia ratios Fort Worth ISD is actually a cut above the rest when it comes to like if you go Dallas, they are at 1 to 50. Um, if you go to uh any other urban large pier, we actually have
one of the smallest ratios. So, our our there we have to remember that they're an itinerant group, right? So, we have to they go you you have to realign and organize them every year to make sure that they are servicing the kids based where they are. The other thing I would
share with dyslexia is we are one of the few districts that allowed them to be TIA, teacher incentive aotment eligible, which is a big deal as well too. So on the dyslexia front, we have a lot of I would say incentives in place to be able to recruit um this over the last two
years that I've been here, we've had classroom teachers um uh leave the classroom to become dyslexia teachers um both internally as well as um come in externally. So that's what I would share on the dyslexia front. >> Can I ask a quick question? The uh So we've heard a number of comments or you
superintendent the uh comments about kind of whether we're we're catching all the dyslexia cases. Is that a concern at all? the um >> respectfully I would want to see um the data because you know I understand there are community stakeholders running
assessments but we can't just go off of assessments out in the neighborhood in the community. I'm not saying they might be early indications but that is illegal and irresponsible. Uh so uh I will never
do that. So when we got a list last year, I ran all of them. Some were not dyslexic and some were. So we can't just go off of that. We have legally required a battery of tests to make sure that we are special education is about being
absolutely precise and not there's a problem with overidentification. I can show you that with our black population and there's a problem with underidentification. Um and so we have to be absolutely precise. So, I appreciate the energy, the passion to identify, but someone can't just come
say, "I ran a quick test. This child is dyslexic." We can't. That is morally unconscionable, irresponsible. I appreciate the feedback and and and the lists, but I'm going to run a 360 battery of tests. And we are on par with
all of our identification. We we have not missed universal screening. Um and so but at the end of the day um yes I think you can always get faster but we have to make sure we are absolutely
precise in how we are running this. >> Okay. Any other questions? All right. Um do I have a motion to approve? >> We did at the start. >> Yeah. I I beg your pardon. >> You already did. We moved at the start.
>> I'm sorry. I can't hear you, Dr. >> I think we moved at the start and then we went to discussion. >> Oh, pardon me. I guess now we move to a vote. >> Vote. >> Okay. All in favor, please say I. Any oppose? Vote no. Um we have seven
vote eyes. Zero abstensions. Zero nos. The motion passes. Okay, we are now to the end of this meeting. This concludes the items on the agenda for tonight's meeting. I'd like to close once again thanking the community
members for being here. I appreciate their sharing their opinions and their passion with us. Want to thank all the staff, all the board members for the extraordinary amount of work that went into this. As there's no further business, uh the time is
9:03 p.m. and the meeting is adjourned.