Good evening. This meeting is now convened at 05:02PM. I would like to ask everyone to please silence all cell phones. A quorum of board members is present in the auditorium. I will preside over today's meeting and present Rick president Rick Cambos' absence. I'm joined by board members Michelle Cruz Arnold and Edgar Colon. Are there speakers to see agenda item present? Is our speaker present? Then we will now conduct the hearing scheduled for this meeting. Please note that we will not be conducting the hearing scheduled for Alicia Luis as
the hearing was rescheduled before tonight's meeting. With no further business to discuss, this meeting of you want me to join each one? Procedure to consider the recommendation of the independent hearing examiner in the matter of Theron Glenn docket number 086LH122025. Theron Glenn. Purpose of the meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to consider the recommendation of the independent hearing examiner in the matter of Theron Glenn, teacher for high school. Hearings involving complaints against district employees are to be held in closed session unless employee
who's subject of the hearing requests an open hearing. If both parties request an open hearing during this hearing, the board may go into closed session to consult with its attorney under the terms of the Texas government code section five five one point zero seven one. If any board member wishes to seek the advice of counsel, please tell me. For the record, Darren Glenn is present. Yes. No. No. Mara Chickering with Rogers, Morrison, Grover representing the administration? My address. My address. Sorry. Mhmm. Katasha Woods, HISD general counsel is also present.
How do we proceed with that impressive? I think we should proceed and close since he isn't here. Okay. The board will now recess to closed session under chapter five five one of Texas government code open meetings app subsections five five one point zero zero four through five five one point zero eight nine. Should board final action voter decision on any matter considered in the closed session be required, such final action voter decision shall be taken at the open meetings covered by this notice upon the reconvening of this public meeting or at subsequent public meetings of the board upon notice thereon.
The board has recessed the closed session at 05:05PM on April at 05:16PM. And excuse me. Auditorium is now reconvened to open session at 05:16PM. Is there any further discussion? The board is ready to vote. Please open the auditorium doors and begin live streaming. This special meeting of the school board of Houston Independent School District is now reconvened in open session. The time is 05:17PM. Do I have a motion? Yes, madam president. I move that we adopt the decision and recommendation of the independent hearing examiner,
adopt the findings of fact and conclusions of law recommended by the independent hearing examiner, and terminate the employment of respondent Theron Glenn. Do I have a second? I have a motion by board member Cruz Arnold and a second by board member Colon. Is there a discussion? Please vote. Voting is closed. The motion passes. The board has voted three four and zero against to the motion to to the motion above. Do I need to read the whole motion? No. A letter notifying both parties of the action of the board shall be prepared and signed by the executive director of board relations as soon as possible,
and this hearing is concluded at 05:18PM. Procedure for dispute resolution hearing Rachel Matthews. Purpose of the meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to consider the dispute filed by Rachel Matthews, former bus driver transportation department. Hearings involving complaints against district employees are to be held in closed session unless the employee who's the subject of the hearing requests an open hearing. If both parties request an open session during the course of this hearing, the board may go into closed session to consult with its attorney under the terms of Texas government code sections five five one point zero seven one.
If any board member wishes to seek the act the advice of counsel, please tell me. For the record, Cecilia Edwards from People's Choice Association Union represents Rachel Madams. Representing Rachel Matthews is present. Okay. I'll let them know. Thank you. Miles Bradshaw with Bradshaw Law representing the administration is present. Yes. Katasha Woods, HISD general counsel is also present. Miss Matthews? Yes. For the record, Cecilia Edwards with People's Choice Association Union representing Rachel Matthews is present.
Thank you. Miss Edwards, do you wish to continue an open or closed session? Open. Issues for determination. The issues before the school board are whether board policies and administrative procedures were correctly applied to the agreement and whether the administration has violated those policies and procedures. Miss Edwards, you will proceed first. You will be allowed to make a ten minute presentation to the board followed by a ten minute presentation by mister Bradshaw. Presentations must be based on the level two hearing script transcript. Miss Edwards, you may reserve part of your ten minutes for rebuttals to matters presented by mister
Bradshaw. Both sides should shall be available for questions from the board after their respective presentations. Miss Edwards, how would you like to divide your time to make a presentation to the board? Four minutes and five minutes. Thank you. Four minutes presentation and five minutes rebuttal. Miss Edwards, you may begin. Good afternoon again. The level two decision should be reversed because it fails to resolve the central fractional and legal issues of this case. HSD terminated miss Matthew based on alleged six point four hour absent overage.
While refusing to property credit or correct medical documentation, absentees connected with her March through March '25 hospitalization. HR's deposition has been inconsistent from the beginning. The district denied miss Matthew FMLA requested on the basis that it was alleged outside the time frame that there was no proof of hospitalization. However, the records reflects that miss Matthews provided medical certification signed by her treating physician, doctor Daniel Cat,
along with the hospital discharge, documentation verifying her app permission and discharge dates. If HRZ records does not reflect those documents, that is not evidence against miss Matthews. It's evidence of documentation handling failure by the district. Even assuming HISD believed that the certification was incomplete or insufficient, federal FMLA regulations required HISD to notify miss Matthews in writing on Pacific, deficiencies and provide at least seven calendar days to cure it.
HSD did not do so. Instead, the district treated the denial as final, counted the medical supported absences against her, and then relied on those hours as grounds of termination. This is not neutral attendance policy decision. It is legally defective transportation based on absences and should not have been reviewed under FMLA ADA and protected leave standards before discipline was imposed. HRC also relied on rigid attendance, cap argument, while ignoring the fact that federal law supersedes any local handbook rule when protected leave
is implicated. A district handbook cannot convert potentially protected medical leave into a misconduct merely because an employee exceeds a local, a local leave bank. HRD was required to analyze whether the absences would qualify for FMLA protection, whether any documentation deficiency had be occurred, whether, reactivate designation was appropriate, and whether ADA interactive process was required before termination. The level one and level two response does not perform that unless that simply conclude
that HRZ made an error. While failing to reconcile the medical documentation, the lack of cure notice, and a retroactive FMLA issue, the ADA accommodation issue is the fact that the termination was based on six point four hours. For these reasons, miss Matthews respectfully request that the board reverse the level two decision and grant the requested remedies, immediately reinstate to a prior position restoration back pay, benefits, leave, and seniority removal related negative records and corrective review of HRZ FMLA leave documentation practices.
I will save the rest of my time. Mister Bradshaw, you may make your presentation to the board. Thank you, and good evening, board members. Miss Matthews was a field safety investigator in the transportation department and a bus driver prior to that. What happened this past school year is she exceeded the number of excessive absences allowed under policy. She exceeded it by six hours. And, as you know, many of these cases have come before you in the past, and the district maintains a pretty much a zero tolerance policy when it comes to
excessive absences. And in this instance, miss Matthews, want I guess, once she realized she had exceeded the number of absences, she tried to get retroactive FML FMLA leave to protect, four days that she was out. And we don't deny that she was out. We don't deny that she was in the hospital during those four days. But the problem is she submitted that FMLA request to go back retroactively two months after those dates occurred. And the leave administration had a protocol of allowing retroactive only if it could it
could only go back seven calendar days and not any further than that. And so the reason it was denied had nothing to do with the medical certification. It only had to do with the fact that it was submitted it wasn't submitted timely. And that's what the exhibits, and emails provide and that the leave administration testified to at the level two hearing. So it's really a very simple case, of of exceeding the number of absences and not having any protected leave to cover those absences. Plain and simple. At the level two hearing, miss miss Edwards, I guess, tried to make make a case that somehow the administration,
mister Amir Muhedin, who is her supervisor, you know, somehow got in her way or prevented her from, getting her absences approved. But the truth is, it's her responsibility to put in her time. She was not doing that. And and because she was not doing that, at a time, there was there was a window of time during which she could input her time or her input her time off. Excuse me. And she she didn't she didn't do it. And that window closed and then she couldn't do it. She couldn't go back and wasn't allowed into the system to do it.
Neither could mister mister, Mohdine. But what he did do going back as far as March 20, and that's exhibit 16, a woman named Tamika Givens, who was her supervisor at her prior pool, motor pool, told her, look. You need to contact leave administration as soon as possible. This is March 20. And because you need to request FMLA leave. Well, she didn't do that until May 5. And so she was way out of the timeline and that's why ultimately she was terminated. Anything, you know, in in terms of the federal law and trying to say we violated the FMLA,
the things that miss Edwards brings up is not even what the federal law says, what FMLA says is that employers may grant retroactive FMLA, but they don't have to. And then the second part where she says we should have given her seven days notice of deficiencies in her certification materials, not even applicable because that wasn't the problem. It wasn't that she submitted faulty materials or not enough materials. It was the fact that she submitted them a month late, and there was no way to cure that,
so no notice was required from the district. The administration followed the rules in this case. They were assisted her quite a bit to try to get her to fix it, and she just didn't get it fixed on time. And, you know, those are the consequences of being excessively absences absent, excuse me, in HISD. Thank you. Miss Edwards, do you wish to make a rebuttal statement? I'm okay. You have is it 05:29? That's correct? Okay. You have five minutes to do that. One thing I wanna add, if you look at the administration page number 49 and on line 12,
administration had, that department for FMLA come in and speak with them as a witness. And it says, understanding at the timing of submission, I do not know here it states that there is no indication of hospitalization on her paperwork. I did review her paperwork, so that was an oversight on my team member's review. Okay? So they made an error, but they refused to fix it. So I'm surprised we're here at level three when they told us they made a mistake. They did not know she was hospitalized. I'm sorry. Now tell us who's your man who was your manager? At the time, mister O'Mear,
was my manager. Is miss Givens your manager? Givens was not my manager. I never spoke with her regarding my hospitalization. Okay. I don't even know if she knew I was in the hospital. Did they deny you the first time? Yes. I was denied because they said there was not enough information about the reason I was in the hospital. I went back to get a second, and the doctor told me then, they do not have the right to ask for more details about what is going on with your illness. He said, but if you want me to write it, I will. I said, well, at this point, I'm up to being fired, so it's okay.
I just tell them what they you know, add the extra. Mister Amir did not understand how to do the documentation. And he did he tell you that? Yes. When it came, he did not know how to do it. It was a new software or something that the department had brought in here. We're just coming back to HISD. He was gonna look into it to see how to input the time that I had in which he did not. So I had to come over here, and I spoke to a lady in HR. And she explained to me what he needed to do. And I told her,
well, I tried to get him to do it. So she sent an email to our timekeeper and said, she has the time. I need you to put it in now. So after they inputted the time, that's when I came up six point four hours short. And on the day that they showing a six point four hours, I was short, I was actually in the hospital. Okay. So we're gonna take her how many years did you work for the district? Thirteen years. Thirteen years in the district, and you're gonna terminate her for six hours. Come on. And one of the best employees HSC have ever had in that department.
Correct? That is correct. Okay. So what do you want to happen? Well, I would like to be reinstated, you know, given everything back that was taken away from me. Just like them to be fair across the board. I'm not asking for anything. I'm just only what is should have never occurred to make it correct. I do know people make mistakes. We're not perfect, and I understand that. But I just want them to be fair to me. That's all I'm asking and nothing more. More. At the end of the day, mister Amir dropped the ball in this, the manager. He was not trained properly, which you've had this conversation before about management's coming in and not properly trained.
If he's honest today, he would tell you he did not understand the paperwork, and he's dropped the ball in this. You know, this is why we're here today, and we're asking to rehab her reinstated and resolve this issue today. Now I don't know what their fraternities been told you, but I know it's not correct. You know? Those are lies. But if you look at the documentation, it clearly states. If you look at all our exhibits that we submitted, it talked about, hospitalization, how many days when she's absent. We've submitted that doc those documents. So if you looked at the evidence, we don't know why we're here, why we even made it to level three.
She should've been giving her the opportunity to give her jar back way in level two. So you have anything else to add? Yes. The thing about it is mister O'Mear, I would just like him to just be honest. We all and I told him, mister O'Mear. And I told him, we make mistakes. And I understand if you didn't know it, you made a mistake, just own up to it. Don't try and drop me on drop it all on me like I failed to do something. I did what was required, yet you did not know it. All you had to do is say you didn't know the software and have someone else to put the information in.
You're just coming back. HSD had did some changes. So, please, just do what's right. That's all I'm asking. I'm not I'm not asking for nothing that do not belong to me. I'm just asking him to be fair, to be honest. Because at the end of the day, well, I have to live with it and he has to live with it. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions for my colleagues? Do I have a motion? The parties have complete completed their presentations. It's now time for the board members to have our to make our decision on the issues before us. The board will now recess to closed session under chapter five five one of Texas government code open meetings act subsections five five one point zero zero four through five
five one point zero eight nine. Should board final action vote or decision on any matter considered in the closed session be required, such final action vote or decision shall be taken at the o open meeting covered by this notice upon the reconvening of this public meeting or at a subsequent public meeting of the board upon notice thereof. The board has recessed a closed session at 05:35PM on 04/30/2026. The special meeting of the school board of Houston Independent School District is now reconvened in open session. The time is 05:43PM. Do I have a motion? I move that we deny all requested relief not not previously granted by the level
two hearing officer and uphold the decision of the level two hearing officer. Do I have a second? We have a motion by Board Member Colon and a second by Board Member Cruz Arnold. Is there any discussion? And please vote. Voting is closed. The motion passes. The board has voted three, four, and zero against. A letter notifying both parties of the actions of the school board shall be prepared and signed by the executive director of board of relations as soon as possible. This hearing is concluded at 05:44PM. Procedure for dispute resolution hearing,
Suzanne Risley. Purpose of the meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to consider the dispute filed by Suzanne Riesley, teacher, Westside High School. Hearings involving complaints against district employees are to be held in closed session unless the employee who is the subject of the hearing requests an open hearing. Both parties request an open session. During the course of this hearing, the board may go into closed session to consult with its attorney under the terms of the Texas government code sections five five one point zero seven one. Any board member wishes to seek advice of counsel, please tell me.
For the record, Wayne Lang Wayne Lang Right. Lange with the house thank you, sir. The Houston Federation of Teachers representing Suzanne Risley, ma'am? Risley, thank you, is present. Suzanne Risley is present. Miles LeBlanc representing the administration is present, and Katasha Woods, HISD general counsel is also present. Mister Lange, do you wish to continue in open or closed session? Open. Thank you. Issues for determination. The issues before the school board are whether board policies and procedure administrative procedures were
correctly applied to the agreement and whether the administration has violated those policies and procedures. Mister Lanes, you will proceed first. You will be allowed to make a ten minute presentation to the board followed by a ten minute presentation by mister LeBlanc. Presentations must be based on the level three hearing transcript. Mister LeBlanc, you may receive part of your ten minutes for rebuttal to matters present to mister LeBlanc. Both sides shall be available for questions from the board after their, respective presentations. Mister Lange, would you like to divide your time to make a presentation to the board?
Yes. We can. For a full rebuttal. Thank you. You may begin, sir. Let's put our young eyes on. Alright. In the level two hearing, remedies one, three, four, and five will result. So the only issue you guys have to really look at is, regarding remedy number two. We are saying that that needs to be reversed. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. My bad. In the level two hearing, remedies one, three, four, and five were resolved. So, really, the only issue we're looking at is remedy number two. We're saying it should be reversed. So I'm gonna have miss Risley to give a brief description of what she does, in the district and how this is affected.
Hi. The facts are simple and straightforward. HIV HISD took part of my dual credit stipend that Houston City College paid me without proper notification. I've been teaching dual credit US history at Westside High School since the 02/1920 school year. Every year, I received a stipend from HCC that was equal to their adjunct pay every year until 2024 or '25. Last year, HISD decided to take $790 of the $2,790 per course stipend. I found out by looking at the stipend page at the beginning of the twenty
twenty four, twenty five school year. I emailed dual credit coordinators of the district several times from October to December 2024 asking for clarification about changes to the stipend since it appeared to be significantly reduced. No one responded. This was not the first time HISD has failed to communicate changes. Until the twenty twenty three, twenty four school year, we received our small excuse me, fall stipends in December. We did not get it until mid mid January two thousand twenty four, and we only found out it was gonna be delayed right before we went to
break for Christmas. Many of us, many of us dual credit teachers like me, depended on that money every year, and we essentially had to cancel Christmas that year. Payment for summer school '24 was also paid late. It wasn't paid until mid September even though it was backdated to mid August. And these were classes that to ensure our future students get their associate's degree when they graduate high school. These are not I ISD credit courses. K. And also, the last school year in twenty twenty four, twenty five, the schedule listed December again as the fall stipend,
but we did not get it till 01/29/2025, a full six weeks after the HCC semester ended. This is not HCC money that they're withholding. It's money that HCC pays to HIC with the understanding that it be forwarded to the dual credit teachers so that they are paid in accordance with the college adjunct pay rate according to the memo of understanding between the two parties. Adjunct instructors, which is how we are classified with HCC, are normally paid monthly by HCC, but the district insists it goes through them. Some of the duties that I have as a dual credit instructor,
I have to have at least eighteen hours of graduate credit credit in course of study. HCC requires a master's degree. In addition to following TEEX and other HISD requirements, have to create and execute lessons in line with requirements and course objectives set by HCC, maintain an online presence through Canvas even if it's in person, maintain a separate grade book and attendance rosters, complete multiple compliance trainings, complete additional trainings when presented, required to attend dual credit institute, required to attend adjunct faculty and department meetings, be observed and evaluated by HCC,
submit grades and attendance, ensure letter grades for HCC and HISD match, and I am considered employed by HCC to teach these dual credit classes. Again, this is not HIC money. It is HCC money. Dual credit courses must be taught at college level requirements, and the HCC determines whether or not a teacher is qualified to teach them or not. So she had to go through two application process to get there. The basic arrangement that HCC and HSI has regarding the dual credit program is, HFT's exhibit one. And in the contract, miss Risley had a dual credit for several years.
She's taught these courses for a long time. Prior to 2425, it was always a pass through. In the 2425 school year, you guys came up with a new word instead of the compensation manual. It was called the plan. That plan didn't get put out until March 2025. So when she said she's looking for how much her stipend was gonna be, it's because it wasn't listed in any of the manuals. So we have to go back to the 2324 manual, but, of course, that went up from 2360, 2346 to to 2790.
Now in the arguments we made before or in the arguments we made at the presentation, the compensation of adjuncts, it says here under, exhibit one eleven section f, compensate adjuncts directly to contribute funds to the school directly, districts based upon the number of courses in enrollment that the schools may provide stipends to instructions. This is the key word, may provide stipends to instructions. But the last part is the part we didn't get on to, which is in accordance with the ACC faculty salary rates. So the money is passed through for the adjunct professors to have their money.
HIC supports the contract, the position, that this contract does not require it to pay because it has the word made, But they neglected to read the second half where it says, in accordance with the faculty HCC faculty salary rates. This is the part where we're arguing why this decision should be reversed is because the money has always been passed through money and not intended for HISD to pocket or decide that they're gonna pay less and keep the $7.90. We'll yield because we're right at the time. Thank you, mister Block. You may make a presentation to the board. Is it still afternoon or is it evening?
I think it's still afternoon. So good afternoon, board. I, I hear I am here to represent, the HISD administration with respect to this, level three grievance hearing. I also handle, the level two grievance hearing, that was that's been appealed by the agreement here. So, this grievance turns on a simple question. Who determines what stipend amount an HISD employee is paid? Should the employee decide the amount of the stipend? Alternatively, should another educational institution decide how HIST will pay stipends to district employees?
Or is that decision the responsibility of HISD administration in conformance with the district budget approved by this board? Well, the answer, of course, is the latter. Administration, HIC administration makes that decision, not the employee, not another educational institution. But Suzanne Risley objects to that common sense notion in her grievance. Basically, miss Risley asserts that she is entitled to be paid the full amount of a
stipend paid to HISD by Houston City College, used to be Houston Community College, for dual credit courses she taught at HCC as an adjunct instructor during the twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five school year. However, in her grievance, what miss Risley fails to acknowledge or take into account is that HSD administration adopted an employee compensation plan for the twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five school year that caps the amount of stipends paid to district employees.
Ultimately, miss Risley was paid the stipend amount that she was entitled to receive pursuant to the compensation plan. Let's review the facts in detail. Christina Wade Roediger, HISD executive director of post secondary program programming, and Britney Caden, HISD director of compensation, testified at the level two grievance hearing held last June that miss Risley taught five dual credit courses in the 2024,
for which HCC paid HISD $2,790 for a course, which amounted to a total stipend amount, of $13,950 for the fall semester. She also taught five dual credit courses in the 2025, for which HCC paid HISD, again, $2,790 per course for a total stipend amount of $13,950
So for both semesters of the twenty twenty four-twenty twenty five school year, HCC paid HISD a total stipend amount of $27,900 for the 10 dual credit courses miss Risley taught over that time frame. However, the HID compensation plan for the twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five school year, which is incorporated in the level three board grievance hearing transcript in exhibits four and five, states specifically at exhibit five that HCC dual credit stipends are capped at $2,000
per course. That means miss Risley was entitled to be paid $10,000 for the five courses that she taught during the 2024 and $10,000 for the five courses she taught during the 2025. And in fact, for the twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five school year, she was paid the full $20,000 that she was entitled to receive pursuant to the HISD compensation plan. Now let us review a few of the objections raised by miss Risley to the
compensation plan stipend cap. First, contrary to what miss Risley asserts, the dual credit partnership agreement between HISD and HCC for the twenty twenty four twenty twenty five school year does not override the HISD compensation plan, however much the agreement would like that to be so. In fact, the language of the HICD HCC dual creditor partnership agreement, which is incorporated in the level two grievance hearing transcript at administration exhibit seven,
specifically says in section f of that agreement under the header HCC responsibilities that it is HCC's responsibility to compensate dual credit instructors, quote, directly or distribute funds to the school district based on the number of courses and enrollment so the school may provide stipends to instructors in accordance with HCC's faculty salary rates. Again, the keyword is may.
The contractual language is not obligatory. HISD and its administrative discretion has chosen to cap the dual credit instructor stipends at an amount less than what was paid by HCC, which the district has every right to do. Second, the cap stipends were not a mystery or a surprise to any HISD teachers who served as dual credit instructors at HCC. Administration exhibit four includes the email distributed to our HISD employees by the HISD chief
human resources officer, which incorporated a link to the compensation plan. Furthermore, administration exhibit 10, which is a copy of miss Risley's HISD dual credit instructor agreement for spring twenty twenty five semester, which she signed on 01/15/2025, specifically provides that she would be paid a stipend pursuant to the HIC compensation manual, which really is synonymous with the HIC compensation plan.
Lastly, agreement cast dispersions against the district by questioning how the district utilized the excess amount remaining after the cap stipends were paid to the adjunct instructors. This issue was addressed in detail in an April 2025 board referral incorporated in the board transcript at exhibit eight. In the referral, miss Wade Roediger addresses several issues related to HCC stipend payments for the edification of the board.
With respect to the disposition of excess stipend amounts, she writes, any extra funds left over from the HCC reimbursement of stipends is used for other dual credit purposes. For example, HCC TSI boot camps, dual credit instructional materials, etcetera. Given the foregoing facts, I ask the board to uphold the level two hearing officer ruling with respect to this grievance, which, one, grants grievance remedy number one,
in which she requests that there be no adverse action or retaliation be taken against her, Two, denies grievance requested remedy number two, seeking payment of the full stipend amount paid by HCC for the twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five school year and upholding the amount paid to miss Risley pursuant to the HIC compensation plan. Three, grant the remedy that all stipends owed to miss Risley will be paid in a
timely manner consistent with the compensation plan. And as I stated earlier, she's she's already been paid the amount due for that year. Ladies and gentlemen, I have nothing further. Thank you for your attention and consideration. Thank you, mister Lange. Do you wish to make a rebuttal statement? Yes, ma'am. How much time left? Four minutes. Okay. Thank you, sir. Ready? In exhibit one six from HIC, we have the MOU. In the MOU, it says, The principle of the partnership for both parties acknowledge that principles like provisions of faculty, staff, and administration shall be collaborative.
Section b, section b of that part. Section, f of that part has a beginning, and it says financial collaboration. And getting to the end says to operate the program successfully on a cost neutral for both parties. It's in the MOU. So the cost was passed through to give to them, so it didn't cost HISD none nor it didn't add an extra expense onto HISD. Exhibit 15 at the bottom, is dated on December 1823 where mister Mark Spear, the CTM c CMR business operations of HISD responded to one of miss Risley's requests
about, her stipends for that year that was late at the time. And, he said that as such, due credit stipends stipends must be created and approved as an ad hoc stipend for each semester. This gives the precedence of why they're not using it in a compensation manual as he keeps mentioning the manual. Getting back to the manual, that year you didn't present a manual. You presented a plan. The plan was put out in March. She signed that thing about going with the manual in January. We have in, HISD's exhibit number five is a document that says that it was emailed to the
teachers, but it doesn't say the teachers. It says mister LeBlanc received that. That's not the teachers. We have nothing that shows where she had even got notice what her stipend was gonna be at this point. There's no document, no email, nothing that says that she received what her compensation is gonna be, so she's assuming that it's passed through like always at the $27.90. So instead of getting the 2,000 per course, she should've got $27.90 per course, and then she is still owed some $7,900. If you look at exhibit 12 from HISD,
you can see that on January 10, miss Rizzley was still emailing HISD trying to find out, and that was $20.25, how much her stipend was gonna be. She still had no idea how much she was gonna get for that school year, 2425. Now we go back to a rule that says that forty five days before the end of the contract time, when she has time to resign or stay with the district to have time to think about whether she wants to take the salary cut or not, is what a standard for you guys to give.
If these teachers violate that, you will sanction them. So was she given forty five days? No. It's our understanding that on June 26 of that year is when it got emailed out to the teachers what the stipend was gonna be. She had three days and that was because the twenty eighth, which would have been the forty fifth day before class, was a Saturday. Three days to make a decision on whether or not she could afford everything. Now that's saying that she's on not on vacation because this is coming out in the summer, June 2025 or 2024. And in the manual itself,
it says, when you look for what the compensation for the, stipends are gonna be, you have to go to a separate document. The separate document is number it's in the, man. I lost my track here. Stipend, exhibit five, with the stipend manual compensation plan, but it's not part of the record. There's nothing in exhibit five that shows where the document came from. The only part date on the document that it references anything is 05/15/2025 at 02:21PM. The point is exhibit, three of HISD's attachments, and it notifies the due print stipend has been
Are there any questions for my colleagues? The parties have completed their presentations. It's now time for the board members to make our decision on the issues before us. The board will now recess to closed session under chapter five fifty one under Texas government code, open meetings act subsections 551.004 through 551.089. Should board final action vote or decision on any matters considered in the closed session be required, such final action vote or decision shall be taken at the open meeting covered by this notice upon the reconvening of this public meeting or at the subsequent public meeting
of the board upon notice thereof. The board is recessed to closed session at 06:07PM on 04/30/2026. This special meeting of the School Board of Houston Independent School District is now reconvened in open session. The time is 06:14PM. Do I have a motion? Two hearing officer and uphold the decision of the level two hearing officer. Do I have a second? We have a motion by board member Cruz Arnold and a second by board member Colon. Is there a discussion? Please vote. The voting is closed. The motion passes. The board has voted three, four, and zero against the above motion.
Voted on. Conclusion of the hearing, a letter notifying both parties that the action of the board shall be prepared and signed by the executive director of board relations as soon as possible. This hearing is concluded at 06:15PM. With no further business to discuss this meeting, the board is adjourned. The time is 06:16PM on 04/30/2026.