Sep 21, 2026 Regular Board Meeting

[1. Call to Order Open Session in the Board Room at Little Elm ISD Administration Building on 400 Lobo Lane, Little Elm, Texas 75068.]

[00:00:06]

THE LITTLE ELM ISD BOARD OF TRUSTEES IS NOW IN SESSION AT THE LITTLE ELM ISD BOARD ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. IT IS 6 O'CLOCK PM. MISS FLORES, MAY WE HAVE ROLL CALL AND INTRODUCTION.

MR. MICHAEL LAMB.

PRESENT.

MR. DAVID MONTEMAYOR.

HERE.

MR. ERIC WILSON.

PRESENT.

MR. JASON OLSON.

HERE.

MISS MARY WATKINS.

HERE.

MR. KEN BEBER.

HERE.

MR. JEFF BURTON.

HERE.

AND MR. DELEON ENGLISH.

HERE.

[3. Citizen Input]

YOU DID BUTCHER.

I DID, I'M SORRY. ALL RIGHT.

GOOD EVENING, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. MY NAME IS DAVID RUSS BALDISA. MY WIFE SUBMITTED THE TICKET, BUT, UH, I HAVE 3 CHILDREN HERE WITHIN LITTLE ELM ISD, AND I'M HERE TO, UH, BRING UP A SUBJECT THAT I THINK IS NEAR AND DEAR TO EVERYONE'S HEART, WHICH IS FOCUSING ON A COST-NEUTRAL, EVIDENCE-BASED SOLUTION TO TARGET LITTLE ELM'S, UH, ACADEMIC CHALLENGES, THE HIGH TRUANCY RATES, LAGGING EOC TEST SCORES IN CAMPUSES THAT HAVE STRUGGLED UNDER STATE ACCOUNT- ACCOUNTABILITY METRICS. UH, WE ARE ASKING THE BOARD TO CONSIDER FLIPPING THE ORDER IN WHICH THE SCHOOLS GO TO SCHOOL IN THE MORNINGS TO ALIGN WITH HUMAN BIOLOGY, WITH AN ELEMENTARY START AT 7:30, UH, WITH THE MIDDLE SCHOOL STARTING AT 8:15 AND HIGH SCHOOL STARTING AT 8:50. THE REASON THAT THIS COULD BE BENEFICIAL TO THE DISTRICT AND TO ITS STUDENTS IS BECAUSE EXPECTING STUDENTS TO FUNCTION AT 7 A.M.

VIOLATES BASIC HUMAN FIL- PHYSIOLOGY, BECAUSE DURING ADOLESCENCE THE BRAIN UNDERGOES A CIRCADIAN RHYTHM SHIFT THAT'S CALLED SLEEP PHASE DELAY. IT PUSHES BACK THE MELATONIN PRODUCTION BY ROUGHLY 2 HOURS, AND SO ASKING A HIGH SCHOOLER TO LEARN AT 7 A.M. IS BIOLOGICALLY EQUIVALENT TO ASKING AN ADULT TO PERFORM COMPLEX TASKS AT 4:00 AM.

ON TRUANCY AND ATTENDANCE, THERE WAS A LANDMARK STUDY TRACKING OVER 9,000 HIGH SCHOOLERS CONDUCTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA'S CAREI THAT IDENTIFIED THAT SHIFTING HIGH SCHOOL START TIMES TO 8:30 AM OR LATER PRODUCED A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DROP IN TARDINESS, UNEXCUSED ABSENCES, AND CHRONIC TRUANCY. WHEN STUDENTS ARE SLEEP DEPRIVED, THEY MISS FIRST PERIOD, FALL BELOW THE STATE 90% ATTENDANCE THRESHOLD, AND DISENGAGE.

MOVING HIGH SCHOOL START TIMES BACK KEEPS OUR KIDS IN THEIR SEATS. SECOND, ON ACADEMIC RECOVERY AND TEST SCORES, IN A STUDY PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, RESEARCHERS ANALYZED DISTRICT-WIDE START TIME DELAYS AND FOUND AN AVERAGE INCREASE OF 2 TO 3 PERCENTILE POINTS IN STANDARDIZED MATH AND READING SCORES. THE RESEARCH ALSO SHOWED THAT THE LOWEST PERFORMING STUDENTS GAINED 2 TO 3 TIMES MORE ACADEMICALLY THAN THE AVERAGE STUDENTS.

FOR A CAMPUS THAT IS WORKING TO OVERCOME HISTORICAL C, UH, LEVEL AND STATE ACCOUNTABILITY RATINGS, LATE START TIMES LEVERAGE, UH, AN ACADEMIC INTERVENTION THAT IS ABLE TO HELP STUDENTS SUCCEED.

FINALLY, ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OR STUDENTS NATURALLY THRIVE ON EARLIER SCHEDULES. THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIAT- PEDIATRICS CONFIRMS THAT YOUNGER CHILDREN DO NOT EXPERIENCE ADOLESCENT SLEEP DELAY. THEY ARE NATURALLY EARLY, EARLY RISERS WHOSE COGNITIVE PEAK OCCURS IN THE MORNING, AND MOVING ELEMENTARY START TIMES EARLIER DOES NOT HARM THEIR SLEEP. IT MAXIMIZES THEIR LEARNING WINDOW. SO BY STRUCTURING OUR 3 TIERS, ELEMENTARY FIRST, MIDDLE SCHOOL IN THE MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOL LAST, WE FIX TRANSPORTATION EFFICIENCY WITHOUT SACRIFICING STUDENT PERFORMANCE. THIS WILL HELP US TO SOLVE HIGH SCHOOL TRUANCY, RAISE TEST SCORES, AND ENSURE NO CAMPUS FALLS BEHIND BY FIGHTING BIOLOGY.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS.

THANK YOU.

[4. The Board will recess into Closed Meeting in the Board Support Conference Room as permitted by the Texas Open Meetings Act Code Subchapter 551.072 & 551.074. The Board and Superintendent will discuss: A. Personnel B. Land]

[5. Pledge of Allegiance]

[00:05:01]

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THEE, TEXAS, ONE STATE UNDER GOD, ONE AND INDIVISIBLE.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WE'D LIKE TO THANK THESE STUDENTS FOR ALSO SERVING AS OUR DOOR GREETERS THIS EVENING. THANK YOU GUYS FROM BRENT. UH, AND THEN WE DO HAVE AN INVOCATION TONIGHT, MR. COY BOY- BOWYER.

THAT'S A REALLY GOOD JOB ON THE NAME FOR THE FIRST TIME. I'M PASTOR COY BOYER, PASTOR OF, UH, KINGDOM LIFE CHURCH HERE IN LITTLE ELM. LET US PRAY.

EVERY HEAD BOWED, EVERY EYE CLOSED. OUR FATHER AND OUR GOD IN HEAVEN, WE COME BEFORE YOU ON THIS EVENING, FIRST OF ALL, THANKING YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GATHER TOGETHER IN THIS SPACE, IN THIS PLACE.

THANKING YOU FOR YOUR GRACE, YOUR MERCY, YOUR KINDNESS.

THANKING YOU FOR YOUR OVERWHELMING LOVE THAT CONTINUES TO NOT ONLY OVERTAKE US, BUT TO FLOW THROUGH US AND TO US EACH AND EVERY DAY.

ON TONIGHT, WE ASK NOT ONLY FOR YOUR GUIDANCE, PRESENCE OF YOUR HOLY SPIRIT, BUT YOUR POWER FROM ON HIGH AS BOARD MEMBERS MAKE DECISIONS, HAVE DISCUSSIONS, AS THEY THINK ABOUT NOT ONLY THE CHILDREN OF LITTLE ELM ISD, BUT EVEN PARENTS IN THE COMMUNITY. WE PRAY, OH GOD IN HEAVEN, THAT NOT ONLY WOULD YOUR PRESENCE AND POWER BE FELT AND EXPERIENCED, BUT THAT AS DECISIONS ARE MADE, YOU WILL BE RIGHT IN THE MIDST OF ALL THE DECISIONS THAT ARE BEING MADE. WE THANK YOU FOR THE PARENTS, WE THANK YOU FOR THE CHILDREN, WE THANK YOU FOR THE BOARD MEMBERS. WE ASK YOUR BLESSING ON THIS MEETING TONIGHT, THAT WE, YOUR SONS, YOUR DAUGHTERS, YOUR CREATION, WILL BE EDIFIED, OH GOD, AS YOU ARE GLORIFIED.

WE DO PRAY AND ASK ALL OF THESE THINGS IN THE MIGHTY MATCHLESS NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD, OUR GOD, AND OUR SAVIOR. OH, EVERYONE CAN SAY, AMEN. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. OUR NEXT ITEM IN

[7. Superintendent Spotlight]

UH, MADAM PRESIDENT, UH, I'M ON THE LIST THERE, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE SURE THAT MY SPEAKER IS HERE TONIGHT.

BROTHER ROT'S HERE? NO, NO.

HE'S ALMOST HERE.

HE'S ALMOST HERE. CAN WE MOVE THIS JUST A LITTLE BIT, PLEASE? YEAH, WE CAN DO SOME GOOD.

ALRIGHT. UH, THANKS.

LET'S GO INTO OUR LEADERS OF THE PACK. GOOD EVENING, SUPERINTENDENT LAMB, PRESIDENT WATKINS, BOARD OF TRUSTEES. WE ARE THRILLED TO CONTINUE OUR LEADER OF THE PACK RECOGNITION DURING THIS 2026-2027 SCHOOL YEAR. WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECOGNIZE OUR STAFF MEMBERS WHO ARE GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND, UM, THE CALL OF DUTY, WHO ARE EXCELLING IN ALL AREAS, FROM THE CAFETERIA TO THE CLASSROOM TO THE FRONT OFFICE. UM, AND SO TONIGHT WE'RE THRILLED TO RECOGNIZE, UM, TWO MORE LEADERS OF THE PACK.

UH, WE'LL START WITH RECOGNIZING MISS JULIE BROWN, IF YOU'LL WATCH THE VIDEO. MY FAVORITE PART ABOUT TEACHING IS, YOU KNOW, MAKING A IMPACT ON SOMEBODY'S LIFE, WHETHER IT IS MATH OR SOMETHING ELSE, BUT I LOVE MATH AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I JUST LOVE TO SEE THEM GET IT AND ENJOY IT.

SHE IS THE EPITOME OF WHAT A GREAT EDUCATOR IS.

SHE IS THOUGHTFUL AND DEDICATED, AND SHE GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND FOR ALL STUDENTS, NOT JUST THE ONES WHO ARE ROSTERED TO HER.

UM, MISS BROWN'S A SPECTACULAR TEACHER BECAUSE SHE KEEPS EVERYONE ENGAGED WHILE MAKING IT FUN, AND SHE MAKES IT FEEL

[00:10:02]

MOST RECENTLY, SHE'S BEEN HELPING STUDENTS WHO NEED TO GET A HIGHER SCORE ON THE SAT OR TSI. SHE SPENDS HER OWN TIME FINDING RESOURCES FOR THEM AND MAKING SURE THEY HAVE EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

THE WAY SHE TEACHES, AND EVEN IF WE GET SOMETHING WRONG, SHE DOESN'T MAKE US FEEL BAD FOR IT. SHE JUST ALWAYS IS THERE FOR US.

AND IN MATH, AS IN LIFE, EACH FAILURE IS BUILT UPON AND REALLY BECOMES A SUCCESS.

SHE REALLY JUST GOES BY EACH TABLE AND MAKES SURE, LIKE, WE ALL UNDERSTAND, NOT JUST STAND IN FRONT AND TEACH EVERYBODY.

SHE KIND OF MAKES SURE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS EVERYTHING.

UM, MY MOTHER WAS A TEACHER, AND SO AT FIRST I WAS LIKE, I'M NOT GOING TO BE WHAT MY MOM'S GOING TO BE. BUT THEN I WENT TO AN AWARD CEREMONY WHERE SHE WAS GETTING HONORED, AND THE KIDS WERE COMING UP AND TALKING ABOUT WHAT A GREAT TEACHER SHE WAS, AND, UM, SHE WAS TEACHER OF THE YEAR, AND SO I WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, I WANT TO HAVE THAT IMPACT ON STUDENTS. I WOULD LIKE LITTLE ELM ISD TO KNOW WHAT AN AMAZING TEACHER MISS BROWN HAS BEEN THUS FAR.

MY DAUGHTER SOPHIA COMES HOME EVERY DAY RAVING ABOUT HER AND THE INCREDIBLE TECHNIQUES SHE USES TO KEEP THE CLASS ENGAGED AND EXCITED ABOUT LEARNING. IT IS NOT LIKE MY DAUGHTER TO GIVE SUCH CONSISTENT PRAISE ABOUT A TEACHER, ESPECIALLY ON A DAILY BASIS, BUT IT IS CLEAR THAT MISS BROWN HAS ALREADY MADE A TREMENDOUS IMPACT ON HER. WE HAVE NOT EVEN BEEN IN SCHOOL FOR A MONTH, YET SOPHIA IS ALREADY THRIVING, AND I TRULY BELIEVE THAT IS BECAUSE OF EDUCATORS LIKE MISS BROWN.

SOPHIA IS EXCITED TO ATTEND HER CLASS EACH DAY, AND AS A PARENT, THERE IS NO GREATER FEELING THAN KNOWING YOUR CHILD FEELS HAPPY, SUPPORTED, AND INSPIRED AT SCHOOL. NOT ONLY DOES SHE EXEMPLIFY OUR DISTRICT MISSION AND VALUES, BUT SHE IS ALSO A GREAT MODEL OF OUR CAMPUS CORE VALUES OF GROWTH AND INCLUSIVITY, COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. SHE IS AN EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATOR, AND WE ARE SO BLESSED TO HAVE HER AT LITTLE ELM HIGH SCHOOL. I HAVE A GREAT MATH DEPARTMENT AND OTHER COLLEAGUES HERE AT THE SCHOOL, AND I HAVE GREAT STUDENTS.

HELLO, MY NAME IS JULIE BROWN, AND I'M A LEADER OF THE PACK.

JOIN ME IN A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR MISS JULIE BROWN. SHE'LL COME DOWN. MISS BROWN IS GOING TO BE JOINED BY PRESIDENT WATKINS AND SUPERINTENDENT LAMB FOR A PHOTO. AND THEN WE'D LIKE FOR HER MOTHER, AS YOU SAW IN THE PACKAGE, THE VIDEO PACKAGE, HER MOM IS THE INSPIRATION FOR HER EDUCATOR CAREER. MOM, IF YOU'LL COME DOWN AND JOIN US FOR THE PICTURE. AND ALSO HER, HER PRINCIPAL, MISS GENTRY, IF YOU'LL JOIN US AT THE FRONT AS WELL. A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MISS BROWN. SHE IS THE MATH DEPARTMENT CHAIR AT LITTLE ELM HIGH SCHOOL. SHE HAS BEEN IN LITTLE ELM ISD FOR 17 YEARS.

SHE CURRENTLY TEACHES CALCULUS AND STATISTICS TO OUR JUNIORS AND SENIORS AT LITTLE ELM HIGH SCHOOL. WHEN ASKED WHAT HER FAVORITE THING ABOUT TEACHING IS, SHE SAID THAT SHE LOVES HELPING STUDENTS LIKE MATH AND MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH IT FOR NOW AND IN THE FUTURE, AND SHE LOVES MAKING A DIFFERENCE, PERIOD. WE ARE SUPER GRATEFUL FOR MISS JULIE BROWN, AND THANK YOU FOR BEING A LEADER OF THE PACK. CONGRATULATIONS, MISS BROWN. ALL RIGHT, OUR NEXT LEADER OF THE PACK IS FROM HACKBERRY ELEMENTARY, IF YOU'LL WATCH THE VIDEO, MISS ERIN DIXON. MY FAVORITE PART IS WHEN THE LEARNING HAPPENS.

SO, UM, LIKE EVERY KID LEARNS DIFFERENTLY, UM, SO IT'S JUST FINDING THAT, THAT METHOD, UM, THAT THEY LEARN THE BEST.

LEMONADE.

LEMONADE, RIGHT? I'M SO EXCITED.

UM, I ALWAYS TELL MY STUDENTS THAT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

UH, WE CAN'T GET BETTER AT ANYTHING UNLESS WE PRACTICE AT SOMETHING, BUT WE CAN'T GIVE UP EITHER.

UM, I HAVE A LOT OF KIDS THAT MIGHT SAY IT'S TOO HARD OR I'M NOT GOOD AT SOMETHING, UM, BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE NOT GOOD AT IT, THEY JUST HAVE TO GET BETTER AT IT. SO I LIKE TO ENCOURAGE THAT WITH MY KIDS.

GOING BACK TO THE VERY BASICS, SHE'S GOOD AT KNOWING WHAT LEVEL THEY'RE

[00:15:01]

WHEN I SEE THE PROGRESS THAT STUDENTS MAKE AND I FEEL LIKE WHAT I'M DOING IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE, UM, AS TEACHERS WE'RE ALWAYS TRYING DIFFERENT, UM, STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR KIDS WHEN SOMETHING DOESN'T WORK. I THINK AS TEACHERS IN THE BACK OF OUR MIND WE'RE LIKE, HOW COULD I DO IT BETTER? ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAS STOOD OUT TO ME THIS YEAR ABOUT AARON IS THAT, UH, WE'VE HAD TO REDO OUR SPECIAL EDUCATION, SCHEDULE THREE TIMES THIS YEAR, AND SHE HAS WORKED DILIGENTLY WITH COLLEAGUES AND TEACHERS TO ENSURE THAT ALL OF OUR STUDENTS' SERVICE MINUTES ARE MET, AND THEY'RE MET IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.

TRYING TO JUST THINK OF DIFFERENT WAYS HOW WE CAN REACH KIDS AND, FINDING THAT LEARNING STYLE THAT WORKS FOR THEM BEST.

SHE'S ALSO AMAZING WITH OUR STUDENTS. SHE, UM, IS A TEACHER THAT GETS DOWN WITH THEM, MAKES SURE THAT THEY HAVE WHAT THEY NEED, THAT THEY'RE LEARNING DIFFERENT STRATEGIES SO THAT THEY CAN BE SUCCESSFUL EVERY DAY IN THEIR WORK.

I DIDN'T GO TO SCHOOL FOR TEACHING AT THE BEGINNING, UM, BUT I DO KNOW AS A STUDENT WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL, THERE WAS A LOT OF TEACHERS THAT INSPIRED ME, AND I JUST, I REMEMBER THOSE TEACHERS, UM, AND HOW THEY HELPED ME, AND I FEEL LIKE THAT'S THE REWARD AT THE END OF THE DAY. I THINK WITH MY OTHER TYPES OF CAREERS, I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE THERE WAS MUCH OF A REWARD, AND SO I REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT TEACHING, UM, AND, AND HELPING KIDS BECAUSE I DO LIKE WHEN THEY FEEL CONFIDENT IN SOMETHING AND THEY WANT TO COME TO SCHOOL, UM, BECAUSE THEY KNOW THEY CAN, THEY THEY THEY CAN DO SOMETHING, AND THEY'RE GETTING BETTER AT SOMETHING. SO THAT THAT'S REWARDING AT THE END OF THE DAY.

SO CONGRATULATIONS, ERIN, WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU.

MY NAME IS ERIN DIXON, AND I'M A LEADER OF THE PACK.

CONGRATULATIONS, MISS DIXON, IF YOU'LL COME ON DOWN. THANK YOU, MA'AM. MISS DIXON'S GONNA HAVE A PICTURE AT THE FRONT WITH SUPERINTENDENT LAMB AND PRESIDENT WATKINS, AND IF DR.

MICKA WOULD JOIN US AS WELL AS HER CAMPUS PRINCIPAL. A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MISS DIXON. SHE IS A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER AT HACKBERRY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

SHE TEACHES ALL SIX GRADE LEVELS AT HACKBERRY, K THROUGH 5. THIS IS HER FIFTH YEAR IN LITTLE ELM ISD, AND SHE LOVES THE AHA MOMENTS FOR A STUDENT WHEN THEY UNDERSTAND A SKILL AND BUILDING ON THOSE RELATIONSHIPS.

CONGRATULATIONS, MISS DIXON.

UH, FINALLY, WE WANT TO C- WE WANT TO THANK RBFCU FOR CONTINUING TO BE OUR CORPORATE SPONSOR AND PROVIDING NICE, UH, GIFTS TO OUR LEADERS OF THE PACK, AND WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO THANK THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT AND ROWDY GRANADO FOR PART- PARTNERING WITH US TO CREATE THE VIDEOS. THANK YOU.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR LEADERS OF THE PACK. IT'S ALWAYS GREAT TO CELEBRATE GREAT PEOPLE IN OUR DISTRICT. UM, OUR- WE'RE GOING TO GO BACK TO THE TOP AND THE AMERICAN 250 AWARD, MR. BURTON.

THANK YOU, MADAM PRESIDENT. I WOULD ASK FOR YOUR PERMISSION THAT I MAY INTRODUCE OUR SPEAKER, JONATHAN ROTZ, WHO IS THE AREA LEADER FOR JUSTSERVE. IF YOU'RE NOT AWARE OF WHAT JUSTSERVE IS, I'M SURE HE'LL EXPLAIN SOME OF THAT. BUT I'D ASK HIM TO COME FORWARD NOW FOR PRESENTATION OF A COUPLE OF AWARDS THAT WE'VE, UH, WOULD LIKE TO HAVE DONE TONIGHT.

THANK YOU, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS, FOR ALLOWING US TO BE HERE TODAY, AND FOR ALL THOSE GUESTS WHO JOINED US.

UM, LIKE, UH, JEFF SAID, I AM A LONG-TERM, LONG-TIME RESIDENT OF LITTLE ELM, AND I HAVE SEEN FIRSTHAND MANY OF THE, UH, SERVICE AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT OUR MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY HAVE SHOWN LOVE FOR OUR NEIGHBORS. I'M ALSO THE LOCAL JUSTSERVE REPRESENTATIVE, WHICH IS A FREE NATIONWIDE SERVICE THAT CONNECTS VOLUNTEERS WITH NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.

WE ARE HERE TODAY TO PREVENT- PRESENT THE HEART OF SERVICE AWARD TO A FEW INDIVIDUALS WHOSE LEADERSHIP STRENGTHENS COMMUNITIES, MOBILIZES OTHERS, AND INSPIRES MEANINGFUL, LASTING IMPACT THROUGH SERVICE. ROOTED IN JUSTSERVE'S PURPOSE TO BUILD UNITY AND FOSTER VOLUNTEERISM, THE AWARD RECOGNIZES INDIVIDUALS WHO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER AND TURN SERVICE INTO COLLECTIVE ACTION. THIS MEDALLION HAS THE JUSTSERVE LOGO ON ONE SIDE AND THE AMERICA 250 LOGO ON THE OTHER. THE HEART OF SERVICE MEDALLION REPRESENTS A SHARED COMMITMENT TO UNIFY COMMUNITIES

[00:20:01]

THIS YEAR, BECAUSE IT'S THE AMERICA 250, WE ARE CELEBRATING OUR NATION'S 250TH ANNIVERSARY BY RENEWING AMERICA'S LEGACY OF VOLUNTEERISM AND MAKING 2026 THE LARGEST YEAR OF SERVICE IN OUR HISTORY.

IN THE LITTLE ELM AREA, WE'RE BLESSED WITH MANY DESERVING INDIVIDUALS, BUT WE HAVE SELECTED A FEW WHO WE'D LIKE TO RECOGNIZE HERE TONIGHT. OUR FIRST INDIVIDUAL SERVED FOR 12 YEARS AS A LITTLE ELM SCHOOL BOARD, UH, BOARD OF, UH, BOARD MEMBER, TRUSTEE.

DURING HIS TENURE, HE DEVELOPED A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LITTLE ELM AREA FOOD BANK, REPRESENTING THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ON ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS. HIS INVOLVEMENT HELPED SUPPORT THE ANNUAL LITTLE ELM ISD FOOD DRIVE, IN WHICH EVERY CAMPUS COLLECTS FOOD TO BE DONATED TO THE FOOD BANK. HE PROVIDED LEADERSHIP FOR A PROGRAM KNOWN AS THE TOWN OF LITTLE ELM'S SECRET SANTA. THIS PROGRAM PROVIDES GIFTS AND OTHER NECESSITIES TO FAMILIES SELECTED TO RECEIVE ITEMS DONATED BY MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY.

AS AN UNPAID LEADER AND VOLUNTEER FOR HIS WHOLE ADULT LIFE, HE HELPED, UH, CREATE, UH, AND LEAD THE TEAM FOR THE ANNUAL ANGEL TREE EVENT, MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES TO RECEIVE GIFTS AND OTHER NECESS- NECESSARY ITEMS DONATED BY, UH, BY MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY.

HE HAS ALSO SPENT YEARS SERVING OTHERS IN MANY WAYS, TOO MANY TO COUNT. EVERYWHERE I GO, I, UM, I SEE HIM THERE, AND HE KNOWS EVERYONE. IF YOU DON'T KNOW ALEX, THEN YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY GET TO KNOW HIM. PLEASE HELP ME GIVE A PLANT HA- HAND TO OUR FRIEND ALEX FLORES.

MISS US SO MUCH. OKAY. UH, OUR NEXT RECIPIENT HAS SERVED THROUGHOUT HIS ENTIRE CAREER AS AN EDUCATOR AND ADMINISTRATOR.

UH, WHILE I'VE NEVER MET THIS INDIVIDUAL PERSONALLY, I'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT HIM FROM MANY INDIVIDUALS IN THE COMMUNITY. WHEN HE FIRST BECAME THE SUPERINTENDENT OF LITTLE ELM SCHOOL DISTRICT ALMOST 4 YEARS AGO, ONE OF HIS PRIORITIES WAS THE COLIN POWELL CENTER. THIS BUILDING WAS NO LONGER BEING USED AS A SCHOOL AND HAD BECOME A STORAGE LOCATION FOR THE DISTRICT. HIS VISION WAS TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY. HE FIRST OPENED THE GYM TO THE KING AND QUEEN'S SPORTS ACADEMY FOR YOUTH BASKETBALL, BUT THAT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

TODAY, THE COLIN POWELL CENTER IS HOME TO THE LITTLE ELM AREA FOOD BANK, LOVEPACKS, BUILDING THE BRIDGES, FRIENDS OF LITTLE ELM AREA SHELTER, KEEP LITTLE ELM BEAUTIFUL, ST.

ARBOR, SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE, AND A FEW SCOUTING TROOPS, WITH ADDITIONAL SPACE AVAILABLE FOR OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN THERE, IT'S AN AMAZING PLACE. YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY GO CHECK IT OUT. UM, HE HAD THE VISION TO CONVERT A DISTRICT BUILDING FROM A STORAGE FACILITY INTO A PERMANENT HOME FOR GROUPS, UH, THAT DIRECTLY IMPACT OUR COMMUNITY AND SERVE THOSE IN NEED, AND I'M SURE HE HAD A LOT OF HELP DOING THAT AS WELL.

BUT ON BEHALF OF ALL THOSE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND ANYONE WHO'S BEEN BLESSED BY THEM, PLEASE HELP ME THANK OUR SUPERINTENDENT MICHAEL LAMB.

NICE TO MEET YOU.

THANK YOU.

HOW ARE YOU? CONGRATULATIONS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ARE YOU GIVING ME THAT? OH, YES.

ALMOST FORGOT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. APPRECIATE IT.

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH. WE TRULY HONORED TWO GREAT MEN, AND NOW WE ARE GOING TO HONOR SOME AMAZING STUDENTS.

MISS JONES, ARE YOU DOING? THANK YOU FOR THAT, PRESIDENT

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ALL OF YOU THAT HAVE ARE IN THE ROOM AND YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS, UM, WE ARE RECOGNIZING AND CELEBRATING OUR STUDENTS, NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENT, BUT THE EXAMPLES THAT THEY ARE ON THEIR CAMPUSES. UM, WE'RE GONNA START WITH OUR SUPERINTENDENT STAR STUDENTS, SO I WOULD LIKE TO CALL MR. HIGGINBOTHAM, IF HE'S IN THE AUDIENCE. OH, COME ON DOWN. YES, COME ON, MISS KUPPER. UM, SO ZELLER'S STUDENT OF THE MONTH IS ARRINGTON JOYNER. ARRINGTON SHOWS HONESTY EVERY DAY BY DOING THE RIGHT THING, EVEN WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING.

IF ARRINGTON ACCIDENTALLY KNOCKS OVER A FRIEND'S BLOCKS OR ACCIDENTALLY HAS A SPILL, HE WILL BE THE FIRST TO SAY, UH-OH, AND LOOK FOR A TEACHER OR A FRIEND TO TELL. ARRINGTON TAKES OWNERSHIP OF HIS MISTAKES RATHER THAN BLAMING A FRIEND OR PRETENDING LIKE IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

ARRINGTON IS HONEST ABOUT HIS FEELINGS, LETTING HIS PEERS AND TEACHERS KNOW WHEN HE IS HAPPY, SAD, OR FRUSTRATED.

ARRINGTON'S HONESTY HELPS BUILD A CLASSROOM THAT EMBODIES TRUST, ACCEPTANCE, AND A FEELING OF SAFETY IN OUR PRE-K COMMUNITY. WE ARE SO PROUD OF ARRINGTON. I DON'T HAVE MISS BAKER, HIS TEACHER, HERE TODAY, BUT I HAVE MISS SANDRA AND MISS MAKAYA, IF WE COULD COME GET PICTURES WITH THEM RIGHT QUICK. OKAY, NEXT UP. IF YOU WANT TO HANG AROUND TO THE END OF THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING, I'M SURE MR. LAMB WILL GIVE YOU A PERFORMANCE YOU'LL NEVER FORGET. UM, OKAY, LET'S CALL DOWN MISS, UM, CARRIE, CARRIE CUSTER. BRENT, THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. I'M CARRIE CUSTER, UM, PRINCIPAL AT BRENT ELEMENTARY. I WOULD LIKE ANGEL DODSON TO COME ON FORWARD. WHILE THEY MAKE THEIR WAY UP HERE, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT ANGEL.

SHE IS AN AMAZING FIFTH GRADE STUDENT. COME ON UP HERE, AND WE'LL GET THE WHOLE FAMILY IN.

RIGHT THERE, GET YOUR AWARD.

OKAY. OKAY, ANGEL, UH, WE WANT TO RECOGNIZE ANGEL DODSON FOR THE BRENT ELEMENTARY SUPERINTENDENT SPOTLIGHT AWARD. ANGEL IS A GREAT FRIEND, CLASSMATE, AND STUDENT. SHE IS ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP OUT, TRY HER BEST AT ANSWERING QUESTIONS IN CLASS, AND SHOW UP FOR HER FRIENDS. SHE'S A MODEL STUDENT WHO DEMONSTRATES A PORTRAIT OF A LOBO TRAIT EVERY DAY.

ANGEL IS A RAY OF LIGHT TO OTHERS, AND SHE'LL GO FAR IN HER FUTURE. WE'RE VERY BLESSED TO HAVE HER AND PROUD THAT SHE REPRESENTS BRENT ELEMENTARY. UM, I ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE HER GRANDPARENTS FLEW IN F- OR DROVE IN FROM EL PASO TO BE WITH HER TONIGHT TO SEE THIS RECOGNITION. MISS RICHARDSON WITH GLOVER ELEMENTARY. ALL RIGHT, IF I COULD HAVE DAVID KIERNAN COME JOIN US. LET ME TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT DAVID'S TEACHERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT HIM. HE IS OUR SUPERINTENDENT SPOTLIGHT FOR THIS MONTH AT GLOVER BECAUSE HE THINKS CRITICALLY AND ASKS VERY INQUISITIVE QUESTIONS IN CLASS, AND THEY ARE THOUGHTFUL. HE ACTIVELY LOOKS FOR WAYS TO HELP OR TO IMPROVE HIS

[00:30:02]

CONGRATULATIONS.

CONGRATULATIONS. GOOD JOB, BUDDY. GOOD JOB.

HERE.

ME, ME.

I'LL SHOW YOU. THERE YOU GO.

DR. MICKA WITH HACKBERRY.

THERE SHE IS. THANK YOU. I'M CINDY, UH, MICKA, PRINCIPAL OF HACKBERRY, AND I'D LIKE TO READ, UH, TO YOU WHAT THE, UH, TEACHERS SAY ABOUT MADELINE. MADELINE RILES IS AN EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT WHO CONSISTENTLY DEMONSTRATES THE QUALITIES WE HOPE TO SEE IN ALL OF OUR STUDENTS. SHE IS POLITE, RESPECTFUL, HARDWORKING, AND ALWAYS WILLING TO LEND A HELPING HAND TO THOSE AROUND HER. MADELINE APPROACHES HER LEARNING WITH DETERMINATION AND A POSITIVE ATTITUDE. WHEN SHE FACES A CHALLENGE, SHE DOES NOT GIVE UP.

INSTEAD, SHE WORKS THROUGH DIFFICULTIES, LEARNS FROM THEM, AND CONTINUES MOVING FORWARD.

HER PERSEVERANCE AND STRONG WORK ETHIC ALLOW HER TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES AND COME OUT ON TOP. WHAT MAKES MADELINE ESPECIALLY DESERVING OF THIS RECOGNITION IS NOT ONLY HER COMMITMENT TO HER OWN SUCCESS, BUT ALSO HER WILLINGNESS TO HELP OTHER. SHE WAS ALWAYS READY TO STEP UP, ENCOURAGE A CLASSMATE, OR OFFER ASSISTANCE WHEN SOMEONE NEEDS HELP. HER KINDNESS AND LEADERSHIP MAKES A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE IN OUR CLASSROOM AND SCHOOL COMMUNITY.

MADELINE IS A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A HACKBERRY ELEMENTARY LOBO. HER CHARACTER, DETERMINATION, AND CARING HEART MAKE HER TRULY DESERVING OF THIS HONOR.

CONGRATULATIONS, MADELINE. WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU AND THE INCREDIBLE EXAMPLE YOU SET FOR OTHERS EVERY DAY. AND HER PARENTS, JAWADA AND JOE, ARE IN THE AUDIENCE AS WELL. YOU GET TO GET THE PICTURE TOO.

AND SO ARE TWO OF HER TEACHERS, KELLY AND DEREK MUCK. OH, HER SIBLINGS, HER SIBLINGS.

MY SIBLINGS.

OKAY. READY? HERE WE GO. 1, 02, 3. THAT'S GOOD.

CONGRATS.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

CONGRATS, MADELINE.

MISS TORRES, LAKEWOOD VILLAGE. COME ON DOWN. THE MAJOR.

COME ON DOWN, FAMILY. HI. HI, SIR. HOW ARE YOU? CONGRATULATIONS, YOU GET THIS TROPHY.

CONGRATULATIONS. COME IN. I NEED MY READERS. ALL RIGHT, COME ON DOWN, BUDDY. ALL RIGHT, DO WE GOT EVERYBODY? ALL RIGHT, WE CAN GET STARTED. MY NAME IS MARSHA TORRES. I'M THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AT LAKEWOOD VILLAGE, AND IT'S MY HONOR TO INTRODUCE TO YOU MAJOR PURCELL. AND MAJOR PURCELL IS A SECOND GRADE STUDENT AT LAKEWOOD. OUR SUPERINTENDENT STAR STUDENT OF THE MONTH IS AWARDED TO MAJOR PURCELL, WHO IS A SECOND GRADER THIS YEAR AT LAKEWOOD VILLAGE. MAJOR HAS BEEN WITH US AS A KINDERGARTNER IN OAK POINT. HE LUCKILY GOT TO GO TO LAKEWOOD VILLAGE WITH US, AND EACH DAY THE GROWTH HE HAS SHOWN IN THE PAST TWO YEARS HAVE BEEN, HAS BEEN REMARKABLE. MAJOR IS A BRIGHT LIGHT EACH DAY, AND HIS SMILE WILL LIGHT UP A ROOM. HE

[00:35:01]

WELL, I, OR YOU CAN SING IT.

ALL RIGHT. SO MAJOR'S SECOND GRADE TEACHER, MISS SHAHAN, UM, SAYS, I LOOK FORWARD TO MAJOR WALKING IN THE CLASSROOM EACH MORNING.

HE ALWAYS HAS A HUGE SMILE ON HIS FACE, AND HE IS SO HAPPY TO BE HERE. EVERY DAY HE STRIVES TO DO HIS BEST, AND HE HAS MADE REMARKABLE GROWTH. HE HAS A SWEET SPIRIT AS AN INSPIRATION TO ME AND THE CLASS, AND HE ADDS SUCH A POSITIVE ENERGY TO OUR DAY. DO YOU WANT TO READ? I HAVE SOMETHING WRITTEN BY YOU, BUT DO YOU WANT TO READ? OKAY.

MAJOR HELPED OPEN LAKEWOOD VILLAGE LAST YEAR AS A FIRST GRADER AND HAS SHOWN SO MUCH GROWTH WITHIN A YEAR'S TIME.

HE WORKS REALLY HARD TO INCREASE HIS ACADEMIC STRENGTHS AND CONTINUES TO DEMONSTRATE THE TRUE QUALITIES OF A LOBO AS A SECOND GRADER. MAJOR DEMONSTRATES RESPONSIBILITY FOR MANAGING HIS PERSONAL BEHAVIOR AND HAS INCREASED HIS ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE HIS NEEDS IN HIS EDUCATION AND THE ASSERTIVENESS TO GET THOSE NEEDS MET. HE HAS OVERCOME CHALLENGES THROUGH HIS PERSEVERANCE AND DETERMINATION, COMING IN EACH DAY WITH A SMILE AND SHOWING PRIDE IN THE WORK HE DOES, LEAVING WITH A SMILE. WE ARE ALL SO PROUD OF THE INDEPENDENT LEARNER MAJOR HAS BECOME AND HOPE HE CONTINUES TO GROW IN ALL PERSONAL AND EDUCATIONAL ENDEAVORS.

CONGRATULATIONS.

HOLD ON, WE'RE NOT FINISHED WITH THIS YET.

READY? I'M GONNA COUNT YOU DOWN. READY? 3, 2, 1.

CHEESE.

CHEESE.

CONGRATULATIONS.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, GUYS.

MISS HOLMES, CHA- UM, LITTLE ELM ELEMENTARY.

OKAY, AT LITTLE ELM ELEMENTARY, WE ARE RECOGNIZING ROSE MORENO, SO IF YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD AND COME ON DOWN.

ROSE IS A FIFTH GRADER, AND ROSE'S TEACHERS DESCRIBE HER AS HAVING EXCEPTIONAL CHARACTER IN OUR FIFTH GRADE CLASSROOMS, CONSISTENTLY TAKING THE INITIATIVE TO HELP PEERS AND TEACHERS WITH DEMONSTRATING RESPONSIBILITY.

AS AN INS- INTRINSICALLY MOTIVATED STUDENT, SHE APPROACHES EACH TASK WITH INTEGRITY, PROVING HERSELF TO BE DEEPLY RELIABLE, TRUSTWORTHY, AND COMMITTED TO HER ACADEMIC GROWTH.

FURTHERMORE, ROSE STANDS OUT FOR HER ABILITY TO ARTICULATE HER NEEDS AND ADVOCATE FOR HER OWN LEARNING JOURNEY WITH CONFIDENCE AND MATURITY.

HER OUTSTANDING WORK ETHIC AND STRONG CHARACTER MAKE HER A TRULY DESERVING CANDIDATE FOR THE SEPTEMBER SUPERINTENDENT MONTHLY SPOT- SPOTLIGHT. THANK YOU.

CONGRATULATIONS.

CONGRATULATIONS.

THERE YOU GO, ROSE. DR. WHITE COULDN'T BE HERE. SHE WASN'T FEELING VERY WELL, BUT SHE DID SEND ANGELA SOUL TO COME AND PRESENT ON BEHALF OF OAK POINT ELEMENTARY. YOU GOT THIS, YOU GOT THIS, YOU'VE GOT THIS.

DO YOU HAVE A LONG TEXT? YES.

OKAY, THAT'S GOOD.

I THINK MY SPEECH IS ACTUALLY LONGEST, BUT I DIDN'T PRINT IT OUT. I APOLOGIZE. I WAS TOLD AFTER SCHOOL TODAY, LIKE AT 5 SOMETHING. UM, ALSO MY STUDENT JOHN RICHARDSON IS NOT HERE TODAY AS WELL, SO IT'LL BE JUST US.

OKAY. UM, JOHN RICHARDSON IS A FIFTH GRADE S- STUDENT IN MR. GONZALEZ'S DUAL LANGUAGE CLASS.

HE WAS NOMINATED FOR OAK POINT ELEMENTARY SUPERINTENDENT STAR AWARD THIS MONTH BY HIS MUSIC TEACHER, MISS SPA. UNFORTUNATELY, HE AND HIS FAMILY ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND TONIGHT. HOWEVER, THAT IS BECAUSE HE IS SOMEWHERE VERY SPECIAL. OH, OKAY.

OVER THE SUMMER, JOHN AUDITIONED AND WAS SELECTED

[00:40:01]

I KNOW. OH, I'M A LITTLE SWEATY. HOLD ON. WE'RE GONNA GO. MISS ALLEN WITH PRESTWICK. GOOD EVENING. GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. I'M JAMIE ALLEN. I'M THE PRINCIPAL AT PRESTWICK. I DID. IT IS MY HONOR TO INTRODUCE AVA ABEL.

SHE HAS BEEN SO- SHE'S A FIFTH GRADER AT PRESTWICK ELEMENTARY. WE'VE BEEN TOGETHER SINCE KINDERGARTEN, YEAH. SO AVA'S TEACHERS SAID ABOUT HER THAT AVA CONSISTENTLY DEMONSTRATES OUR LOBO TRAITS BY BEING RESPONSIBLE, CONFIDENT, AND CARING. SHE IS A CARING MEMBER OF OUR FIFTH GRADE FAMILY. AVA SHOWS CRITICAL THINKING AND CREATIVITY WHEN SOLVING PROBLEMS, AND IS WILLING TO TRY NEW IDEAS WHEN FACED WITH A CHALLENGE. SHE IS A STRONG COLLABORATOR AND COMMUNICATOR, TREATING CLASSMATES WITH RESPECT AND WORKING WELL AS PART OF A TEAM. HER ABILITY TO ADAPT AND REFLECT AND SHOW EMPATHY MAKES HER A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PRESTWICK LOPO.

CONGRATULATIONS, AVA. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT, NOW WE'RE SWITCHING TO OUR SECONDARY CAMPUSES. UP FIRST IS MR. BUSH WITH STRIKE MIDDLE SCHOOL.

ALL RIGHT, WE ARE EXCITED TO RECOGNIZE ZOE WINGER. UM, SHE'S ONE OF OUR EIGHTH GRADERS AT STRIKE MIDDLE SCHOOL AS OUR, UM, STRIKE STUDENT OF THE MONTH. WE'LL CLAP FIRST AND THEN CLAP AFTER TOO. UM, I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ZOE, AND THEN I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO MISS DONALDSON AND LET HER FINISH UP FOR US AS WELL TOO. ZOE'S VERY ACTIVE ON OUR CAMPUS. SHE'S IN ALGEBRA, SPANISH 1, HONORS FOR SCIENCE, US HISTORY, ELAR, AND BAND, AND HOPE SQUAD, AND CHEER, AND DECA JUNIOR AS WELL TOO, CORRECT? YES. OKAY, AND ALL THE ABOVE. SO VERY BUSY.

UM, SHE ALSO HELPS US WHEN WE HAVE NEW STUDENTS. SHE'LL COME AND HELP SHOW THEM AROUND CAMPUS, AND SO VERY ACTIVE. WE LOVE HER. UM, COACH DRUMMOND HAD SOME WONDERFUL THINGS TO SAY ABOUT HER, AND COACH DRUMMOND IS OUR HOPE SQUAD TEACHER. ZOE CONSISTENTLY DEMONSTRATES LEADERSHIP, DEDICATION, KINDNESS, AND A POSITIVE ATTITUDE. SHE SETS HIGH STANDARDS FOR HERSELF AND INSPIRES THOSE

[00:45:01]

WE'RE INCREDIBLY PROUD OF THE PERSON, LEADER, AND ATHLETE SHE IS BECOMING.

CONGRATULATIONS, ZOE, ON THIS WELL-DESERVED HONOR.

MISS DONALDSON, DO YOU NEED THAT WHAT YOU WROTE, OR DO YOU, YOU GONNA WING IT? I CAN, I NEED WHAT I WROTE.

OKAY, HERE YOU GO.

ALL RIGHT. DIDN'T KNOW I WAS READING.

I FIRST GOT TO KNOW ZOE AS A BAND PARENT, AND I WAS IMMEDIATELY IMPRESSED BY HER WILLINGNESS TO STEP UP AND HELP WHENEVER SHE WAS NEEDED. SHE PUSHED EQUIPMENT, GAVE UP HER SATURDAYS, SUPPORTED HER SISTER, AND SOMEHOW ALWAYS DID IT WITH A SMILE. NOW I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF SEEING ZOE AS A STUDENT HERE AT STRIKE, AND SHE CONTINUES TO RADIATE KINDNESS, SUPPORT, AND DEDICATION IN EVERYTHING SHE DOES.

ALTHOUGH I NOT HAVE, HAVE NOT HAD THE PLEASURE OF BEING HER TEACHER, I'VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE FIRSTHAND WHAT AN AMAZING AND COMPASSIONATE LEADER SHE IS AMONG HER PEERS. ALL RIGHT, SO WE WANT TO LET YOU HOLD THAT. YOU WANT TO HOLD IT OPEN? THERE YOU GO.

CONGRATULATIONS.

CONGRATULATIONS.

THAT'S ALL YOURS. YES, MA'AM.

THANK YOU.

MISS BROWN, WALKER MIDDLE SCHOOL. GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS TIFFANY BROWN, AND I'M PRINCIPAL AT WALKER MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND TONIGHT WE ARE HONORING JUAN RAMIREZ FOR BEING AN OUTSTANDING STUDENT AT WALKER. COACH JAMESON, HIS SOCCER COACH, SAYS THAT JUAN COMES TO CLASS EVERY DAY WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE AND IS ALWAYS READY TO WORK. HE GIVES HIS BEST EFFORT IN EVERYTHING HE DOES AND IS CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR WAYS TO IMPROVE. JUAN IS ALSO INCREDIBLY HELPFUL AND DEPENDABLE. HE REGULARLY ASKS WHAT HE CAN DO TO HELP AND LOOKS FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO ASSIST WITH SETUP AND CLEANUP WITHOUT EVER BEING ASKED. HIS POSITIVE ATTITUDE, STRONG WORK ETHIC, AND WILLINGNESS TO HELP OTHERS MAKES HIM A WONDERFUL PRESENCE IN THE CLASSROOM AS A STUDENT OR ON THE FIELD AS A PLAYER.

MISS WILSON, HIS ENGLISH TEACHER, SAYS THAT JUAN IS NOT ONLY AN EXCELLENT STUDENT, HE'S KIND, EMPATHETIC, AND CARING. HE GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND TO MAKE OTHER PEOPLE FEEL WELCOMED. HE OFTEN HELPS OTHER STUDENTS AND ACTS AS A LEADER IN THE CLASSROOM. JUAN IS ALWAYS ON TASK. HE OFTEN VOLUNTEERS TO HELP THE TEACHER AND OTHER STUDENTS WITH SMALL TASKS TO MAKE THE ENVIRONMENT A MORE WELCOMING PLACE TO BE. JUAN IS AN AMAZING HUMAN WHO'S GOING TO GROW UP AND BE AN EVEN BETTER PERSON THAN HE IS NOW. MISS KIRBY, HIS SCIENCE TEACHER, SAYS THAT JUAN IS SOMEONE WHO TRULY LEADS BY EXAMPLE EVERY DAY. HE'S INCREDIBLY HELPFUL, KIND, AND RESPECTFUL TO EVERYONE AROUND HIM, AND HE NEVER HESITATES TO ASK IF I NEED HELP OR TO OFFER HELP TO OTHERS. HE'S CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR WAYS TO MAKE OUR CLASSROOM AN EVEN BETTER PLACE. HE TRULY EMBODIES OUR SCHOOL'S CORE VALUES OF EXCELLENCE, RESPECT, INTEGRITY, AND COMPASSION. I'M GRATEFUL TO HAVE HIM AS A MEMBER OF OUR CLASSROOM AND THE WALKER COMMUNITY.

CONGRATULATIONS, JUAN.

[00:52:21]

GOOD EVENING. I'M MICHELLE GENTRY, PRINCIPAL OF LITTLE ELM HIGH SCHOOL, AND I HAVE TWO STUDENTS TO RECOGNIZE TONIGHT. THE FIRST ONE IS AVERY HONTI. AVERY, WILL YOU COME UP HERE, PLEASE.

WHILE SHE'S WALKING DOWN HERE, I'LL LET YOU KNOW SHE IS A VERY INVOLVED STUDENT ON OUR CAMPUS, INVOLVED WITH OUR COMPUTER SCIENCE PROGRAM, OUR CUTX PROGRAM, AND IS A GREAT GOLFER. SHE JUST LAST WEEK IN HER FIRST GOLF TOURNAMENT OF THE SEASON PLACED SECOND, RIGHT? ALL RIGHT. SO, UM, GREAT ATHLETE AS WELL. OUR SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER, MR. RIHARD, SAYS, AVERY IS THE IT STUDENT. AVERY IS VERY MUCH DESERVING OF THIS AWARD FOR MANY REASONS. SHE IS NOT JUST IT BECAUSE OF THE GRADES OR HARD WORK, CLUBS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND THINGS ON PAPER. SHE IS IT BECAUSE SHE HAS WHAT IS NEEDED TO BE SUCCESSFUL AND A TRULY GREAT PERSON. SHE MAY GET A QUESTION WRONG OR ASK FOR HELP UNDERSTANDING A CONCEPT. SHE IS IT BECAUSE SHE ASKS THOSE HARD QUESTIONS AND CHALLENGES HERSELF AND HER CLASSMATES.

BY ASKING THOSE HARD QUESTIONS, AVERY KNOWS AT HER AGE THAT A FAILURE OR MISTAKE IS A CHANCE TO IMPROVE, TO LEARN, AND TO BE THE BEST. IT'S A CHANCE TO GROW AND MAKE CHANGE. SHE IS HELPFUL NOT ONLY TO CLASSMATES AND STAFF, BUT ALSO OTHERS AROUND HER. I AM HONORED TO HAVE HAD HER FOR NOT ONE, BUT TWO CLASSES AT LITTLE ELM HIGH SCHOOL, AND I'M HONORED TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET TO KNOW HER AND TRY TO HELP HER ACHIEVE HER GOALS AND TO BE THE AWESOME STUDENT, CLASSMATE, AND PERSON THAT SHE HAS BECOME.

COMPUTER SCIENCE TEACHER MR. CASTILLO ADDED, I'M GOING TO DO MY VERY BEST TO KEEP IT SHORT, AVERY. SHE IS A FANTASTIC STUDENT. IT'S RARE THAT YOU DON'T SEE HER STUDYING OR PRACTICING OR RESEARCHING FOR A CLASS OR PROJECT OR CERTIFICATION. YOU KNOW THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING GOING ON. SHE ALWAYS SEEKS TO LEARN AND GROW. AS AN EXAMPLE, SHE'S ALWAYS LOOKING FOR PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM. ALSO, HER CAPSTONE PROJECT IS ON ITS WAY TO BE A GRAND SLAM.

CUTX MANAGER MISS FISHER SAYS AVERY STANDS OUT FOR HER CREATIVITY, INITIATIVE, AND COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE AS OUR STUDENT HEAD MARKETER. SHE WAS ALWAYS WILLING TO LISTEN, LEARN, AND GROW FROM FEEDBACK WHILE BRINGING FRESH IDEAS AND ENERGY TO THE TEAM. HER PROFESSIONALISM AND EXCEPTIONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS SET A GREAT EXAMPLE FOR HER PEERS, AND IT'S NO SURPRISE THAT SHE'S BEING RECOGNIZED AS STUDENT OF THE MONTH BECAUSE SHE WAS

[00:55:02]

FOR DEMONSTRATING THE PORTRAIT OF A LOBO CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONSIBILITY, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, AND CREATIVITY, WE ARE SO PLEASED TO HONOR AVERY AS OUR FIRST AUGUST STUDENT OF THE MONTH. AVERY, DOES YOUR FAMILY WANT TO COME? DAD? COME ON OUT, DAD. THANK YOU, AVERY. AND OUR LAST STUDENT OF THE MONTH TO BE HONORED THIS EVENING IS SASHA SARIA. SASH, WILL YOU COME ON DOWN? COACH ALEXANDER SAYS SASH IS A JOY TO COACH, A GREAT TEAMMATE, AND HE EXEMPLIFIES WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A STUDENT ATHLETE. HE SAYS, I'VE COACHED A LOT OF STUDENT ATHLETES OVER THE YEARS, BUT VERY FEW HAVE THE ABILITY TO EXCEL AT AN EXTREMELY HIGH LEVEL IN THE CLASSROOM AND ON THE FIELD OF PLAY. SASHA IS CURRENTLY RANKED VERY HIGH IN HIS CLASS ACADEMICALLY, AND HE'S ALSO THE STARTING QUARTERBACK FOR THE NOW 3 AND 0 LITTLE ELM LOBOS. SINCE THE FIRST DAY OF JOINING OUR PROGRAM, WE KNEW AS A STAFF THAT SASH WAS GOING TO BE A GREAT ADDITION TO OUR CULTURE AND WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD. HIS PEERS SAW THE SAME CHARACTER TRAITS AS HE WAS VOTED ONTO THE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL BY HIS TEAMMATES BACK IN THE SPRING. HIS PASSION, WORK ETHIC, AND CHARACTER ALL CONTRIBUTE TO HIS SUCCESS ON AND OFF THE FIELD. WE'RE EXTREMELY PROUD OF SASH FOR THE HARD WORK AND DEDICATION HE PUTS IN DAILY, AND THIS HONOR REPRESENTS THAT IT'S TRULY BIGGER THAN FOOTBALL FOR HIM.

MISS GIROLA ADDED THAT SASH IS AN AMAZING AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDENT. HE IS ONE OF THE FIRST TO ENGAGE IN ACADEMIC DISCUSSION, AND HE GOES PAST THE SURFACE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON A DEEPER LEVEL. HE IS KIND, HELPFUL, AND CONSIDERATE TO ME AND TO HIS CLASSMATES.

HE'S AN ASTUTE READER AND ANALYTICAL WRITER. HE SHARED IN HIS HERITAGE PROJECT THAT HE COMES FROM A LINEAGE OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS AND THAT HE WANTS, THAT HE HAS SIMILAR ASPIRATIONS AND WANTS TO WORK TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. SO WE'RE GLAD THAT YOU'VE JOINED THE LE FAMILY.

MISS VERIKER ADDED, SASHA IS A FANTASTIC STUDENT, DEDICATED ATHLETE, AND IS TRULY A WELL-ROUNDED YOUNG MAN. HE WORKS HARD AND IS RESPECTFUL, AND HE BRINGS A GREAT ATTITUDE TO THE CLASSROOM. HE IS SOMEONE WHO REPRESENTS OUR SCHOOL AND HIS TEAM WELL AND ABSOLUTELY DESERVES THIS RECOGNITION.

FOR HIS DEMONSTRATION OF THE PORTRAIT OF A LOBO CHARACTERISTICS, ADAPTABILITY, COMMUNICATION, CRITICAL THINKING, AND COLLABORATION, IT'S MY PRIVILEGE TO HONOR SASH AS A LITTLE ELM HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT OF THE MONTH.

AND THAT CONCLUDES OUR STUDENT RECOGNITIONS. YOU GUYS ARE ALL MORE THAN WELCOME TO STAY, BUT IF NOT, HAVE A GOOD NIGHT.

I'M BENDING OVER.

WERE WE GOING TO DO THE ACCOUNTABILITY FIRST?

[01:00:02]

NO, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO MOVE IT.

NO, WE'RE DOING THE REPORT TO THE SUPERINTENDENT. WE'RE

[8. Reports Of the Superintendent]

OKAY, WELL, UH...

SCHOOL BOARD, MISS SONIA, MR. LAMB, IT'S A PLEASURE TO PRESENT IN FRONT OF YOU. I JUST, I SAW THE SCRIPT, MAN. UM, YOU, YOU KNOW, UH, WHAT WE WANT, WHAT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT JUST A LITTLE BIT ARE OUR RATINGS. UH, LAST MEETING, THEY HAD JUST COMING OUT WITHIN A FEW DAYS OF OUR LAST MEETING, SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO KIND OF LOOK AT THIS FOR A MONTH.

UH, THEY COME OUT MORE AUGUST-ISH, SO, UH, JUST REALLY WANTED TO SHARE SOME INFORMATION WITH YOU AS IT COMES TO RATINGS. I DON'T KNOW, UH, THESE RATINGS, YOU KNOW, WE LOOK AND TALK ABOUT BASICALLY STAAR SCORES SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. WE TALK ABOUT IT AT GRADE LEVEL, WE TALK ABOUT IT BY CAMPUS, WE TALK ABOUT IT, UH, MEETS AND MASTERS, AND SO STATE AVERAGES, WE LOOK AT A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS, BUT THESE ARE THE NUMBERS THAT, THAT THE, THE RATING, THE SCORE THAT GOES ON OUR DISTRICT, THE SCORE THAT GOES ON OUR, UH, CAMPUSES, AND THESE ARE IN THE NEWS A LOT RIGHT NOW.

YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE SCHOOLS THAT ARE BEING, UH, TAKEN OVER BY THE STATE, IT'S ALL ABOUT THIS NUMBER.

UH, SO WE JUST THOUGHT IT IMPORTANT TO KIND OF SHARE THIS ANGLE WITH YOU.

UH, I KNOW MY SHEETS ARE BUSY AND HARD TO READ SOMETIMES.

UH, IF YOU'LL, I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE YOU WANT TO LOOK AT MORE. OH, THOSE ARE WAY OFF. IF YOU'LL TURN AROUND, YOU SEE THESE PRETTY GOOD.

UH, FIRST OF ALL, WE WANT TO LOOK AT THE DISTRICT, AND THIS REPRESENTS 23, 24, 25, 26, SO 4 YEARS WORTH OF DISTRICT RATINGS. OUR, OUR DISTRICT HAS GONE FROM A 71 TO A 74 TO A 79, AND WE TOOK A STEP BACK TO 78 THIS YEAR.

UH, FOR THE, THE 3 POINTS OF IMPROVEMENT THAT WE HAD A COUPLE YEARS AGO, AND THEN THE 5 POINTS OF IMPROVEMENT WE HAD, WE HOPE TO HAVE ANOTHER 1 OR 2 POINTS OF IMPROVEMENT AND DIP INTO THAT 80, BUT WE DIDN'T.

BUT, BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO SORT OF TO, TO POINT OUT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FOR OUR DISTRICT AT AN 80 IS HIGHER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN OR BEEN IN THOSE 4 YEARS. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IS A CONGLOMERATION OF ALL OUR, OUR MEETS AND MASTERS AND PASSING SCORES THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT. SO IN THAT AREA, WE'VE ACTUALLY SCORED HIGHER THAN WE EVER HAVE. SCHOOL PROGRESS, WHICH IS BASICALLY, WE TALK ABOUT IT AS A GROWTH MEASURE, AND THERE'S TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THIS. THERE'S ACTUALLY HOW OUR KIDS GROW FROM ONE TEST TO THE NEXT, MEANING FROM 2025 TO 2026, BUT THERE'S ALSO, UH, THIS, THIS RELATIVE PERFORMANCE IS TYPICALLY HOW WE STACK UP AGAINST OTHER SCHOOLS THAT LOOK LIKE US IN A, IN A LO- IN A LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND SIZE.

SO IN SCHOOL PROGRESS, THIS 76, AGAIN, IS HIGHER THAN ANY NUMBER WE'VE HAD IN 4 YEARS.

AND THEN BREAKING IT DOWN, THE 76 IN ACADEMIC GROWTH IS HIGHER THAN ANYTHING, AND THE 76 IN RELATIVE PERFORMANCE IS HIGHER THAN ANYTHING. SO THROUGH IN 3 INDICATORS, WE'VE ACTUALLY PERFORMED BETTER THAN WE'VE EVER PERFORMED BEFORE. UH, THE, THE OTHER INDICATOR HERE, CLOSING THE GAPS. THIS IS THE ONE ESSENTIALLY THAT GOT US THIS 74 NOT BEING AS HIGH AS THE 82, BUT STILL HIGHER THAN THE 73 AND THE 68 FROM THE PAST. UH, 30% OF THE OVERALL SCORE COMES FROM THIS MARK. 70% COMES FROM THE HIGHEST OF THESE 3.

SO, AGAIN, WHY DID WE NOT MAKE A BETTER MOVEMENT FROM THE 79? IT HAS TO DO WITH THIS SCORE. AND AGAIN, DON'T WANT TO MAKE EXCUSES, BUT CLOSING THE GAP IS FULL OF, IF YOU DID PRETTY GOOD ONE YEAR, IT'S HARD TO DO BECAUSE IT'S ALL ABOUT DOING BETTER. AND SO WHEN YOU'VE DONE PRETTY GOOD AND WE DID THE 82, IT MADE SOME OF THE MEASUREMENTS THAT WE WERE REACHING FOR A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT. SO, UH, IT'S UNFORTUNATE, BUT AGAIN, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, IT LOOKS BAD, ESSENTIALLY, THAT 79 HAS DROPPED TO 78, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT A LITTLE DEEPER AND SEE THAT WE'VE ACTUALLY PERFORMED BETTER IN EVERY AREA, UH, REALLY EXCEPT ONE, UH, AND THE ONE IS JUST, AND CLOSING THE GAPS IS A, IS ANOTHER MEASURE OF ALL THOSE SAME THINGS I JUST MENTIONED. IT'S STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, STUDENT PROGRESS, BUT IT'S BROKEN OUT BY SUB-POPS NOW. AND SO THERE'S, THERE'S A DIFFERENT, UH, MEASURE FOR EACH SUB-POP, AND WE'VE GOT TO HIT THOSE TO GET 2 AND 3 POINTS EACH AND EVERY TIME. AND SOME OF THEM WE HIT AND HIT REALLY WELL THE YEAR BEFORE, SO IT WAS HARD TO GET THOSE 3 POINT MARKS

[01:05:01]

I'LL SHOW SOME OTHERS. HIGH SCHOOL, UH, VERY, VERY SIMILAR STORY. UH, HIGH SCHOOL'S GONE FROM A 66 TO A 76 TO AN 85 TO AN 84. WE DROPPED ONE POINT IN THE SAME WAY THAT WE DID IN THE DISTRICT. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, AGAIN, AT 85 IS HIGHER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN.

STAR PERFORMANCE, UH, AT AN 82 IS HIGHER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN.

COLLEGE CAREER MEDIC, UH, MILITARY READINESS AT THIS 94 IS WAY, IS HIGHER THAN THE 85, IS HIGHER THAN THE 70, IS HIGHER. WE'VE GONE FROM 54 TO 94 IN 4 YEARS TIME IN OUR COLLEGE CAREER MILITARY READINESS. THAT'S AN INCREDIBLE GROWTH MEASURE. UH, GRADUATION RATE, UH, AT, AT A 75, IT'S A LITTLE BETTER THAN THE 70 WE HAD, NOT AS GOOD AS THE 80 WE ONCE HAD. SO AGAIN, YOU KNOW, BUT, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THOSE PERCENTAGES, 96.8, 96.5, UH, THAT'S DROPPED TO A 95 AND A 95. SO ALL THOSE ARE 95 OR BETTER. UH, SCHOOL PROGRESS, 87, BETTER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN. ACADEMIC GROWTH INSIDE OF THAT, UH, THE 80, BETTER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN.

RELATIVE PERFORMANCE, THIS IS PROBABLY THE NUMBER I'M MOST PROUD OF ON HERE, THIS 87 MEANS OUR HIGH SCHOOL, IN COMPARISON TO OTHER HIGH SCHOOLS THAT LOOK LIKE US, WE'RE KIND OF IN THAT 87TH PERCENTILE. UH, THAT'S ONE OF THE HIGHER NUMBERS WE'VE HAD IN THAT, IN THAT RELATIVE PERFORMANCE AT ANY LEVEL. AGAIN, CLOSING THE GAPS, BEING AT A 76 WHEN IT WAS A 90 LAST YEAR, A LOT OF THE SAME STORY. UH, JUST WE DID REALLY, REALLY WELL IN, IN THIS 2025 SESSION, AND SO IT MADE IT A LITTLE TOUGHER TO HIT SOME OF THOSE MARKS IN, IN 2026, BUT WE WE'RE MAKING SOME ADJUSTMENTS, AND I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO SEE BIG THINGS THIS NEXT TIME.

STRIKE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, I WON'T NECESS- OR STRIKE AND WALKER, BOTH MIDDLE SCHOOLS, UM, TRY TO GET THEM BOTH ON THE SAME PAGE IF I CAN.

NOPE, I CAN'T. SO, STRIKE, REALLY SAME STORY. UH, 72, 74, 80 DROPPED A POINT. 81 HIGHER THAN IT'S BEEN, 76 HIGHER THAN IT'S BEEN, EXCEPT THE 78 FROM LAST YEAR.

UH, SO THOSE NUMBERS ARE WITHIN 2 OF EACH OTHER, BUT AGAIN, A 74 FROM AN 80, OR 85 DOWN TO 74, UH, COST US THAT 80. YOU KNOW, 1 POINT'S NOT A HORRIBLE DROP, BUT WHEN IT DROPS YOU FROM B TO C, IT SURE STINGS, AND IT FEELS BAD. SO, UH, STRIKE, FOR ALL THE SAME THINGS AND CLOSING THE GAPS, HAD THAT 80 DOWN TO 79. WALKER, UH, WAS THE FIRST ONE OF THE SERIES THAT, OH GOODNESS, THAT WENT UP. WE WENT FROM 74 TO 78. YAY, WALKER.

UH, WE'VE GONE FROM 76 TO 73 TO 74 TO 78. AGAIN, THAT'S 75 IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, HIGHER THAN IT'S BEEN ER- IN THOSE 4 YEARS. IT'S SCHOOL PROGRESS. UH, WALKER DID A REALLY GOOD JOB WITH THE SCHOOL PROGRESS. THIS 80, WHICH IS ABOVE THE 75, IS THE THING THAT KIND OF CARRIED. THEY KEPT THE SAME CLOSING THE GAPS AT 72. SO THE 80 IMPROVEMENT, WHICH BEING IN THE 70% CALCULATION, ALLOWED FOR 3 POINTS WORTH OF GROWTH THERE THAT, THAT WE'RE PRETTY PROUD OF AT THIS POINT. UH, ELEMENTARIES, YOU KNOW OUR STATUS WITH ELEMENTARY. UH, WE, WE, YOU LOOK AT BRENT REAL QUICK, BRENT'S GONE FROM 83 TO 77 TO 76 TO 69. WE'VE HAD DROPS THERE. UM, WE'VE GOT ALL KINDS OF THINGS WE COULD SAY. WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE TRANSITION IN OUR BLUEBONNET MATH. UH, WE DEFINITELY HAVE WORK TO DO THERE. THAT- THAT'S NOT GONE AS WELL AS WE'D HOPED, AND SO WE'RE- WE'RE REVAMPING AND WE'RE DOING SOME THINGS THERE.

CHAVEZ IS IN THIS, OR WHAT HAS BEEN CHAVEZ UP UNTIL THIS YEAR, SAME BOAT, 61. OH GOODNESS. WELL, THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT.

UH, ACTUALLY, I DON'T KNOW. I'LL JUST READ FROM HERE REAL QUICK. UH, THE, THE CAMPUS FORMERLY KNOWN AS CHAVEZ, UH, WENT FROM 61 TO 68. WE THOUGHT WE WERE ON TRACK. IT DROPPED BACK TO 65, WENT UP AGAIN. WE ACTUALLY WENT UP AT THAT CAMPUS THIS YEAR FROM 65 TO 67, BUT UNTIL IT BECOMES A 70, WE'RE, WE'RE HAVING SOME ISSUES TO DEAL WITH THERE. UM, IF I GO PAST IT AND JUST LET YOU KNOW IN THAT SAME THING, OAK POINT IS ONE OF THE FEW THAT MADE IMPROVEMENT. THEY ACTUALLY WENT FROM 73 THE YEAR BEFORE TO 74.

UH, SO THAT WAS ONE THAT WE'VE

[01:10:02]

LAKEWOOD VILLAGE CAME OUT LIKE A BANG ON THEIR FIRST, UM, SHOT. THEY HAD A 78. THE THING ABOUT LAKEWOOD VILLAGE IN THE CLOSING THE GAPS, SO MUCH OF THAT IS BASED ON WHAT YOU DID LAST YEAR, AND SO THE FACT THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE A LAST YEAR, THERE WERE SOME POINTS THAT WEREN'T AVAILABLE TO THEM IN CLOSING THE GAPS. WE REALLY THINK, HAD THOSE POINTS BEEN AVAILABLE TO THEM, THEY WOULD HAVE STARTED OUT AS A, AS A B, SO WE'LL SEE. AND LAKEVIEW ELEMENTARY HAS GONE FROM 77 DOWN TO 72, SO WE'VE GOT WORK TO DO THERE, AND HACKBERRY HAS GONE FROM 72 TO 67, WORK TO DO THERE, AND PRESTWICK, 91 TO 90, SO THEY'VE STAYED THAT 80, SO, OR THAT A. SO HALF OUR CAMPUSES WENT DOWN A LITTLE, HALF WENT UP A LITTLE BIT AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL. UH, AGAIN, NOT TO MAKE EXCUSES, WE ARE IN A TRANSITION WITH, WITH BLUE BONNET MATH. WE THINK WHEN WE GET THAT IRONED OUT, IT'LL, UH, IF I, AND I THINK I HAVE SHOWED YOU, I DON'T KNOW, BUT OUR READING HAS BEEN PHENOMENAL. OUR READING IS HIGHER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN. SO READING HAS SHOT UP, MATH IS SHOOTING DOWN A LITTLE BIT RIGHT NOW.

UH, WE'VE MADE THE ADJUSTMENTS, AND I THINK YOU'RE GONNA SEE AT THE NEXT ROUND OF SCORES SOME, SOME GREAT IMPROVEMENT THERE.

SO THOSE THINGS WERE OUT. WE WANTED TO SHOW YOU THAT AND LET YOU KNOW KIND OF WHERE WE STAND. CAN I ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY, THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY.

MRS. BROWN, YOU'RE NEXT WITH OUR HUMAN RESOURCES UPDATE.

GOOD AFTERNOON OR EVENING AGAIN, PRESIDENT WATKINS, MR. LAMB, BOARD OF TRUSTEES. SO EVERY SEPTEMBER WE COME TO YOU GUYS WITH OUR HUMAN RESOURCE SERVICES ANNUAL REPORT. UM, SO THIS IS A REPORT REFLECTING BACK ON LAST SCHOOL YEAR. SO THE 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR WAS CRAZY BUSY IN HUMAN RESOURCES. I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU KIND OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR AND, UM, ALSO TALK ABOUT THE SUCCESSES, BUT ALSO OUR AREAS OF FOCUS.

NEXT SLIDE. PLEASE. OKAY, UM, SO OUR FIRST, UH, SLIDE HERE, UM, TALKS ABOUT ADOPT A LOBO.

SO ADOPT A LOBO, LAST YEAR WE DID IT FOR THE THIRD TIME. WE HAD, UH, THE THIRD YEAR, WE HAD 77 COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND DISTRICT STAFF WHO VOLUNTEERED TO ADOPT A LOBO, MANY OF YOU ALL INCLUDED, CABINET MEMBERS, BOARD OF TRUSTEES, SUPERINTENDENT LAMB ALL HAVE ADOPTED, UH, LOBOS. UM, NEW ADOPTERS LAST YEAR INCLUDED, WE HAD SOME STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS THAT ADOPTED LOBOS, SO STRIKE YEARBOOK AND LEHS BALLET FOLKLORICO ALL ADOPTED A LOBO LAST YEAR. WE WERE ABLE TO MATCH 110 LEISD TEACHERS AND PRO- PROFESSIONALS THAT WERE NEW TO THE DISTRICT WITH AN ADOPTER. UM, AND THEN AT THE END OF THE YEAR, WE SENT OUT A SURVEY JUST TO KIND OF GET THEIR FEEDBACK ON THE ADOPT-A-LOBO EXPERIENCE, AND 43 FOLKS RESPONDED TO THE SURVEY. NEXT SLIDE.

UM, SOME OF THE, UM, END OF YEAR SUR- SURVEY RESPONSES YOU'LL SEE THERE ON THE SCREEN. IT HELPED MOTIVATE ME TO KEEP GOING WHEN THE YEAR WAS STRESSFUL. UM, I WAS ABLE TO GAIN A NEW FRIEND. UH, THE NEXT, UH, PIECE, UH, IT WAS GREAT TO BE WELCOMED TO THE DISTRICT AND SHOWN LOVE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. I APPRECIATE THE ENCOURAGEMENT, LOVE, AND SUPPORT WHEN I NEEDED IT MOST. THANK YOU. UM, THE THIRD BULLET THERE, UM, KIND OF IS AN EXAMPLE OF LUKEWARM FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE GOTTEN ABOUT ADOPT A LOBO. LIKE THE RUB, THE DIFFICULT PART OF ADOPT A LOBO ACTUALLY IS GETTING ADOPTERS TO STAY COMMITTED TO GIVING GIFTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, GIVING TREATS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THAT'S THE F- THE FRICTION THAT WE HAVE IN ADOPT A LOBO, AND YOU CAN SEE IT REFLECTED THERE. SHE SENT A GIFT RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS BREAK. THAT WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY TIME. SHE DID WRITE A VERY HEARTFELT NOTE. SO WE KEEP ON KIND OF WORKING WITH OUR ADOPTERS, STRESSING THE COMMITMENT, UM, AND AND HELPING THEM, UM, ENCOURAGING THEM TO REMAIN COMMITTED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

AND THEN THE FOURTH BULLET, THIS PROGRAM IS AWESOME. MY ADOPT-A-LOBO FAMILY MADE ME FEEL WELCOME, PROVIDED VERY THOUGHTFUL CARE PACKAGES, WERE VERY RESPONSIVE WITH COMMUNICATIONS. I LOVE THIS PROGRAM FOR NEW TEACHERS.

ON THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE SOME PICTURES OF SOME OF OUR ADOPT-A-LOBO, LIKE YOU CAN SEE THE LEPD IS, UM, INVOLVED IN ADOPTA LOBO, AND YOU SEE A PICTURE THERE. SO THIS IS A VIDEO. WE'RE GONNA TAKE A, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO SWITCH REAL QUICK. UM, WE HAVE A VIDEO FROM ONE OF OUR COACHES AT THE HIGH SCHOOL WHO IS TALKING ABOUT HOW, UM, HIS EXPERIENCE WAS WITH ADOPTA LOBO.

THIS IS MY FIRST YEAR AT LITTLE ELM HIGH SCHOOL, MY 25TH YEAR OVERALL. UM, I TEACH HEALTH, AND I'M ONE OF THE VARSITY FOOTBALL COACHES AS THE OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR. UM, I'M HERE TODAY TO SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ADOPT-A-LOBO PROGRAM.

UM, WHEN I FIRST HEARD ABOUT IT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR DURING OUR NEW, UH, TO THE DISTRICT TEACHER IN-SERVICE, I DIDN'T DISMISS IT,

[01:15:02]

MY ADOPTED LOCAL REP WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. SHE, UM, I'M PRETTY SURE I GOT SOMETHING ALMOST EVERY MONTH, IF NOT EVERY OTHER MONTH, UM, DURING THE COURSE OF THIS YEAR. UH, MY ONLY REGRET IS THAT IT'S ONLY MY FIR- I ONLY GET IT FOR THE FIRST YEAR THAT I'M HERE, BUT SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

UM, WE CORRESPONDED MULTIPLE TIMES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

UM, SHE TOLD ME I HAD ONE MORE ITEM COMING BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR, SO I'M NOT REAL SURE WHAT TO EXPECT, BUT IT REALLY HAS BEEN AN AMAZING, UM, EXPERIENCE. AND SO I ENCOURAGE YOU TO, UM, LOOK FORWARD TO IT AS A NEW EMPLOYEE OF THE DISTRICT, AND, UM, HOPEFULLY YOU HAVE A GREAT TIME WITH IT AS I DID, UH, THIS YEAR.

SO THAT WE GET A LOT OF FEEDBACK LIKE THAT ABOUT ADOPT A LOBO, THAT MAN, CAN WE DO THIS FOR A SECOND YEAR OR A THIRD YEAR? AND WE'RE LIKE, NO, JUST ONCE. SO, UM, COACH, UH, NEWSOM THERE REALLY EXPRESSES KIND OF THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE FEEDBACK WE GET. WE HAVE LOTS OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK, AND WE ARE CURRENTLY CONTINUING THIS INITIATIVE. WE'RE IN YEAR FOUR RIGHT NOW. UM, OUR NEXT SUCCESS, UM, THAT WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS LEADERS OF THE PACK. YOU GUYS JUST SAW IT TONIGHT, BUT LAST YEAR WAS OUR THIRD YEAR OF THIS STAFF RECOGNITION INITIATIVE. COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THE ABOVE AND BEYOND EFFORTS OF OUR STAFF. 93 NOMINATIONS WERE RECEIVED LAST YEAR, AND, UM, YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW DIFFICULT IT IS FOR US TO JUST BRING YOU GUYS 2 EACH MONTH WHEN WE RECEIVE- WHEN WE'RE RECEIVING THAT VOLUME.

UM, RBFCU WAS OUR CORPORATE SPONSOR LAST YEAR AS WELL, AND WE, UM, DISTRIBUTE CERTIFICATES HERE AND GIFTS AT THE BOARD MEETING, BUT THEN THERE'S ALSO CAMPUS RECOGNITION THAT GOES ON FOR THOSE OTHER FOLKS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE NOT ABLE TO BRING TO THE BOARD MEETING. UM, THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, OUR AUXILIARY PARAPROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON. WE HELD THAT LAST YEAR IN AUGUST. UM, WE CELEBRATED 237 ATTENDEES. UM, THIS IS OUR, UM, OUR EFFORT TO RECOGNIZE ALL OF THE STAFF THAT WORK SO HARD BEHIND THE SCENES. UM, SO WE RECOGNIZE OUR CUSTODIAL STAFF, GROUND STAFF, MAINTENANCE STAFF, OUR SECRETARIES, OUR CHILD NUTRITION WORKERS, OUR CHILDCARE STAFF. UM, AND THIS PAST YEAR, THE 2025 EVENT, WAS OUR FIRST YEAR TO ALSO INCLUDE AND RECOGNIZE TRANSPORTATION, UH, DEPARTMENT IN THE EVENT. UM, THESE FOLKS THAT WORK BEHIND THE SCENES, WE REALLY WANT TO SHINE THE SPOTLIGHT ON THEM, UM, AND LET THEM KNOW HOW APPRECIATED THEIR HARD WORK IS. SO WE HOSTED IN PL2 LAST YEAR. RBFCU WAS A SPONSOR, AND WE HAD RAFFLE PRIZES THAT WE GAVE OUT TO OUR, UM, PARAPROFESSIONAL AUXILIARY STAFF. HERE'S SOME PICTURES ON THE NEXT SLIDE OF THAT LUNCHEON. UH, YOU CAN SEE THEY HAD A GREAT TIME. WE HAD IT ALL DECORATED UP ON THE FAR RIGHT, YOU CAN SEE THAT DISTRICT LEADERSHIP, MR. LAMB THERE, AND SEVERAL OTHER DISTRICT LEADERS SERVED THE LUNCH MEAL TO OUR STAFF. THE NEXT SUCCESS, IS OUR HONOREE AWARDS BANQUET.

IT WAS HELD IN MAY. IT WAS OUR FIFTH ANNUAL EVENT. MANY OF YOU BOARD MEMBERS WERE THERE AT IT. UM, WE RECOGNIZED OUR EMPLOYEES OF THE YEAR, OUR RETIREES, AND OUR SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENTS, OUR 10, 15, 20, 25 YEARS OF SERVICE TO LITTLE ELM ISD. WE HAD APPROXIMATELY 110 HONOREES AND 188 ATTENDEES.

THEY GOT TO BRING A GUEST.

UM, WE INTRODUCED NEW LAST YEAR WAS, UM, WE HAD A STEP AND REPEAT PHOTO BACKDROP, UM, AND WE HAD A ON-SITE PHOTOGRAPHER, SO SOMEONE WAS TAKING PICTURES, AND WE PROVIDED THOSE PICTURES TO OUR, UM, HONOREES. WE WERE AT THE EMBASSY SUITES FRISCO LAST YEAR, AND ON THE NEXT SLIDE YOU CAN SEE PICTURES OF, IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL BALLROOM, UH, DECORATED VERY NICELY.

IN THE BOTTOM LEFT HAND CORNER, YOU CAN SEE THE STEP AND REPEAT THAT I WAS REFERRING TO. SO THE HONOREE AWARDS BANQUET WAS A BEAUTIFUL EVENT, AND WE'RE THRILLED TO PUT THAT ON EVERY SINGLE YEAR. NEXT SUCCESS, UM, LEISD CAREER FAIRS. WE HAD 2 OF THEM THIS PAST YEAR. WE HAD ONE IN MARCH AND ONE IN JUNE.

THE MARCH SPRING CAREER FAIR, WE HAD A RECORD-BREAKING 162 ATTENDEES. WE HAD IT HERE IN THE GYM. UM, AND THE BIGGEST 162 IS REALLY GREAT. WE'RE REALLY GLAD WE HAD THAT MANY PEOPLE, BUT THE BIGGEST STAT IS HOW MANY PEOPLE DO WE HIRE FROM THESE CAREER FAIRS? AND YOU CAN SEE THERE WE HAD 22 HIRES FROM, UM, OUR CAREER FAIRS, UM, WHICH IS GREAT. IT MEANS THAT, UM, THE EFFORT THAT WE PUT INTO HOSTING THOSE FAIRS PAYS OFF IN TERMS OF HIRES. UM, THERE ARE 14 FOLKS THAT WE REHIRED. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? UM, YOU KNOW, WE ALWAYS HAVE PEOPLE THAT LEAVE, THEY THINK THE GRASS IS GREENER SOMEWHERE ELSE. WE HAD 14 PEOPLE THAT CAME BACK AND WERE LIKE, IT WASN'T GREENER, AND THEY CAME RIGHT BACK TO LITTLE ELM ISD, AND WE REHIRED THEM. UM, WE ALSO HAD 6 LEHS GRADUATES THAT WE HIRED INTO THE FAMILY. UM, OF THEM WERE HIRED AS TEACHERS, AND 2 WERE HIRED AS PARAPROFESSIONALS.

ON THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE SOME PICTURES OF OUR CAREER FAIRS AND OUR STAFF THAT WERE THERE TO GREET THE CANDIDATES.

NEXT, UM, LAST YEAR WE BROUGHT IN OUR TRANSPORTATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT. IT WAS YEAR ONE.

UM, WE HAD FIVE BUS MONITORS THAT COMPLETED CDL TRAINING AND ARE NOW FULLY CERTIFIED BUS DRIVERS, WHICH THAT'S A BIG VICTORY.

IT'S HARD TO FIND BUS DRIVERS, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, PEOPLE WITH CDLS, UM, AND THEN THE COMPETITION'S FIERCE IN THIS DFW METROPLEX AREA FOR BUS DRIVERS. SO TO GROW YOUR OWN WITHIN THE

[01:20:01]

NEXT SLIDE. UM, OTHER SUCCESSES, WE'VE, UM, HAD A LOT OF CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS THAT WE PUT IN PLACE OVER THE LAST YEAR.

FOR WORLD TEACHER DAY, WE PARTNERED WITH A WHOLE BUNCH OF RESTAURANTS, TACO DELIGHT, STELLA'S, LEO'S, TAP HOUSE, ROMA'S, JUST THEY'RE ALL LISTED THERE. UM, FOR OUR NEW EMPLOYEE ORIENTATION, AS OUR NEW EMPLOYEES JOINED US, WE GOT TO GIVE THEM SOME COUPONS TO TIFF'S TREATS AND JOE'S PIZZA. UM, WE LAUNCHED LAST YEAR OUR FIRST YEAR TEACHER STAFF CHECK-IN SURVEY. UM, WE JUST WANTED TO CHECK IN ON OUR STAFF TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY WERE HAVING A SMOOTH TRANSITION, AND WE SHARED THE FEEDBACK THAT WE GOT FROM THAT SURVEY WITH THE DEPARTMENTS, UM, THAT HAD SPECIFIC FEEDBACK.

UM, WE CONTINUED OUR HRTU STAFF INITIATIVE WITH A TWEAK. UM, WE ADDED IN HANDS-ON ASSISTANCE FROM OUR HR STAFF, SO WE DIDN'T WANT TO JUST GO TO CAMPUSES AND KIND OF SIT IN THE CAFETERIA AND WAIT FOR THEM TO COME TO US. WE DECIDED THAT WE WERE GOING TO GO TO THEM. WE PUT UP BULLETIN BOARDS, WE'VE MADE COPIES, WE'VE DONE READING, WE'VE GONE TO RECESS DUTY ON THE HOT PLAYGROUNDS. UM, SO WE'RE MORE THAN JUST SITTING THE PROF- THE STAFF LOUNGE.

WE'RE ACTUALLY ENGAGING WITH THE STAFF AND HELPING THEM AS NEEDED. UM, WE ALSO PARTNERED WITH REGION 11 TO HOST A TPES TRAINING HERE IN LITTLE ELM.

ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, YOU'LL SEE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE THAT WE HOSTED A NCTASPA MEETING. NCTASPA IS THE NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATORS. IT'S A MOUTHFUL, UM, BUT WE HOSTED A MEETING IN THE, UM, HERE IN THE LITTLE ELM ISD ADMINISTRATION BUILDING IN JANUARY. WE'RE ALL DRESSED TOGETHER UNIFORMLY. IT WAS A GREAT HOSTING EXPERIENCE.

AND THEN THE BEST FOR LAST, YOU ALL NOW HAVE AN AWARD-WINNING HUMAN RESOURCE SERVICES DEPARTMENT. WE WERE AWARDED BY THE NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATORS WITH THE DISTRICT IMPACT AWARD FOR MEDIUM-SIZED DISTRICTS, UM, SO WE'RE SUPER PROUD OF THAT.

NEXT, UM, THE EMPLOYEE CHILDCARE PROGRAM.

CARRIE MCHUGH IS OUR CHILDCARE PROGRAM DIRECTOR, AND SHE ASKED THAT I SHARE SOME AWESOME INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDCARE WITH YOU ON HER BEHALF THIS EVENING.

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

UM, SO IT'S, UM, IT'S NOT JUST DAYCARE WHERE THEY'RE JUST PLAYING ALL DAY, KIND OF RUNNING AROUND, UM, THERE'S ACTUAL CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTED SO THAT OUR LITTLEST LOBOS CAN BE READY TO GO ON INTO OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM OR WHATEVER SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE GOING INTO ONCE THEY REACH KINDERGARTEN. UH, THEY A- ALSO HAVE STARTED IMPLEMENTING CONSCIOUS DISCIPLINE IN OUR CHILDCARE PROGRAM. THE STAFF HAS BEGUN, UH, BEING TRAINED IN CONSCIOUS DISCIPLINE, UM, AND THEY'VE RECEIVED A GRANT FOR SOME CD MATERIALS IN THEIR CLASSROOMS. CURRENTLY, THERE'S 70 LITTLE GUYS ENROLLED IN OUR CHILD CARE PROGRAM, AND THOSE 70 CHILDREN REPRESENT 64 LEIST EMPLOYEES. UM, THEY DON'T, THEY HAVE A WAIT LIST CURRENTLY OF 6 KIDDOS, AND UM, THEY HAVE 16 TOTAL STAFF MEMBERS, INCLUDING CARRIE, OUR DIRECTOR.

UM, THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, AS YOU GUYS KNOW, WE PARTNER WITH ESS. WE'RE IN OUR 7TH YEAR OF PARTNERSHIP WITH THEM FOR OUR SUBSTITUTE STAFFING NEEDS. WE'RE GOING TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF AN OVERVIEW OF SOME SUB DATA FOR THE 25-26 SCHOOL YEAR.

HERE'S A QUESTION. OH, GO BACK, GO BACK, HURRY. OKAY, HERE'S A QUESTION BEFORE WE SHOW YOU THE DATA.

WHAT MONTH OF THE SCHOOL YEAR DO YOU THINK WE HAD THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF ABSENCES? WHAT MONTH OF THE SCHOOL YEAR? OKAY, WATKINS SAYS JANUARY. OH MY GOD, OLSON. SOMEONE WHO'S NOT CHEATED. NOBODY, JUST, JUST, OKAY, WATKINS GUESSES JANUARY. ALL RIGHT, THEN MY NEXT QUESTION, BEFORE WE LOOK, WHICH MONTH OF THE YEAR DO WE, DO WE NOT, NOT HAVE THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF ABSENCES, BUT WHICH MONTH DO WE HAVE THE HIGHEST FILL RATE? IT'S NOT THE SAME ANSWER. I CAN TELL YOU THAT. OKAY, ALL RIGHT, LET'S, LET'S FLIP. THE HIGHEST, THE MONTH THAT WE HAD THE MOST NUMBER OF ABSENCES, LOOK AT APRIL. APRIL, WE HAD 1,557 ABSENCES. THAT'S A LOT. WHY DO WE GET A LOT OF AP- ABSENCES IN APRIL? WELL, IT'S THE SPRING, SO THERE'S UIL COMPETITIONS.

WE HAVE, TYPICALLY WE HAVE SPECIAL OLYMPICS IN APRIL.

THERE'S ALL KINDS OF FIELD TRIPS AND, AND COMPETITIONS AND ALL THE

[01:25:01]

AUGUST HAS A 99% FILL RATE.

WHY? EVERYONE'S FRESH OFF OF SUMMER. THEY WANT TO MAKE SOME MONEY. SO, UM, EVERYBODY'S, UM, FILLING THE SUBSTITUTE JOBS.

UM, SO, BUT, BUT YOU CAN SEE THERE'S HIGH 90S ON EVERY SINGLE MONTH.

THERE'S, YOU KNOW, 99%, 94, YOU KNOW, OCTOBER HAS 90.

OCTOBER'S PROBABLY THE LOWEST, UM, BUT WE'RE HAVING REALLY HIGH FILL RATES ACROSS THE DISTRICT, ACROSS ALL THE MONTHS. OKAY, HERE'S MY NEXT QUESTION. DON'T LOOK, OLSON. ASK WHAT DAY OF THE, OR WHAT DAY OF THE WEEK DO YOU THINK WE HAVE THE HIGHEST FILL RATE? WHAT DAY OF THE WEEK? HIGHEST FILL RATE.

Y'ALL ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE.

MONTEMAYOR IS THE WINNER. NEXT SLIDE. SO ON TUESDAY, WE HAVE A FILL RATE OF 96%, AND THAT IS THE HIGHEST. UM, I, I DON'T KNOW. IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT ONE OF THE WEEKEND DAYS, IT'S NOT ONE OF THE DAYS LEADING INTO THE WEEKEND, SO, UM, FOLKS ARE, ARE WORKING ON TUESDAYS. UM, TUESDAY'S 96%.

YOU WILL SEE THAT MONDAY AND FRIDAY, THOSE ARE WHEN OUR LOWEST FILL RATES ARE, BUT LOW IS RELATIVE, RIGHT, BECAUSE WE HAVE 91% ON BOTH OF THOSE DAYS. THAT'S STILL PRETTY HIGH. OKAY, NEXT QUESTION, WITHOUT LOOKING.

WHICH ELEMENTARY CAMPUS DO YOU THINK HAS THE HIGHEST FILL RATE? WHICH ELEMENTARY CAMPUS HAS THE HIGHEST FILL RATE? CHAVEZ OR LITTLE ELM ELEMENTARY. LITTLE ELM ELEMENTARY. PRESTWICK. YOU'RE ALL WRONG! THE NEXT SLIDE.

OAK POINT ELEMENTARY HAS THE HIGHEST FILL RATE. YOU CAN SEE THEY'RE THERE WITH 96%. UM, UM, THAT'S A REALLY HIGH FILL RATE.

WE HAVE SEVERAL THAT ARE TIED FOR SECOND AT 95%, INCLUDING PRESTWICK, UM, AS ONE OF OUR SECOND PLACE TIE FOLKS.

UM, OKAY, THE LAST QUESTION I'M GOING TO ASK YOU ABOUT ESS BEFORE WE ADVANCE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WHICH SECONDARY CAMPUS DO YOU THINK HAS THE HIGHEST FILL RATE? STRIKE? HIGH SCHOOL? OLSON'S RIGHT. UM, THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE THE HIGH SCHOOL HAS THE HIGHEST FILL RATE. THEY'RE AT 94% COMPARED TO STRIKE AT 92 AND WALKER AT 91. I THINK SUBS- THE FEEDBACK WE GET FROM SUBSTITUTES IS THAT THEY REALLY LIKE THE EARLIER START TIME AND ALSO THE EARLIER END. UM, AND, AND, AND THEY DON'T HATE THE BLOCK SCHEDULE. I MEAN, THEY, THEY ENJOY THE BLOCK SCHEDULE AS WELL, SO, BUT I THINK THE STRONGEST INDICATOR OF WHY THEY'RE THE FILL RATE AT THE HIGH SCHOOL IS SO HIGH IS BECAUSE OF THE START AND THE END TIME.

ALL RIGHT, SO THAT IS OUR ESS DATA. YOU CAN SEE WE'RE HAVING REALLY HIGH FILL RATES, AND THIS IS OUR SEVENTH YEAR OF PARTNERING WITH THEM, WHICH IS CRAZY THAT ALL OF THOSE YEARS HAVE GONE BY, BUT IT'S GOING REALLY WELL.

ALL RIGHT, LAST BIT HERE, UM, OUR AREAS OF FOCUS. SO LAST YEAR I TOLD YOU THAT THESE TWO AREAS WERE THE ONES WE WERE GOING TO FOCUS IN, AND SO I'VE GIVEN US A GRADE ON THESE AREAS. SO THE STAFF RETENTION INITIATIVE, WE GET A WORK IN PROGRESS. SO THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE GOING BACK TO LAM'S REPORT, UM, WITH THE NUMBERS, THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE LIKE A 76 I'LL GIVE US FOR OUR WORK IN PROGRESS WITH STAFF RETENTION INITIATIVE. WE DID, WE DID SOME WORK HERE, BUT WE STILL HAVE A WAYS TO GO, UM, ESPECIALLY WITH THE, UM, FIRST TWO BULLETS, PARTNERING WITH CAMPUS NEW STAFF PROGRAMS AND THEN COLLABORATING WITH CAMPUS ADMINISTRATORS TO CONNECT WITH NEW STAFF IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FACULTY, SCHEDULED FACULTY MEET. WE WANT TO DO BETTER ON THAT. THE SECOND AREA OF FOCUS, THE REFINING HR PROTOCOLS AND EXPECTATIONS FOR TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, CHECK MARK. SO 98 ON THAT. WE DID REALLY WELL, UM, AND WE FEEL LIKE WE ACCOMPLISHED THAT ONE.

NEXT SLIDE, GOING INTO 26, 27, THESE ARE OUR NEW AREAS OF FOCUS FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR THAT WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW. UM, THE STAFF RETENTION INITIATIVE, THAT MIGHT LOOK FAMILIAR TO YOU BECAUSE YOU JUST SAW IT ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE. WE HAVE SOME BINOCULARS THERE BECAUSE WE'RE FOCUSING ON THE FIRST TWO SUB-BULLETS.

THAT'S OUR AREAS OF FOCUS.

UM, THEN WE'RE ALSO GOING TO DO SOME TARGETED RECRUITMENT FOR TRANSPORTATION. Y'ALL, TRANSPORTATION IS HARD TO STAFF. UM, SO WE'RE GOING TO REALLY TRY TO BE CREATIVE AND THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX TO ADDRESS STAFFING ISSUES.

AND THEN FINALLY, DEVELOP A ONE-STOP RESOURCE FOR ADMINISTRATORS FOR ALL THINGS HR. WE'RE GONNA TRY TO CREATE AN HR HUB THAT HOLDS ALL THESE IMPORTANT LINKS, ALL OF THESE TEMPLATES, ALL OF THIS GUIDANCE IN ONE STOP.

UM, SO THOSE ARE OUR AREAS OF FOCUS FOR 26-27. FINALLY, DISTRICT STATS. UM, SO WE CURRENTLY HAVE 104 NEW PROFESSIONALS IN OUR DISTRICT, 65 NEW PARAPROFESSIONALS AND AUXILIARY IN OUR DISTRICT, AND WE HIRED 6 STUDENT TEACHERS. SO LAST YEAR THEY WERE STUDENT TEACHERS, THIS YEAR THEY'RE FULL-TIME STAFF. CURRENT VACANCIES, WE HAVE 15 PROFESSIONAL CURRENT VACANCIES, 12 OF THOSE ARE TEACHERS, AND THEN WE HAVE 27 PARA-AUX TRANSPORTATION. NOW, THIS IS DATA THAT'S AS OF SEPTEMBER THE 3RD, SO THIS IS NOT LIKE TODAY'S THE 21ST. THIS IS DATA THAT'S ALMOST 3 WEEKS OLD, BUT AT THAT POINT, THIS IS WHAT IT WAS. THE NEXT AND FINAL SLIDE, UM, WE HAVE A TOTAL OF 1122 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, 4 PART-TIME EMPLOYEES, 554 TEACHERS OF THE 1100, AND THEN YOU CAN SEE THAT CURRENTLY WE HAVE 21 STUDENT TEACHERS IN OUR DISTRICT, 11 STUDENT OBSERVERS, AND THOSE ARE THE STATS FOR OUR SUBSTITUTES. UM, WE

[01:30:02]

ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPORT. THANK YOU FOR THE AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION AS WELL.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

AND YOU ARE UP NEXT WITH OUR CLASS SIZE REPORT.

YES, MA'AM. UM, SO OUR CLASS SIZE REPORT FOR LITTLE ELM ISD, THE START OF SCHOOL. UM, AGAIN, I WANT TO GIVE THE DISCLAIMER THAT THIS IS DATA FROM SEPTEMBER THE 4TH. SO THIS IS, UM, DATED DATA AS WELL. OKAY, SO LET'S GO INTO OUR ELEMENTARY ON THE NEXT SLIDE. UM, OUR CLASS SIZE AVERAGES FOR ELEMENTARY. UM, YOU'LL SEE THAT PRE-K ZELLERS IS AT A CLASS SIZE AVERAGE OF 19.3, AND THEN YOU CAN SEE OUR KINDER CLASS SIZE AVERAGES STRAIGHT DOWN THE BOARD FOR THOSE 7 ELEMENTARY CLASSES, CAMPUSES. UM, WE HAVE EVERYTHING FROM LIKE CLASS SIZE AVERAGE OF ABOUT 14.7 AT GLOVER ON THE S- ON THE SMALLER SIDE, ALL THE WAY UP TO ABOUT 18.3 AT PRESTWICK. THEN WE MOVE ON TO FIRST GRADE. YOU CAN SEE THERE'S IN THE 18, 19S, 21, UM, 0.7 IS A BIT OF AN OUTLIER THERE AT GLOVER, BUT THEN ALSO HACKBERRY AT 15.8 IS A BIT OF AN OUTLIER ON THE OPPOSITE END. YOU GET TO SECOND GRADE, UM, OH, AND AS A REMINDER, LET'S NOT FORGET THAT OUR STATE RATIO THAT WE'RE TRY- THAT WE'RE TRYING TO ABIDE WITHIN IS 22 TO 1, RIGHT? SO, UM, YOU GET TO SECOND GRADE, YOU CAN SEE THE AVERAGES THERE.

THIRD GRADE, YOU CAN SEE THE AVERAGES THERE.

IT'S NOT UNTIL YOU GET TO FOURTH GRADE, UM, FOURTH GRADE AT LAKEWOOD VILLAGE THAT YOU HAVE A RATIO THAT'S HI- A CLASS SIZE AVERAGE THAT'S HIGHER THAN 22 TO 1.

SO LAKEWOOD VILLAGE IS AT 22.3, UM, IN FOURTH GRADE, AND THEN YOU CAN SEE THAT OAK POINT IS AT 22, LIKE RIGHT ON THE NOSE IN FOURTH GRADE, AND THEN PRESTWICK IS ALSO ABOVE THE THE STATE RATIO, UM, AT 23.3 IN FOURTH GRADE. UM, AND YOU'LL ACTUALLY SEE LATER ON IN YOUR CONSENT AGENDA A FEW, UM, CLASS SIZE WAIVERS THAT WE'RE REQUESTING TO BE ABLE TO SUBMIT TO THE STATE. UM, THE CLASS SIZE RATIO OF 22 TO 1, THOUGH, DOESN'T APPLY TO FIFTH GRADE, IF YOU'LL REMEMBER THAT, BUT LOOK, YOU CAN SEE OUR FIFTH GRADE, UM, CLASS SIZE AVERAGES THERE.

WHEN WE MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE CAN SEE MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASS SIZE AVERAGES. SO THESE ARE BROKEN DOWN BY CONTENT AREA. SO YOU CAN SEE THE MATH AND THE SCIENCE, HISTORY, AND THE ENGLISH AT BOTH STRIKE AND WALKER. WHEN WE THINK ABOUT, UM, SECONDARY, WE TYPICALLY TRY TO STAY IN THE 25 TO 1, 26 TO 1 RATIO.

SO IN ALL OF OUR CONTENT AREAS, WE'RE FALLING SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW THAT 25 TO 1, 26 TO 1.

UM, YOU CAN SEE THE NUMBER OF SECTIONS THAT WE HAVE OF EACH ONE OF THE CONTENT, MAJOR CONTENT AREAS. AND THEN ON THE FAR RIGHT, YOU CAN SEE KIND OF THE RANGE. UM, ON THE LOW END, WE HAVE LIKE, UH, IN SCIENCE, ON THE LOW END, WE HAVE A CLASS OF 10 AT STRIKE, UM, AND THEN ON THE HIGH END, WE HAVE A CLASS OF 31 AT STRIKE, AND THAT JUST HAS TO DO WITH MASTER SCHEDULING, YOU KNOW, COMPLEXITIES. UM, THEY TRY THEIR BEST TO BALANCE CLASS CLASSES, UM, BUT SOMETIMES THERE'S JUST, IT'S COMPLEX, THE MASTER SCHEDULE IS. UM, THEN THE FINAL SLIDE IS, UM, THE HIGH SCHOOL AND WHAT THEIR CLASS SIZE AVERAGES ARE.

AGAIN, AND DIVIDED INTO CONTENT AREAS, SO YOU HAVE MATH, SCIENCE, HISTORY, AND ENGLISH THERE, UM, IN THE NUMBER OF SECTIONS, AND THEN AGAIN THE RANGES.

UM, SO IN ENGLISH, WE HAVE A S- THE SMALLEST CLASS SIZE IS 16, THE LARGEST CLASS SIZE IS 31. UM, AGAIN, FALLING B- BELOW OUR 26 TO 1 AVERAGE, UM, RATIO THAT WE TRY TO SHOOT FOR AT SECONDARY. AND THAT'S OUR, UM, START OF SCHOOL CLASS SIZE REPORT. I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS, PRESIDENT WATKINS, IF ANYONE HAS ANY.

DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? ALRIGHTY, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU.

OUR NEXT ITEM IN ORDER IS THE 2026-2027 STUDENT HANDBOOK, AND WHO IS PRESENTING FOR DONNIE? OH, IT IS MRS. MONDAY. YAY! ALL RIGHT, UM, GOOD EVENING, SUPERINTENDENT LAMB, PRESIDENT WATKINS, BOARD OF TRUSTEES. I'M TERRILYN THOMAS-MUNDAY, DIRECTOR FOR STUDENT SERVICES, AND UM, TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF THE UPDATE, UM, BECAUSE THIS WAS NOT REALLY THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION, A LOT OF THAT HAPPENED THAT LAST TIME, AND THEY GAVE US PLENTY TO PUT IN THERE, SO THERE WERE NOT MANY CHANGES FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR. UH, IN THE HANDBOOK, WE MADE THE CAMPUS NAME CHANGES, WE MADE THE NEW PRINCIPAL HIRE CHANGES, UM, THEN THE GRADING GUIDELINES, WE, UH, INSERTED A LINK PROVIDED BY DR. TRAMMELL JUST TO, TO CLARIFY SOME THINGS, AND THEN WE UPDATED THE SCHOOL YEAR. AND THEN THAT IS THE MAIN CHANGE THAT HAPPENED IN THE ACTUAL CODE OF CONDUCT, JUST THE CHANGE OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. NOW, THIS COMING SESSION, THERE'LL PROBABLY BE MORE THINGS PASSED, AND THEN I'LL HAVE WAY MORE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT AT THAT TIME.

[01:35:01]

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

AND NOW OUR UPDATE ON HB3, UPDATE ON GOALS, MR. EVANS.

THANK YOU, PRESIDENT WATKINS, BOARD, MR. LAMB. THE HOUSE BILL 3 GOALS HAVE BEEN AROUND AND REQUIRE THAT WE UPDATE EVERY FIVE YEARS. WE UPDATED LAST YEAR, AND SO I GUESS THAT MEANS AROUND THEY HAVE BEEN AROUND SINCE PRE-COVID. UM, LAST YEAR, WHEN WE UPDATED THESE, AND THEY ARE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD READING, MATH, AND OUR CCMR AT HIGH SCHOOL, WE UPDATED THESE TO ALIGN WITH THE CLOSING THE GAPS DOMAIN IN THE TEXAS ACCOUNTABILITY MANUAL, AND THAT IS THE SAME CLOSING THE GAPS THAT MR. LAMB WAS DISCUSSING EARLIER THAT WAS A PART OF OUR DROPS IN ACCOUNTABILITY. AND SO, AS WE GO THROUGH THIS, WE'LL SEE THAT CONNECTION JUST A LITTLE BIT. SO, LAST YEAR WE USED SPECIFIC TARGETS. WE ACTUALLY USED THE MANUAL AND THE TARGETS THAT ARE IN THE MANUAL AS OUR GOALS FOR EACH OF THE DEMOGRAPHICS THAT WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT, AND WE UPDATED THEM TO MATCH WHERE THE STATE WANTS US TO BE IN THE YEAR 2032. SO EACH OF THE GOALS, AS WE'RE GOING THROUGH THEM, ARE IN ALIGNMENT TO WHERE THE 25 GOAL MATCHED WHAT TEA SAYS OUR GOAL SHOULD BE CURRENTLY, AND THE 26 GOAL, 27 GOAL, 28 GOAL ARE GOING TO BE PROGRE- PROGRESSING FORWARD TO WHERE THEY WANT US TO BE IN THE YEAR 2032. SO THESE WERE THE GOALS FOR READING. SO THE 25 GOAL ON THAT CHART IS WHERE THE STATE SAYS WE SHOULD BE IN THE CLOSING THE GAPS DOMAIN FOR STUDENTS PERFORMING AT THE MEETS LEVEL IN READING. AND AGAIN, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THERE'S APPROACH, MEETS, AND THEN MASTERS. AND SO THIS IS WHERE WE SHOULD BE IN MEETS, THE OVERALL, AND THEN EACH OF THOSE DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS GOING ACROSS. WE WILL MEASURE THIS THROUGH 29, AND THEN WITH ANTICIPATION OF WHAT THE POTENTIAL GOALS WOULD BE WHEN WE REDO THIS IN 2030. WE LOOK AT THE SAME THING FOR MATH, THE SAME SETUP. THESE ARE THE GOALS IN 25 OF WHERE THE STATE SAYS WE SHOULD BE PERFORMING AT MEETS IN MATH, AND THEN PROGRESSING TO WHERE WE WANT TO BE WHEN WE REDO THIS IN 2030. AND OUR CCMR GOALS FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL WITH THE SAME CONCEPT. SO THIS WAS OUR ACTUAL PERFORMANCE IN 26, AND THE FIRST LINE IS OUR THIRD GRADE READING, AND THIRD GRADE READING IS PROGRESSING.

IT'S GETTING BETTER YEAR AFTER YEAR, AND YOU CAN SEE THE OVERALL CATEGORY, 54% OF THIRD GRADERS PERFORMED AT MEETS IN READING, WITH THE GOAL AT 53%. THAT'S THE LOCAL GOAL, BECAUSE THE ACTUAL STATE GOAL WAS THE 25 GOAL, WHICH WAS LOWER THAN THAT. AND SO EACH OF THE RED ARE THE SUBPOPULATIONS THAT PERFORMED BELOW THE LOCAL GOAL, AND THE GREEN ARE WHERE WE WERE PERFORMING AT OR ABOVE. AS WE DROP TO THE MIDDLE COLUMN, AND WE LOOK AT THE MIDDLE ROW, AND WE LOOK AT MATH, AS WE MAKE THE CONNECTION TO THE EARLIER PRESENTATION WITH THE CLOSING THE GAPS, THIS IS WHERE WE LOST POINTS IN THE ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM ACROSS THE BOARD THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT. BUT THIS ISN'T JUST NECESSARILY LITTLE M. THE STATE RECOGNIZES THAT THERE ARE SOME MATH ISSUES GOING ON, AND WE'RE HAVING MATH ACADEMIES CREATED THAT ARE BECOMING MANDATORY ACROSS THE STATE. THEY ARE POURING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO LASSO GRANTS AND LIFT GRANTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BLUEBONNET CURRICULUM, WHICH WE ARE TAKING A PART OF.

AND SO THE STATE IS POURING THIS MONEY OUT FOR MATH CURRICULUM AND MATH GUIDANCE IN TEACHING, AND WE ARE ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN ALL OF THAT TO ADDRESS THIS PERFORMANCE LEVEL THAT'S HAPPENING IN MATH. FINALLY, THE CCMR GOALS. YOU CAN SEE WE ARE

[01:40:08]

I DO HAVE A QUESTION. UM, WE KNOW THAT STAR IS, THIS IS THE LAST YEAR FOR STAR. HOW IS THIS GOING, THE REMOVAL OF STAR AND THE CREATION OF WHATEVER THE STATE'S GOING TO DO, HOW IS THAT GOING TO AFFECT THIS TARGET? SO, THE ACCOUNTABILITY MANUAL IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE, AND TEA PRODUCES, AND THEY HAVE THE 2027 ACCOUNTABILITY MANUAL UP FOR REVIEW CURRENTLY, AND THEY'RE TAKING FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS, BUT THERE ARE NO ANTICIPATED CHANGES, AND THERE ARE NO CHANGES THIS YEAR.

THERE ARE REALLY VERY MINOR CHANGES COMING FOR 27. THEY'RE GOING TO BE IN THE CCMR CATEGORIES MAINLY.

BUT AS FAR AS CLOSING THE GAPS, WE ARE, UM, WAITING TO SEE IF THESE NUMBERS ARE GOING TO CHANGE, BUT THE METHODOLOGY OF HOW WE ARE CREATING THE ABC IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE WITH THE NEW TEST. THEY ARE GOING TO KEEP THE METHODOLOGY PRETTY MUCH EXACTLY THE SAME.

I WANT TO POINT OUT THE TRAINING WE GOT THE NIGHT, SHE MENTIONED THESE SEVERAL TIMES.

OKAY.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, MR. EVANS.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

NEXT ITEM IN ORDER ARE OUR ACTION ITEMS, AND WITH THE, WE WILL CONSIDER, OH, I'M SORRY, CURRICULUM AND LEARNING UPDATE WITH MRS. BALL AND MRS. JACKSON. MRS. BALL.

PRESIDENT WATKINS, MR. LAMB, BOARD OF TRUSTEES. I'M AMANDA BALL, THE DIRECTOR FOR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, AND WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE YOU A BRIEF UPDATE ON PROFESSIONAL LEARNING. SO EVEN THOUGH WE DO ADULT LEARNING YEAR ROUND, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF EVENTS THAT REALLY KIND OF SIGNAL THE KICKOFF TO THE SCHOOL YEAR, UM, AND THAT'S WELCOME WEEK AND FALL KICKOFF. SO WELCOME WEEK, WE INVITE ALL NEW LOBO EDUCATORS TO LEARN ABOUT OUR INSTRUCTIONAL MODELS AND TO SEE WHAT OUR FOCUS IS IN LITTLE ELM FOR INSTRUCTION, AND WE ALSO FOCUS ON CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT THAT, UM, LENDS ITSELF TO HIGH QUALITY LEARNING. SO THAT'S WHAT WE DO AT WELCOME WEEK. AND AT FALL KICKOFF, EVERYBODY COMES TOGETHER, AND THIS IS, UM, A COMBINATION OF COLLABORATION AND PRACTICE, AND WE REALLY JUST GET READY FOR OUR PRE-K-12 KIDS TO COME BACK. SO THOSE ARE TWO OF OUR LARGE EVENTS. WE DID ASK FOR SOME FEEDBACK THIS YEAR, AND I CHANGED THE WAY, WE CHANGED THE WAY THAT WE WERE COLLECTING THAT DATA. SO WE'RE USING THOUGHT EXCHANGE, AND IT'S REALLY HELPING US TO GET AN OVERALL PICTURE OF WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING, AND THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT WE ASK. IT'S 1 IS THE WORST AND 5 IS THE BEST. SO WE HAD 67% OF PEOPLE SAID IT WAS THE BEST PROFESSIONAL LEARNING THAT THEY'D HAD, AND 26% ANSWERED 4. SO WE HAD A 93% UM, POSITIVE, OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE, AND THEN WE ASK REALLY SIMPLE AGREE OR DISAGREE, AND 99% OF PEOPLE SAID THAT THE PRESENTER WAS KNOWLEDGEABLE. THEY AGREED THAT IT WAS ENGAGING AND THAT THE MODELED, UM, THAT THE TARGET SKILLS WERE MODELED, WHICH IS A REALLY IMPORTANT PIECE OF ADULT LEARNING. YOU WANT TO PRACTICE BEFORE YOU LEAVE, AND YOU WANT TO SEE HOW IT'S DONE THE RIGHT WAY. UM, AND SO PEOPLE WERE AGREEING THAT THAT WAS IT. AND THEN MY FAVORITE ONE IS THIS SESSION WAS WORTH MY TIME. SO IF THEY DON'T FEEL LIKE IT'S WORTH THEIR TIME, THEN WE'RE NOT DOING OUR JOB.

SO 97% OF PEOPLE SAID THEY AGREED THAT IT WAS WORTH THEIR TIME. SO THIS IS, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS DOESN'T TELL US HOW EFFECTIVE THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING IS. THAT'S WHAT THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS ARE FOR.

WE'RE WALKING THROUGH TO SEE IF IT'S STICKING, IF YOU WILL. UM, BUT THIS DOES GIVE US A GOOD PICTURE OF WHETHER PEOPLE FEEL LIKE IT IS EFFECTIVE AND WHETHER THEY

[01:45:01]

THEY HAVE THEIR FIRST ACADEMY MEETING THIS WEEK, UH, THE FIRST ONE OF THE YEAR. SO THERE ARE LOTS OF WAYS THAT WE TRY TO NOT ONLY KEEP PEOPLE HERE BY HELPING THEM BECOME MORE, YOU KNOW, UM, CONFIDENT IN THEIR PROFESSION, BUT TO BE ABLE TO KEEP THE MONEY HERE BY TRAINING OUR OWN PEOPLE TO, TO TRAIN OUR TEACHERS. AND IT IS MORE SUSTAINABLE, AND AN INVESTMENT IN THE EDUCATORS IS AN INVESTMENT IN STUDENTS, AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY KIND OF WHAT WE BELIEVE, UM, WITH ADULT LEARNING. SO WHAT QUESTIONS CAN I ANSWER FOR YOU? I'M GOOD.

ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU.

WE DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.

OH, HOLD ON, WAIT. ANYBODY? NOPE.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. THAT WAS A GREAT REPORT. WE ARE NOW MOVING INTO ACTION ITEM.

MISS WATKINS. I THINK IT'S A TWO-PART PRESENTATION.

SORRY. ONE MORE, ONE MORE. ALL RIGHT. UH, GOOD EVENING, SUPERINTENDENT LAMB, PRESIDENT WATKINS, BOARD OF TRUSTEES. MY NAME IS KIM CHOW JACKSON. I AM DIRECTOR FOR ACADEMIC PROGRAMS. ONE OF THE ACADEMIC PROGRAMS THAT I OVERSEE IS OUR BILINGUAL ESL LANGUAGE PROGRAM.

OKAY. IN LITTLE ELM ISD, WE HAVE 60 DIFFERENT STUDENT LANGUAGES THAT ARE REPRESENTED, BUT WE HAVE SOME TOP LANGUAGES, SOME STOP TOP STUDENT LANGUAGES, BECAUSE WE DO HAVE SOME LANGUAGES WHERE WE MIGHT HAVE 5 STUDENTS, 4 STUDENTS, BUT OUR TOP LANGUAGES IN LITTLE ELM ISD, WE HAVE 01,261, UM, SPANISH SPEAKERS.

WE HAVE, UM, TELUGU, URDU, ARABIC, MANDARIN CHINESE, PORTUGUESE, TAMIL, KOREAN, AND VIETNAMESE. THOSE ARE ALL THE LANGUAGES WHERE WE HAVE, UM, DOUBLE DIGIT NUMBERS OR MORE, UM, IN ALL OF THESE LANGUAGES. ALL OF OUR OTHER LANGUAGES ARE REPRESENTED BY, LIKE I SAID, JUST A FEW STUDENTS, BUT WE HAVE 60 DIFFERENT STUDENT LANGUAGES REPRESENTED IN OUR DISTRICT.

OKAY, PART OF OUR, UM, TEXAS ADMINISTRATIVE CODE IN CHAPTER 89, WE DO HAVE TO HAVE A LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE, AN ELPAC COMMITTEE, AND THE, THE TASK OF THIS GROUP IS TO ENSURE THAT OUR STUDENTS ARE APPROPRIATELY IDENTIFIED, PLACED, ASSESSED, THAT WE PROVIDE SERVICES, THAT WE HAVE A RECLASSIFICATION, AND THAT WE, UM, MONITOR ALL OF OUR EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS. THE ELPAC ALSO, UH, MEETS IN CONJUNCTION WITH ALL OTHER COMMITTEES RELATED TO PROGRAM SERVICES FOR WHICH OUR EB STUDENTS QUALIFY, SUCH AS SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES, 504, ET CETERA. SO THE ELPAC COMMITTEE WORKS IN CONJUNCTION WITH ALL OF THE OTHER COMMITTEES AS WELL. IN LAISD, WE SERVE 1,526 EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS, AND WE SERVE THEM THROUGH ONE OF THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGE PROGRAMS. WE HAVE DUAL LANGUAGE ONE-WAY, DUAL LANGUAGE TWO-WAY, AND WE HAVE OUR ESL PROGRAM, ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE.

FOR DUAL LANGUAGE, WE HAVE THE ONE-WAY PROGRAM AT ZELLERS, WHICH IS OUR PRE-K, UM, STUDENTS, AND THEN OUR TWO-WAY PROGRAM IS AT BRENT ELEMENTARY FOR FIRST THROUGH FIFTH GRADES, HACKBERRY ELEMENTARY FOR KINDER THROUGH FIFTH GRADES, OAK POINT FOR KINDER THROUGH FIFTH GRADES AS WELL.

AND THEN THIS PAST YEAR, WHICH WERE RE- WE WERE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT, THE 25-26, UM, SCHOOL YEAR, IS THAT WE TOOK OUR DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM INTO THE MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND WE STARTED WITH 6TH GRADE AND 7TH GRADE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL IN, UH, THE READING LANGUAGE ARTS CLASS.

SO THE READING LANGUAGE ARTS CLASS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, IT- STUDENTS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN A DUAL LANGUAGE CLASSROOM WHERE THEY RECEIVE INSTRUCTION

[01:50:01]

THE GOAL OF THE PROGRAMS IS, UM, ARE THE DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM AIMS TO DEVELOP BILINGUAL, BILITERATE, AND BICULTURAL STUDENTS. IT DEVELOPS BOTH TARGET LANGUAGES.

SO IN OUR PROGRAM IN LITTLE ELM ISD, THAT IS, UM, ENGLISH AND SPANISH, WHILE ACHIEVING ACADEMIC SUCCESS THROUGH THE CONTENT AREAS. THE GOAL FOR THE ESL PROGRAM IS IT HELPS STUDENTS BECOME ENGLISH PROFICIENT WHILE ACHIEVING ACADEMIC SUCCESS THROUGH THE CONTENT AREAS AS WELL.

IN OUR LANGUAGE PROGRAMS, IN OUR DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM, WE HAVE 913 STUDENTS THAT WE SERVE, AND THAT IS 52 IN OUR PRE-K PROGRAM, 766 IN OUR KINDER THROUGH FIFTH OR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, AND 95 IN OUR SIXTH AND SEVENTH, BECAUSE THAT WE TOOK, UH, DUAL LANGUAGE INTO THE MIDDLE SCHOOL. AND THEN SCHOOL, UH, DISTRICT-WIDE, OUR ESL STUDENTS, UM, THAT IT WE SERVE ARE 762 STUDENTS THIS PAST SCHOOL YEAR.

SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID WHEN WE TOOK DUAL LANGUAGE INTO THE MIDDLE SCHOOL THIS PAST YEAR IS WE WANTED TO CHECK TO SEE, WELL, WE WANTED TO GIVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ALL OF OUR SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS THAT ARE IN DUAL LANGUAGE, THE OPPORTUNITY TO TEST THEIR LANGUAGE SKILLS IN SPANISH USING AVANT. AVANT IS A TOOL, IS A TEST THAT WE CAN USE BECAUSE WE ARE ABLE TO AWARD CREDIT WITH THAT TOOL, WITH THAT TEST, OKAY? SO WE HAD 28 STUDENTS TOTAL THAT WE TESTED BETWEEN THE TWO, UM, MIDDLE SCHOOLS. OKAY? SO ONE OF OUR STUDENTS EARNED A SPANISH 1 CREDIT. THAT MEANS THAT THAT STUDENT, UM, AND ALL OF THE STUDENTS THAT WE TESTED, WHATEVER CREDIT THEY WERE ABLE TO EARN, THEY'RE NOW EARNING CREDIT FOR HIGH SCHOOL. SO 4 OF THE STUDENTS EARNED A SPANISH 1 AND A SPANISH 2 CREDIT, RIGHT? SO FOR, UH, GRADUATION, THEY'RE NEEDING TWO LOTE CREDITS, TWO LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH, RIGHT? SO THEY, WE HAVE NOW FOUR STUDENTS THAT ARE GOING TO BE WALKING INTO HIGH SCHOOL HAVING EARNED THEIR TWO LOTE CREDITS, OKAY? NOT BAD, RIGHT? WE GOT A LITTLE BIT MORE EXCITED. 7 STUDENTS EARNED A SPANISH 1, SPANISH 02, AND A SPANISH 3 CREDIT. SO WE WERE ABLE TO AWARD ALL OF THOSE STUDENTS A SPANISH 01, A SPANISH 2, AND A SPANISH 3. THAT MEANS THEY'RE WALKING INTO HIGH SCHOOL HAVING EARNED THOSE 3 CREDITS. OKAY, SO THEY'LL HAVE THEIR 2 LOW CREDITS, AND THEY'LL HAVE 1 EXTRA, UH, AS A, AS AN ELECTIVE CREDIT. OKAY, SO THEY'RE GONNA WALK INTO HIGH SCHOOL WITH 3 CREDITS. BUT Y'ALL, THIS IS WHAT WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT. 12 STUDENTS SCORED, AND I'M SA- AND I'LL EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE LANGUAGE. 12 STUDENTS SCORED SPANISH 1, 2, 03, AND 4. ONE STUDENT SCORED UP TO A LEVEL 5. AND I SAY SCORED BECAUSE WE'RE NOT ABLE TO AWARD THE CREDIT THAT HIGH.

WE ARE ONLY ABLE TO AWARD UP TO A LEVEL 3, BECAUSE A SPANISH 4 OR 5, NOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AP LEVEL, AND WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE AN AP EXAM, OKAY? BUT THAT'S THE LEVELS THAT THE STUDENTS SCORED AT. SO THAT WE WERE, I MEAN, EXTREMELY EXCITED AND JUST THRILLED AT WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO SEE.

WELL, THIS YEAR WE'VE TAKEN OUR DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM INTO THE MIDDLE SCHOOL ALL THE WAY UP TO 8TH GRADE, SO WE'RE EXCITED TO SEE WHAT THOSE NUMBERS ARE GOING TO SHOW US, UM, THIS NEXT, THIS SCHOOL YEAR, AT THE END OF THIS SCHOOL YEAR. SO WE HAVE 24 STUDENTS THAT HAVE EARNED THEIR LOP CREDIT NEEDED FOR GRADUATION AT THE END OF 7TH GRADE. SO THESE ARE 24 STUDENTS THAT ARE RIGHT NOW SITTING IN 8TH GRADE, WHO ARE GOING TO WALK INTO HIGH SCHOOL HAVING EARNED THEIR 2 LOP CREDITS. DONE. AND NOW WE STILL CONTINUE WITH THE PATHWAY THAT IF THEY WANT TO CONTINUE IN THEIR SPANISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION, WE HAVE, UH, WE HAVE CLASSES FOR THEM TO TAKE, OR IF THEY SAY, WE'RE DONE, UM, I'VE GOT MY TWO LOW CREDITS, AND I WANT TO BE ABLE TO TAKE SOME OTHER THINGS AND OPEN UP SOME SPACE IN MY, IN MY SCHEDULE TO DO OTHER THINGS, THEN THEY HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ALL OF OUR EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS, OKAY, EVERY SINGLE STUDENT WHO IS, UM, CLASSIFIED AND IDENTIFIED AS AN EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENT HAS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TEXAS ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT SYSTEM. THAT'S THE TELPAS. AND THE TELPAS IS GOING TO MEASURE THE FOUR LANGUAGE DOMAINS: LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING, AND WRITING. OUR KINDER AND FIRST GRADE STUDENTS, THEY ARE TESTED, UM, A- WITH A HOLISTIC RUBRIC. SO THEN THAT MEANS THAT THE TEACHERS HAVE TO CALIBRATE, THEY H- THEY HAVE TO HAVE CERTAIN CERTIFICATION TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT, UM, BUT IT'S ALL THROUGH OBSERVATION AND WHAT THE TEACHER SEES AND THEN WHAT THE TEACHER RATES THEM TO BE.

BUT STARTING IN SECOND GRADE ALL THE WAY UP TO 12TH GRADE, THEN THE FOUR LANGUAGE DOMAINS GET SCORED BY A COMPUTER TEST. SO THESE ARE ACTUAL TESTS THAT THE STUDENTS HAVE TO TAKE. UM, AND THIS IS HOW OUR STUDENTS SCORE.

AND WE SEE THAT THE MAJORITY OF OUR EB STUDENTS ARE KIND OF AT THE INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED, UM, LEVELS. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT DATA AND WE'RE DESEGREGATING DATA, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS WE'RE LOOKING TO SEE WHERE DID OUR EB STUDENTS SCORE, AND WHAT LANGUAGE

[01:55:01]

RECLASSIFICATION MEANS THAT THEY HAVE MET THE CRITERIA SET BY THE STATE, AND THEY ARE NO LONGER CLASSIFIED AS EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS. AND WE HAVE TO LOOK AT 3 INDICATORS. WE LOOK AT TELPAS, WHICH IS THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT. WE LOOK AT STATE STANDARDIZED READING ASSESSMENTS, WHICH IS STAAR, AND THEN FOR OUR STUDENTS WHO ARE IN FIRST, SECOND GRADE, 11TH, AND 12TH WHO DO NOT HAVE A STAAR TEST, THEN WE HAVE TO LOOK AT A TEA APPROVED NORM REFERENCE ACHIEVEMENT TEST.

AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE THE TEACHERS WHO, UM, CAN, UH, FILL OUT A TEACHER EVALUATION FORM, OKAY? SO ONCE WE HAVE ALL OF THOSE INDICATORS, IF A STUDENT MEETS ALL OF THE INDICATORS SET BY THE STATE, THEN THE STUDENT RECLASSIFIES.

IT MEANS THAT THEY NO LONGER ARE CONSIDERED EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS. THAT MEANS THEY ARE ENGLISH PROFICIENT.

SO THIS PAST YEAR, WE HAD 95 EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS WHO RECLASSIFIED. THAT MEANS THAT THEY MET ALL OF THE CRITERIA SET BY THE STATE. AS FAR AS OUR STAFF, BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS WE DO ALSO HAVE TO LOOK AT IS THAT OUR STA- THAT OUR STAFF IS APPROPRIATELY CERTIFIED FOR OUR, WHERE WE HAVE EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS. SO ANYWHERE WE- WHERE WE HAVE, UM, EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS, WE ARE LOOKING TO SEE, IS THE TEACHER APPROPRIATELY, UH, CERTIFIED? THIS PAST YEAR, WE DID NOT HAVE TO FILE ANY BILINGUAL EXCEPTIONS. THAT MEANS THAT ALL OF OUR, UH, DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING, ALL OF OUR TEACHERS WERE APPROPRIATELY CERTIFIED, SO EITHER WITH A BILINGUAL CERTIFICATE OR WITH AN ESL CERTIFICATE.

HOWEVER, WE DID HAVE TO FILE FOR 20 ESL WAIVERS. THAT MEANS WE HAD 20 CLASSROOMS WHERE WE HAD EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS WHO HAD A TEACHER WHO WAS NOT ESL CERTIFIED. UM, AND SO, AND THIS IS BY THE DATE THAT OUT WE HAVE TO SUBMIT THE WAIVER APPLICATION BY, WHICH IS NOVEMBER 1ST. SO NOW WE WORK TO MAKE SURE THAT TEACHERS CONTINUE WORKING ON THAT ESL CERTIFICATION TEST, SO IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THEY BECAME CERTIFIED AFTER, BUT BY THE TIME THAT WE, THAT I TURN SUBMIT THE WAIVER, UM, THEN THAT'S WHAT WE HAD AT THAT MOMENT. WE HAD 20, UH, TEACHERS WHO WERE NOT APPROPRIATELY CERTIFIED. UM, BUT OUT OF THE 20, WE HAD 12 WHO DID PASS THE ESL TEST BY THE END OF THE YEAR. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO PROVIDE HERE IN LITTLE ELM ISD IS WE DO OUR ESL TEST PREP, UH, IN-HOUSE. THAT WAY OUR TEACHERS AREN'T HAVING TO TRAVEL TO REGION 10, TO REGION 11, UM, TO GET, UM, ANY KIND OF TEST PREP COURSES. AND SO WE BRING IN A CONSULTANT, AND HER JOB AND WHAT SHE DOES IS SHE PREPARES THE TEACHERS TO TAKE, UM, THE ESL TEST AND TO PASS THAT ESL CERTIFICATION.

ANOTHER THING THAT WE ALSO OFFER IS THAT WE REIMBURSE OUR TEACHERS THE REGISTRATION COST ONCE THEY PASS THAT ESL CERTIFICATION. SO ONCE THEY SHOW THAT THEY PASSED IT, THEN WE REIMBURSE THEM THE COST THAT IT TOOK FOR THEM TO SIT FOR THAT EXAM. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, WE PROVIDE, UM, ALL OF OUR TEACHERS WITH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES TO CONTINUE LEARNING ABOUT EFFECTIVE, UM, WAYS TO TEACH OUR EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS THROUGH OUR DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING AND OUR ESL LANGUAGE PROGRAMS. SOME OF THE PL- UM, PEOPLE OR CONSULTANTS THAT WE TEAM WITH, WE TEAM WITH REGION SERVICE CENTERS.

WE GO TO REGION 10, REGION 11, ANYTHING TO DO WITH EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS.

WE TEAM WITH, UM, DR. SANDRA MERCURI'S EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT SPECIFICALLY FOR OUR DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING. WE ALSO BRING IN SIGHTLESS EDUCATION, WHICH ARE VERY MUCH GURUS FOR ANYTHING EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS. AND THEN, OF COURSE, WE ALSO TRY TO SEND TEACHERS AND ATTEND, UM, CONFERENCES. WE ATTEND, UM, TABE, WHICH IS OUR TEXAS ASSOCIATION FOR BILINGUAL EDUCATORS, OR BEAM, WHICH IS OUR LOCAL, UM, THAT'S THE BILINGUAL ESL ASSOCIATION OF THE METROPLEX.

OKAY, WE ALSO, PART OF OUR, UM, UM, IN TEXAS EDUCATION CODE, WE ALSO HAVE, WE ARE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE SUMMER SCHOOL FOR OUR EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS, UM, AND WE DO THAT SPECIFICALLY FOR OUR STUDENTS WHO ARE ENTERING KINDERGARTEN AND FIRST GRADE IN THAT NEXT SCHOOL YEAR. SO THAT MEANS THAT THEY ARE CURRENTLY OUR PRE-K STUDENTS AND KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS. SO WE HAVE THAT, UM, AS OUR SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE TO PROVIDE FOR OUR EB STUDENTS WHO ARE IN, UM, PRE-K AND KINDER, WHO ARE GOING TO KINDER AND FIRST GRADE. AND SO THEN THESE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF PICTURES OF, UM, OUR SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM FROM THIS PAST SUMMER. AND I DO HAVE A REALLY QUICK VIDEO.

THEY'RE 30 SECOND LONG VIDEOS JUST TO SHOW YOU GUYS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM.

HELLO SUMMER, WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU. BLUE SKY SHINING BRIGHT NOW, FEELING BRAND NEW. HELLO SUMMER, WARM BREEZE

[02:00:01]

OKAY, SO THAT WAS JUST KIND OF THE BEGINNING OF THAT SCHOOL, UM, OF THAT SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM.

AND THEN OUR OTHER VIDEO, UM, IS GOING TO SHOW BECAUSE WE WANT TO MAKE ALL OF THE LEARNING FOR OUR KIDS HANDS-ON, UM, AND JUST EXCITING. AND SO THIS IS A VENDOR THAT WE BRING IN.

THE NAME OF THE, OF THIS VENDOR IS THE CRITTER LADY THAT COMES IN DURING THE SUMMER, AND WE HAVE 2 EVENTS, 2 DAYS, UH, WHERE WE DO EXOTIC ANIMALS.

THAT WAS THE EXOTIC ANIMAL DAY, UH, AND THEN THE OTHER ONE IS A PETTING ZOO. SO THEY BROUGHT IN A LLAMA, AND THEY BROUGHT IN, UM, UH, RABBITS AND SOME OTHER, SOME OTHER FURRY ANIMALS. UM, AND SO JUST WE PARTNER ALSO WITH SOME LOCAL, UM, AGENCIES AS WELL, SO OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT, UM, OUR FIREFIGHTERS, AND WE TRY TO MAKE THE PROGRAM, WE, Y'ALL, WE'VE GOT A WELL-OILED MACHINE.

UM, THIS SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM IS AMAZING. AND SO EVERYTHING THAT WE DO, WE WANT IT TO BE HANDS-ON. WE DO A LOT, UH, EVERYTHING THAT'S DONE IS THROUGH THE FOUR LANGUAGE DOMAINS. WE WANT THE KIDS LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING, WRITING, UM, AND BUILDING LANGUAGE. UM, SO IF YOU EVER HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME OUT DURING SUMMER AND, UH, COME TO SEE THE PROGRAM, WE ARE WELCOME TO. WE, UH, WANT TO HAVE YOU BECAUSE IT IS TRULY A JOY TO WATCH ALL OF OUR LITTLE ONES, UM, LEARNING. AS FAR AS NEEDS FOR OUR PROGRAM, WE DEFINITELY WANT TO CONTINUE TO EMPHASIZE THE FOUR, THE LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THROUGH OUR FOUR LANGUAGE DOMAINS.

IN OUR DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM, UH, WE TALK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE FOUR LANGUAGE DOMAINS, UM, BUT WE ALSO TALK ABOUT THE PLUS ONE SPECIFICALLY TO OUR DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM, AND THAT IS THE METALINGUISTIC AWARENESS. AND WHAT KIDS LEARN THERE IN DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING IS THAT WHAT THEY LEARN IN ONE LANGUAGE CAN BE TRANSFERRED TO THE OTHER LANGUAGE, OKAY? BECAUSE THERE ARE SOME CONCEPTS THAT ARE UNIVERSAL, AND SO THEN IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT LANGUAGE YOU'RE LEARNING IT IN, BUT ONCE I'VE GOT IT IN ONE LANGUAGE, THEN I CAN TRANSFER IT TO THE OTHER LANGUAGE. SO THAT'S WHAT, UH, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE 4 PLUS 1, THAT'S THE 4 LANGUAGE DOMAINS, LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING, WRITING, AND IN DUAL LANGUAGE PLUS 1, THE METALINGUISTIC AWARENESS.

IN OUR ESL PROGRAM, WE CONTINUE TALKING ABOUT THE FOUR LANGUAGE DOMAINS IN ENGLISH, WHICH ARE, AGAIN, LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING, WRITING. WE WANT TO CONTINUE FOCUSING OUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO GROW TEACHER CAPACITY, SPECIFICALLY IN WORKING WITH OUR MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS IN OUR LANGUAGE PROGRAMS, AND WE WANT TO MONITOR THE PERFORMANCE AND GROWTH OF OUR EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS THROUGH TELPAS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE MEETING THAT RECLASSIFICATION CRITERIA, UM, OR THAT WE'RE AT LEAST GROWING THAT PROFICIENCY LEVEL FROM BEGINNER TO INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED TO ADVANCED HIGH.

OKAY, WHAT QUESTIONS MAY I ANSWER? ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? I HAVE ONE. OF THE 60 LANGUAGES, AND WE'RE TEACHING 02, WHAT DO THE OTHER 58 CHOOSE THE MOST? TYPICALLY ESL.

OKAY.

IF WE HAVE EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS WITH OTHER LANGUAGES, IT'S ESL. SO BY LAW, WE DO HAVE TO OFFER A BILINGUAL PROGRAM WHEN WE HAVE 20 OR MORE STUDENTS OF ONE LANGUAGE IN ONE GRADE LEVEL, AND WE HAVEN'T NECESSARILY HAD ANYTHING, ANY OTHER LANGUAGE THAT'S GOING TO HIT THAT MARK OTHER THAN SPANISH. OBVIOUSLY, WE AND WE- MM-HMM.

WE HAVE THAT, RIGHT? IN OUR DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM, WE DO HAVE ENGLISH AND SPANISH, SO WE DO HAVE A BILINGUAL PROGRAM IN SPANISH, WHICH IS WHY WE DON'T HAVE TO FILE A BILINGUAL EXCEPTION.

UM, BUT ALL OF OUR OTHER LANGUAGES, WE DON'T, WE HAVEN'T HAD, UM, ANY ONE LANGUAGE WHERE WE'VE MET OVER THE 20 IN ONE GRADE LEVEL. AND I'M GONNA SAY YET, BECAUSE THIS MIGHT BE THE YEAR.

THIS MIGHT BE THE YEAR. UH, WE DO HAVE QUITE A BIT OF, UM, I BELIEVE TAMIL IS THE, IS THE LANGUAGE THAT WE'VE GOT RIGHT NOW COMING INTO PRE-K, WHERE WE MIGHT HIT, UM, THAT NUMBER THIS YEAR, BUT WE'RE STILL, UH, WAITING TO SEE IF THOSE STUDENTS ALL QUALIFY AS EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS.

SO THE PARENTS, I GUESS, SAY THEY DON'T REALLY GET A CHOICE.

IF I HAD A CHILD THAT WAS ONE OF THE 58, AND SO I REALLY WANT HIM OR HER TO LEARN ENGLISH INSTEAD OF SPANISH, OR VICE SPANISH AND NOT THE ENGLISH, CAN WE ACCOMMODATE THAT? SO THE ONLY WAY THAT OUR STUDENTS, UM, THAT WE OFFER A LANGUAGE PROGRAM TO OUR PARENTS IS WELL, I MEAN FOR THE STUDENT.

IT, RIGHT, FOR THE STUDENT, BUT THE ONLY WAY THAT THAT HAPPENS IS IF THAT STUDENT QUALIFIES AS AN EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENT.

[02:05:02]

AND THE REASON AND THE WAY THAT THEY DO QUALIFY IS BECAUSE WHEN PARENTS ENROLL, THERE IS A DOCUMENT CALLED A HOME LANGUAGE SURVEY THAT'S COMPLETED AT ENROLLMENT PROCESS. AND ONE OF THE QU- TWO, THERE'S THREE QUESTIONS THAT ARE ASKED ON THAT DOCUMENT, AND IT IS WHAT LANGUAGE IS SPOKEN AT HOME, WHAT LANGUAGE IS SPOKEN BY THE STUDENT, AND WHAT LANGUAGE OR WAS, DID THE STUDENT COME FROM ANOTHER, UM, ENVIRONMENT WHERE ANOTHER LANGUAGE WAS SPOKEN? AND ANYTIME THAT ANY OTHER LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH IS PUT ON ANY OF THOSE 3 QUESTIONS, THAT WILL PROMPT TESTING. SO WE DO A LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT, AND IF THE STUDENT IS ENGLISH PROFICIENT, THEN THE STUDENT DOES NOT QUALIFY AS AN EMERGENT BILINGUAL RIGHT.

STUDENT. BUT IF THE STUDENT IS NOT ENGLISH PROFICIENT, THEN THAT IS WHERE WE QUALIFY THE STUDENT OR IDENTIFY THE STUDENT AS EB, EMERGENT BILINGUAL.

OKAY, THANK YOU.

YEAH.

SURE.

YEAH, YEAH. NOW WE'RE MOVING INTO OUR ACTION ITEMS,

[9. Action Items]

MR. MO- OLSON MADE THE MOTION.

IS THERE ANY DISCUSSIONS OR QUESTIONS? ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.

AYE.

MOTION CARRIES. UM, SO WE ARE MOVING ITEM E UP FRONT.

UH, THANK YOU, PRESIDENT WATKINS, BOARD OF TRUSTEES, FOR YOUR FLEXIBILITY IN, UH, ADJUSTING THE AGENDA FOR US.

SO IF YOU RECALL, THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES PREVIOUSLY SELECTED MOAK CASEY LLC TO CONDUCT AN INDEPENDENT EFFICIENCY AUDIT PURSUANT TO TEXAS EDUCATION CODE 11.184 AT THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED BOARD MEETING ON MAY 18TH, 2026. UH, THE AUDIT WAS COMPLETED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCOPE AND AREAS OF REVIEW ESTABLISHED BY THE TEXAS LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD AND EXAMINES THE DISTRICT'S FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY, AND USE OF RESOURCES. PURSUANT TO STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS, MOAT CASEY WILL PRESENT THE FINDINGS OF THE EFFICIENCY AUDIT TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES TONIGHT FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION, AND WE HAVE, UH, MISS LORI BOSWELL, VICE PRESIDENT OF SCHOOL FINANCE, MOAT CASEY.

MOKE CASEY.

THANK YOU, SIR. A LONG WAY TO GO THERE. I'M VERY SHORT, SO HOPEFULLY, CAN Y'ALL HEAR ME OKAY? UH, WELL, FIRST OFF, THANK YOU, UM, SUPERINTENDENT LAMB AND PRES- UH, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, UH, ALLOWING MOKE CASEY TO, UH, CONDUCT YOUR EFFICIENCY AUDIT REPORT. UM, I JUST RECENTLY RETIRED LAST YEAR AFTER 26 YEARS IN SCHOOL BUSINESS, SO I'VE BEEN IN A LOT OF BOARD MEETINGS OVER THE YEARS, AND WITH THIS, IN THIS CAPACITY, I GET TO TRAVEL AROUND AND GO TO MANY BOARD MEETINGS, AND SO Y'ALL, Y'ALL HAVE A LOT TO BE PROUD OF IN THIS DISTRICT. UH, I'VE REALLY ENJOYED ALL THE DIFFERENT REPORTS, AND AS A CFO, IT REALLY WARMS MY HEART TO SEE ALL THE, UH, THE THINGS THAT Y'ALL ARE DOING, AND YOU'RE GETTING SPONSORS FOR IT, SO THAT, THAT REALLY MAKES THE CFO HAPPY. SO WHOEVER'S ARRANGING FOR THAT, THEY'RE DOING A REALLY GREAT JOB. UM, SO TO BEGIN WITH, JUST IN THE GENERAL EFFICIENCY AUDIT OVERVIEW, THIS IS NOT LIKE YOUR TRADITIONAL FINANCIAL AUDIT THAT IS REQUIRED BY LAW TO HAVE EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

THIS IS AN EFFICIENCY AUDIT, UH, THAT IS REQUIRED BY THE STATE IF A DISTRICT WAS, UH, THINKING ABOUT, UH, GOING OUT FOR A VOTER APPROVAL TAX REELECTION IN THE FUTURE. AND SO THE OBJECTIVE IS IT, OF THIS AUDIT IS TO LOOK AT ALL OF YOUR DATA TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE OPERATING AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE. AND SO IT HAS VERY SPECIFIC FORMAT AND SCOPE THAT'S DETERMINED BY THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD. UM, AND LIKE, LIKE I SAID, THE ANNUAL FINANCIAL AUDIT IS GOVERNED BY GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES, AND IT'S IN LOOKING AT, AND YOU'RE PROBABLY ACTUALLY ARE JUST FINISHED GOING THROUGH ONE, UH, PROBABLY HAVEN'T, UH, HAD THE FINDINGS, HAD THE PRESENTATION YET, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, ENGAGING AND LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE, ARE YOU COMPLIANT IN THIS AREA? WHAT IS YOUR FINANCES LOOK LIKE? UM, SO THE FIRST HALF OF THIS REPORT IS BASICALLY GOING TO FOCUS ON YOUR PEERS. YOU'RE COMPARING LITTLE ELM ISD TO YOUR PEERS AND STATE AVERAGES ACROSS A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ACADEMIC, DEMOGRAPHIC, AND FINANCIAL MEASURES. AND SO THAT'S VERY, UH, VERY PRESCRIPTIVE, ITEMS 1 THROUGH 11. AND THEN THE SECOND HALF OF THIS IS A QUALITATIVE REVIEW, AND IT'S WHERE WE LOOK AT,

[02:10:01]

2027. SO THE MAJORITY OF THIS DATA IS BASED ON 24-25, BUT WE HAVE ALSO ADDED 25-26 AS IT RELATES TO THE FALL DATA. SO THINGS LIKE YOUR STUDENT DATA AND THINGS LIKE THAT ARE ALSO IN THERE. UH, THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD, THIS CAME ABOUT IN 2020, AND SO THEY RELEASED VERY SPECIFIC GUIDELINES. SO ANYBODY WHO WOULD HAVE DONE YOUR EFFICIENCY AUDIT, AND THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SELECTING MOTE CASEY TO DO THAT. ANYBODY WHO WOULD HAVE DONE THAT WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED THE VERY SAME GUIDELINES. SO, AND THE PURPOSE OF IT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO THE VOTERS SO THAT THEY CAN LOOK AT THE FISCAL MANAGEMENT, EFFICIENCY, AND UTILIZATION OF A DISTRICT'S RESOURCES.

UM, IF THE DISTRICT SHOULD DECIDE TO GO OUT FOR A VADER IN THE FUTURE, IN THE, UH, NEAR FUTURE, THEN THIS HAS BEEN DONE IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL THAT.

SO THIS MEETS ALL THOSE REQUIREMENTS THAT YOU WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE HAD YOU, UH, GONE OUT FOR A VADER IN THE 20, IN IN THIS YEAR. THE FIRST, UH, THE FIRST PART, THE QUANTITATIVE, WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT THE STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS.

WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT DISTRICT REVENUE. WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT DISTRICT EXPENDITURES, PAYROLL EXPENDITURES, FUND BALANCE, STAFFING LEVELS, TEACHER TURNOVER RATES, AND YOUR SPECIAL PROGRAMS. SO ALL OF THAT IS WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE COMPARING YOUR DISTRICT AGAINST YOUR PEER DISTRICT.

THE QUALITATIVE, UH, INFORMATION IS GOING TO BE, WE'RE, WE'RE GOING TO PROVIDE YOUR ACCOUNTABILITY RATING, YOUR FIRST RATING, LOOK AT YOUR, UH, RESOURCES, UH, YOUR EXTERNAL AUDIT REPORT, BUDGET PROCESS, YOUR SELF-FUNDED PROGRAMS, UH, HOW DO YOU DO YOUR ADMINISTRATOR EVALUATIONS, HOW DO YOU DO YOUR COMPENSATION SYSTEM, YOUR PLANNING, AND YOUR ACADEMIC PROGRAMS? AND I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY, UH, TIME- TIMELY THAT I'M HERE TONIGHT WHEN WE JUST HAD A REPORT FROM MAJORITY OF ALL YOUR PROGRAMS, SO I CAN ACTUALLY SEE ALL THAT IN ACTION. THE TIMELINE OF AN EFFICIENCY AUDIT, AGAIN, GENERALLY IT'S GOVERNED BY THE FACT IF A DISTRICT WAS GOING TO GO OUT FOR A VADER. AND SO IN THIS FISCAL YEAR, UH, MAY 18TH, UH, LITTLE ELM, Y'ALL, UH, SELECTED MOAT CASEY TO CONDUCT, UH, YOUR EFFICIENCY AUDIT. UM, IT WAS COMPLETED BY AUGUST 25TH.

HAD YOU- LITTLE ELM ELECTED TO GO OUT FOR A VADER, THEN, UH, YOU WOULD HAVE HAD TO ADOPTED YOUR TAX RATE AND CALLED AN ELECTION BY AUGUST 16TH, AND THEN YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN GOING OUT TO THE VOTERS, UH, NOVEMBER THE 2ND. BUT AT THIS POINT, LITTLE ELM HAS NOT, UH, CALLED A VADER ELECTION, SO I WANT TO MAKE THAT VERY, VERY CLEAR, UH, THAT THIS IS AN EFFICIENCY AUDIT DONE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THAT, BUT NOT DONE BECAUSE YOU WERE GOING OUT FOR A VADER. UM, I'M GOING TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, YOUR TAX RATES, WHICH I KNOW THAT IN THIS MEETING Y'ALL WILL BE, UH, CONSIDERING AND ADOPTING YOUR 26 TAX RATE. SO, UH, CURRENTLY YOU'RE AT A, THERE ARE TWO RATES, AND I'M NOT GONNA GO INTO THAT BECAUSE I KNOW YOUR, YOUR CFO WILL DO THAT, BUT THERE ARE TWO RATES FOR YOUR M&O. THERE'S THE MCR, WHICH IS BY THE STATE. THE STATE ACTUALLY, UH, GIVES YOU THAT RATE, UM, DEPENDENT ON WHAT YOUR CERTIFIED VALUES ARE. SO SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE NO FLEXIBILITY ON WHETHER OR NOT WHATEVER THEIR TIER 1 RATE, THE STATE ACTUALLY ASSIGNS THAT BASED ON YOUR GROWTH FROM CERTIFIED VALUES. WHAT YOU DO HAVE CONTROL OVER IS YOUR TIER 2 RATE, AND SO THAT'S CALLED TIER 2 OR ENRICHMENT PENNIES. AND SO MO- MORE THAN LIKELY YOU'VE HEARD OF GOLDEN PENNIES AND COPPER PENNIES, RIGHT? SO THE FIRST 8 PENNIES OF THE TIER 2 RATE ARE YOUR GOLDEN PENNIES, AND THEY EARN THE MOST, UH, YOU GET THE SAME AMOUNT OF LOCAL FUNDING, BUT YOU GET ADDITIONAL, UH, MONEY FROM THE STATE. IT'S CALLED LOCAL TAX EFFORT, SO YOU'RE KIND OF REWARDED, IF YOU WILL, FOR HAVING THOSE GOLDEN PENNIES. THEY'RE WORTH MORE, AND THAT'S WHY WE CALL THEM GOLDEN. AND THE NEXT 9 ARE ALL COPPER PENNIES. UM, SO YOU STILL GET, YOU KNOW, UH, YOU'RE STILL GONNA GET YOUR LOCAL TAX COLLECTIONS, BUT YOU DON'T GET AS MUCH AS STATE EFFORT. SO

[02:15:01]

AND SO, UM, I KIND OF JUST EXPLAINED, YOU KNOW, THE COMPRESSION. YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THAT EVERY YEAR, UH, THE STATE WON'T ALLOW YOUR TO GROW MORE THAN A CERTAIN RATE, AND IF YOU DO, THEY'LL COMPRESS YOUR, THAT TIER 1 RATE DOWN. SO YOU CURRENTLY HAVE THE 0.1383 PENNIES, WHICH MORE THAN LIKELY, UH, AT SOME POINT YOU ADDED ALL THE PENNIES, AND YOU HAD ALL 17 OF THEM UNTIL HB3 CAME INTO PLAY, AND THEY COMPRESSED DISTRICTS DOWN TO THAT 0.1383. AND SO YOU STILL HAVE 0.0317 TIER 2 PENNIES REMAINING, AND IF YOU, IN THE FUTURE, ADOPTED ALL OF THOSE PENNIES, IT WOULD YIELD APPROXIMATELY 1.3 MILLION DOLLARS, UH, FOR IN ADDITIONAL FUNDING, YEAR AFTER YEAR, FOR LITTLE ELM ISD.

AND I- IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS AT ANY TIME, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO, TO STOP ME. UM, AT THIS POINT, I KIND OF WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE PEER DISTRICTS THAT WERE SELECTED BASED ON HOW THEY COMPARE TO LITTLE ELM ISD. AND SO WE COMPARED BASED ON CURRENT AS WELL AS HISTORIC ENROLLMENT.

WE COMPARED ON AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE AS WELL AS THE WADA, THE WEIGHTED AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE. AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE YOUR REGULAR DAILY, AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE, BUT THE WADA, OR WEIGHTED AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE, IS WHAT COMPARES LIKE ALL YOUR SPECIAL PROGRAMS, YOUR SPECIAL ED, YOUR BILINGUAL, YOUR CTE PROGRAMS, AND ALL THAT. SO YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT RATIO IN ORDER TO GET A TRUE COMPARISON, BECAUSE JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE 08,000 AND THIS DISTRICT HAS 08,000 DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE A GOOD COMPARISON BECAUSE YOU HAVE MORE IN SPECIAL PROGRAMS THAN A DIFFERENT DISTRICT DOES.

SO WE ALSO LOOK AT THE TIER 2 M&O TAX RATE, WHICH I JUST TALKED ABOUT, AND OF COURSE THE GEOGRAPHIC PROXIMITY AND TYPE. SO MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE NOT COMPARING LITTLE ELM ISD TO A RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OUT IN WEST TEXAS, OKAY? WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE COMPARING LITTLE ELM TO LIKE DISTRICTS IN THE SAME TYPE OF AREAS, OKAY? A SUBURBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT. SO THESE ARE THE ONES WE WORKED WITH YOUR STAFF, AND BY THE WAY, YOUR STAFF WAS REMARKABLE IN HELPING US TO, UM, GET ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE NEEDED TO COMPLETE THIS REPORT. AND SO THE PEER DISTRICTS THAT WERE CHOSEN FOR LITTLE ELM ISD WERE CARP- COPPERAS COVE, GRANBURY ISD, JOSHUA ISD, LAPORTE ISD, MIDWAY ISD, RED OAK ISD, SHERMAN ISD, TEXARKANA ISD, WEATHERFORD ISD, AND WHITE SETTLEMENT ISD. AND ON A SIDE NOTE, I JUST RETIRED FROM WEATHERFORD ISD AFTER 8 YEARS, SO I'M VERY ACUTELY FAMILIAR WITH ALL THINGS WEATHERFORD ISD. SO YOU CAN SEE HOW ALL OF THOSE DISTRICTS THAT ARE IN YOUR PEER GROUP LINE UP VERY WELL IN COMPARISON TO YOUR ENROLLMENT AT THE 7693. UM, WE ALSO LOOK AT THE 5-YEAR GROWTH, OKAY, SO WE TRY TO KEEP THEM CLOSE, CLOSE TO THAT. UM, AND MORE, MOST SIGNIFICANTLY, THE WADA TO ADA RATIO. THOSE ARE THE WHAT WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE COMPARES- COMPARING LIKE DISTRICTS, UM, IN THOSE AREAS. SO YOU CAN SEE THE WATA TO ADA, THE TIER 2 PENNIES. THERE'S ONLY, UH, 2 DISTRICTS THAT HAVE ALREADY GONE OUT FOR ALL OF THEIR TIER 2 PENNIES, AND THAT'S GRANBURY ISD AND LAPORTE ISD. SO THEY'VE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH THIS PROCESS AND HAVE ALREADY GONE OUT FOR ELECTION. AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT SERVICE CENTER THAT THOSE ARE IN. SO THERE'S 1, 02, 3, 4, 5 OF THOSE ARE IN THE SAME SERVICE CENTER DIS- UH, THAT THAT YOU ARE, ALL REGION 11. AND THEN THE MAJORITY OF THEM ARE EITHER IN A SUBURB OR A CITY, AND ONLY FEW OF THEM ARE IN A TOWN. OKAY, WE'RE GOING TO TRANSITION TO THE ACCOUNTABILITY RATING.

AS YOU KNOW, YOU JUST GOT FINISHED, UH, HAVING A, A REPORT ABOUT YOUR CURRENT ACCOUNTABILITY RATING. AND SO FOR 24-25, NOW KEEP IN MIND, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 24-25, NOT 25-26 THAT, UM, MR. LAMB JUST WENT OVER. SO IN 24-25, LITTLE EL- LITTLE ELM HAD A C RATING WITH A SCORE OF 79, NEARLY IDENTICAL TO THE PEER AVERAGE OF 79.2.

SO ALL THE PEERS THAT WE'VE LOOKED AT HAVE A VERY SIMILAR, UH, WHEN YOU TAKE THE AVERAGE OF ALL THOSE, UM, AS SO A

[02:20:01]

I'M GONNA SWITCH OVER TO THE FIRST RATING. UM, THE FIRST RATING STANDS FOR THE FINANCIAL INTEGRITY RATING SYSTEM OF TEXAS. IT IS THE FINANCIAL RATING THAT THE LEGISLATORS CAME UP TO EVALUATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS ON HOW WELL THEY'RE MANAGING THEIR, UM, DISTRICT FINANCES.

SO THIS IS, UH, LITTLE ELM EARNED AN A ON THEIR SCHOOL FIRST FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY RATING FOR 24-25, OKAY? AND AGAIN, THAT'S LAST YEAR, BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT THOSE RATINGS HAVE JUST BEEN RELEASED FOR THE CURRENT YEAR AS WELL, AND THOSE WERE BASED ON 24-25 ACTUAL FINANCIAL DATA, UM, AND AND UM THEY EARNED, LITTLE ELM EARNED AN A AS WELL, AND I'M SURE THAT HE'S GOING TO GIVE THAT PRESENTATION PROBABLY, I WOULD SAY, NOVEMBER, OCTOBER. OKAY. UH, BUT SO AN A, THERE'S ONLY 2 DISTRICTS THAT THE, ONLY 2 INDICATORS THAT THE DISTRICT DID NOT SCORE, UH, ALL THE POINTS THAT WERE AVAILABLE, AND THAT'S INDICATOR 11 AND INDICATOR 12. AND, UH, AND AGAIN, THIS IS BASED ON 24-25. THE LONG-TERM LIABILITIES TO TOTAL ASSETS, UH, RATIO, THAT, THAT FIRST INDICATOR IS ABOUT LONG-TERM SOLVENCY, AND THE SECOND ONE IS THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE FUTURE DEBT REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESSED PROPERTY VALUE. SO BOTH OF THOSE HAVE TO DO WITH YOUR OUTSTANDING DEBT, AND, YOU KNOW, I JUST WANT TO GO ON RECORD AS SOMEONE WHO DID HAD TO DO A FIRST REPORT FOR 26 YEARS, UM, THAT THAT'S NOT NECESS- I MEAN, THAT'S THAT'S NOT AN INDICATOR OF ANYTHING WRONG WHEN YOU YOU DON'T GET ALL THE POINTS. IT'S ABOUT DEBT, AND SOMETIMES THAT'S A VERY STRATEGIC DECISION OF THE BOARD TO TAKE ON DEBT, AND YOU, YOU JUST CAN'T, WHEN YOU HAVE SO MUCH, A VERY SPECIFIC AMOUNT OF DEBT, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO CLAIM ALL THE POINTS FOR THAT. SO, BUT STILL A VERY, VERY HIGH SCORE. LET'S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS. UH, LITTLE ELM LIES, LITTLE ELM ISD REPORTED FEWER ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS RELATIVE TO YOUR PEERS. UH, BUT HAD A HIGHER SHARE OF STUDENTS RECEIVING BILINGUAL ESL SERVICES. AND THAT'S ALSO VERY TIMELY BECAUSE WE JUST HEARD THAT REPORT FROM, UH, YOUR BILINGUAL ES- ON YOUR BILINGUAL ESL SERVICES.

SO THE, THE 5 AREAS THAT WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT IS YOUR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED, OKAY? AND WHERE THAT COMES FROM IS YOUR STUDENTS THAT ARE FILLING OUT OR COMPLETING YOUR FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH APPLICATIONS, OKAY? AND SO WE CONSIDER THE, THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS THAT COMPLETE THAT, UH, THERE'S A THRESHOLD WHETHER THEY QUALIFY FOR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED.

AND LAST YEAR, 20, UH, ACTUALLY, I THINK THIS WAS 25, 26 DATA BECAUSE THAT'S IN THE FALL. 45% OF LITTLE ELM WAS ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED COMPARED TO YOUR PEERS AVERAGE OF 55.8 AND THE STATE AVERAGE OF 59.9. SO THAT'S QUITE A BIT LOWER THAN, UM, YOUR PEERS AND THE STATE AVERAGE. UH, AND THEN YOU LOOK AT YOUR ENGLISH LEARNERS, AND IT'S LIKE, IT'S VERY INTERESTING BECAUSE YOU JUST HAD THE REPORT ON IT.

YOUR ENGLISH LEARNERS WERE 22.7%, SO QUITE A BIT HIGHER THAN YOUR PEER AVERAGE, BUT RIGHT ON PAR WITH WHERE THE STATE AVERAGE IS. THE SPECIAL EDUCATION, YOU HAVE 16.8% OF YOUR STUDENTS ARE, UH, RECEIVING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES AS COMPARED TO YOUR PEERS OF 19.2, BUT AGAIN, RIGHT ON PAR WITH WHERE THE STATE AVERAGE IS FOR STUDENTS RECEIVING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES. MOVING TO THE STUDENTS THAT ARE RECEIVING EITHER, UH, BILINGUAL OR ESL SERVICES, UH, 26.9 OF YOUR POPULATION ARE RECEIVING THOSE SERVICES AS COMPARED TO THE PEER AVERAGE OF 13.4, BUT AGAIN, VERY IN LINE WITH WHAT THE STATE IS DOING.

UH, AND THEN FINALLY, YOUR CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY, CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION STUDENTS, SO STUDENTS THAT ARE ENROLLED IN ONE OF THE CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY, UH, PATHWAYS, YOUR DISTRICT HAS 25.6%, WHICH IS A LITTLE LOWER THAN YOUR S-

[02:25:01]

SWITCHING TO YOUR ATTENDANCE RATE, YOU HAD AN ATTENDANCE RATE OF 90.47, WHICH EXCEEDS BOTH THE PEER AVERAGE OF 94.1 AND THE STATE AVERAGE OF 93.9. AND FROM SOMEONE WHO WAS IN SCHOOL BUSINESS AND UNDERSTANDS HOW IMPORTANT ATTENDANCE IS TO THE, THE DOLLARS, UM, I GOTTA, YOU KNOW, I GOTTA GIVE KUDOS TO THAT, UM, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD ATTENDANCE RATE, ESPECIALLY, YOU KNOW, POST-COVID. UH, AND I KNOW EVERY DISTRICT IN THE STATE ARE STILL STRUGGLING TRYING TO GET THOSE KIDS BACK UP TO THAT, UH, PRIOR ATTENDANCE THAT WE ALL ENJOYED PRE-COVID.

FOR YOUR 5-YEAR, UH, TREND, UH, ENROLLMENT DECLINED, UH, FROM 80, YOU WERE IN 21-22, YOU HAD 08,287 STUDENTS, UH, NOW DOWN TO 7,693 STUDENTS, UH, AND SO YOU CAN, YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THAT, AND I'M SURE THIS IS NO SURPRISE TO YOU GUYS. YOU PROBABLY LOOK AT THIS EVERY SINGLE YEAR WHEN YOU'RE WORKING ON YOUR BUDGET, YOU, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, UM, WE'RE, MOST ALL DISTRICTS AROUND US ARE, UH, DECLINING.

UM, AS A MATTER OF FACT, THIS IS THE FIRST, UH, LAST YEAR WAS THE FIRST YEAR IN THE HISTORY OF TEXAS THAT THE STUDENT POPULATION DECLINED INSTEAD OF INCREASED FOR, UH, ENROLLMENT IN, IN PUBLIC.

WE'RE GONNA KIND OF TURN OUR ATTENTION NOW TO REVENUES, UH, OR, OR FINANCES IN GENERAL. SO FOR REVENUES, THE TOTAL REVENUE PER STUDENT, UH, FOR LITTLE ELM ISD IS 11,021, UM, WHICH IS ABOUT 1300 DOLLARS LESS THAN YOUR, UH, PEER DISTRICT AVERAGE OF 12,357 PER STUDENT. AND SO YOU CAN SEE THERE THE BREAKDOWN OF HOW MUCH MONEY, UH, YOU GET FROM THE STATE VERSUS HOW MUCH YOU GET IN YOUR COLLECTIONS VERSUS HOW MUCH YOU GET FROM YOUR FEDERAL SOURCES AND THEN YOUR OTHER, UH, LOCAL SOURCES.

OKAY, SO YOU CAN SEE THAT, UH, I MEAN, I CAN SEE BY LOOKING AT THIS THAT THIS, THIS DISTRICT GETS THE MAJORITY OF THEIR REVENUE FROM YOUR LOCAL TAX COLLECTIONS AT 64.5, AS COMPARED TO YOUR PEER DISTRICTS WHO RECEIVE 45.3, SO THEY GET, THEY GET MORE STATE MONEY. SO YOU'RE A DISTRICT WHO GETS THE MAJORITY OF YOUR, UH, LOCAL MONEY, I'M SORRY, YEAH, THE MAJORITY OF YOUR REVENUE FROM YOUR LOCAL TAX COLLECTIONS AND ONLY 21% FROM THE STATE.

UM, SO BY COMPARISON, UH, THE STATE, UM, HAS 41.2 FROM LOCAL, SO THE AVERAGE, AND 45.3. WE'RE GOING TO SWITCH TO EXPENDITURES. SO WE LOOKED AT REVENUES. SO YOUR PER STUDENT OPERATING EXPENDITURES IS 12,059 DOLLARS, UH, PER STUDENT, AND THAT'S ABOUT 620 BELOW THE PEER, UH, DISTRICT AVERAGE OF 12,679. SO YOU CAN ALSO SEE WHERE YOUR AREAS ARE IN ACCORDING TO YOUR DISTRICT COMPARED TO THE PEER AVERAGE AND TO THE STATE AVERAGE. SO YOU CAN SEE THAT INSTRUCTION, WHICH IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE THE HIGHEST EXPENDITURE IN ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT'S, UM, BUDGET, WAS 6,484 DOLLARS PER STUDENT, SO RIGHT AT 53.8%.

UM, SO A LITTLE LESS THAN YOUR PEER AVERAGES, UH, NOT, NOT SIGNIFICANT, JUST A LITTLE LESS. UH, YOUR PEER AVERAGES AVERAGE 54.7, AND THE STATE AVERAGES 55 POINT, UH, 55% PERIOD. UM, PAYROLL EXPENDITURES, WE ALWAYS ANALYZE PAYROLL EXPENDITURES. UH, I, I DO WANT TO POINT THIS OUT BECAUSE THIS IS, THIS IS VERY, UM, LOW BY COMPARISON.

MO- MOST DISTRICTS HAVE 80 TO SOME OF THEM EVEN HAVE 85% OF THEIR BUDGET IS PAYROLL. SO PAYROLL COSTS FOR LITTLE ELM ISD REPRESENTS 75% OF ALL OPERATING FUNDS COMPARED TO ABOUT 80 TO, UH, 80.6 AMONGST THE PEERS AND 79 POINT STATE. SO THAT'S PRETTY AVERAGE, THE THE 79 AND THE 80%. UM, SO THE FACT THAT YOU'RE PER- THAT YOU HAVE 75% IN PAYROLL, UM, IS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN, UM, MOST OF YOUR DISTRICTS AROUND YOU AND ACROSS THE STATE. UM, YOUR AVERAGE TEACHER SALARY IS A LITTLE BIT HIGHER THAN YOUR PEERS, UH, BUT RIGHT IN LINE WITH THE STATE. YOUR AVERAGE ADMINISTRATOR SALARY IS ALSO A LITTLE BIT HIGHER THAN YOUR PEER AVERAGE, UH, AND A LITTLE BIT HIGHER THAN THE STATE AVERAGE, AND, UM, THE SAME S- FOR YOUR SUPERINTENDENT.

SORRY, THIS IS JUST A PART OF IT. SUPERINTENDENT SALARY IS

[02:30:07]

ALL RIGHT, LET'S LOOK AT FUND BALANCE. FUND BALANCE, UH, YOU HAVE A FUND BALANCE OF 3,354 DOLLARS PER STUDENT.

THE NORMAL OPERATING FUND BALANCE THAT WE CONSIDER OPTIMUM IS 3 MONTHS WORTH OF UNASSIGNED, UM, FUND- UNASSIGNED FUND BALANCE FOR OPERATING EXPENDITURES. SO YOU JUST TAKE YOUR OPERATING EXPENDITURES, UM, DIVIDE THEM BY 12, MULTIPLY TIMES 3, AND YOU IN EVERY SINGLE YEAR HAVE BEEN AHEAD. SO THE, WHAT THAT NUMBER REPRESENTS IS 100% WOULD BE THE 3 MONTHS, SO YOU'RE, YOU'RE ALWAYS HAVE BEEN OVER THAT, UM, OPTIMUM FUND BALANCE. STAFFING LEVELS, YOUR STUDENT TO STAFF RATIO OF 6.9 IS SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN THE PEER AVERAGE OF 6.7, UM, WHICH I THINK IS INTERESTING BECAUSE I JUST WATCHED THE REPORT ON, I- I THOUGHT YOU HAD VERY, VERY LOW, UH, CLASSROOM, UH, BUT THAT'S YOUR TOTAL, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, YOUR TOTAL STUDENTS, UH, TO TOTAL, I MEAN, YOUR STUDENTS TO TOTAL STAFF.

UH, YOUR TEACHING PERCENT OF TOTAL STAFF, YOU HAVE 49% OF YOUR TOTAL STAFF IS TEACHERS, 12% OF THEM ARE YOUR SUPPORT STAFF, 3.2% IS YOUR ADMINISTRATION, 8.5 IS, 8.5 IS IN PARAPROFESSIONALS, 26.5 IS YOUR AUXILIARY, SO THAT'S LIKE YOUR CUSTODIANS AND YOUR MAINTENANCE AND YOUR TRANSPORTATION AND THINGS LIKE THAT. AND THEN YOUR STUDENTS PER TEACHING IS 14.1, AND WE'LL JUST GO ACROSS.

14.1 IS A LITTLE BIT LOWER THAN YOUR PEERS OF 14.3, BUT HIGHER THAN THE STATE AVERAGE, SO RIGHT IN LINE. YOUR TEACHER TURNOVER HAS 92, 19.2% IS BELOW THE PEER AVERAGE OF 20.3, BUT HIGHER THAN THE STATE AVERAGE OF 18.8. OKAY, WE'RE GOING TO TALK JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR SPECIAL PROGRAMS, AND SO, UM, IN SPECIAL EDUCATION, YOU HAD 12.5% OF YOUR STUDENTS, UM, ARE, UH, RECEIVING SPECIAL ED SERVICES COMPARED TO 13.4 OF YOUR, UM, I'M SORRY. I THOUGHT THIS WAS, WAS A AVERAGE, BUT IT'S NOT.

IT'S NOT A COMPARISON, IT'S JUST A BREAKDOWN OF ALL YOUR KIDS. SO, SPECIAL EDUCATION, 12.5%. BILINGUAL ESL IS 21.3%. UH, EVIDENTLY N- NO OR NOT ENOUGH TO COUNT, UH, FOR THE MIGRANT EDUCATION. GT IS 8%. CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY IS 31.9. ATHLETICS IS 28.3, ALTERNATIVE ED PROGRAMS IS 0.2, AND JUST 3 STUDENTS ARE IN YOUR JJAEP PROGRAM. BLESS YOU. YOUR EXTERNAL AUDIT, UH, YOU, THIS WAS LAST YEAR AS OF JUNE 30TH, UH, 2025, YOU RECEIVED AN UNMODIFIED AUDIT OPINION, AND UM, THAT IS THE HIGHEST ASSURANCE THAT ANY AUDITOR CAN GIVE A SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND THAT THEY'VE, UH, REVIEWED ALL OF YOUR FINANCES, AND THEY'RE BASICALLY SAYING THAT WITH, UH, AN UNMODIFIED OPINION THAT YOU'VE MET ALL THE CRITERIA, AND THEY'VE LOOKED AT THE BOOKS, THE COMPLIANCE, NO FINDINGS, UM, AND SO THAT'S VERY GOOD.

YOUR, YOUR AUDITORS ARE HANKINS ESAP DEATONTON, I CANNOT PRONOUNCE THAT ONE, SCARBOROUGH LLC CONDUCTED IT IN ACCORDANCE WITH GAAP, AND I'M POSITIVE THAT Y'ALL PROBABLY HAVE ALREADY HAD THAT F- THAT REPORT SINCE IT'S LAST YEAR, UM, BUT IT WOULD BE AVAILABLE HERE FOR ANYBODY IF YOU POSTED THIS ON YOUR WEBSITE, THEY COULD EASILY, UM, ACCESS IT. YOU DO HAVE ONE SELF-FUNDED PROGRAMS TO BE COMPLIANT WITH THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD. WE HAVE TO, UH, LOOK AT YOUR SELF-FUNDED OR ALL DISTRICT SELF-FUNDED PROGRAMS. I KNOW THAT THERE WAS A REPORT ON THIS TONIGHT AS WELL. SO YOUR CHILDCARE PROGRAM IS YOUR ONE AND ONLY, UM, PROGRAM.

IT'S FUNDED ENTIRELY THROUGH YOUR EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION FEES. UH, PROGRAM PRICING IS REVIEWED ANNUALLY TO ENSURE FEES FULLY COVER THE OPERATING COST, AND NO GENERAL FUND RESOURCES ARE DRAWN UPON TO SUPPORT THE SELF-SO- SELF-FUNDED PROGRAM EXPENDITURES. AND LIKE I SAID, Y'ALL HAD THAT, UM, REPORT EARLIER, SO THAT'S A, UM, A REALLY GREAT PROGRAM

[02:35:02]

IN REGARD TO ADMINISTRATIVE EVALUATIONS, YOU CONDUCT, UM, YOUR ADMINISTRATION CONDUCTS ANNUAL ADMINISTRATOR EVALUATIONS THAT DIRECTLY INFORM THEIR STAFFING, PLANNING, AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THOSE RESULT RESULTS DRIVE GOAL SETTING FOR SUBSEQUENT YEARS, ALIGNING PERFORMANCE WITH DISTRICT PRIORITIES.

THESE ARE SET QUESTIONS THAT WE ASK, UM, BECAUSE THESE ARE THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT YOUR PUBLIC WOULD BE INTERESTED IN IF THEY WERE EVALUATING THE EFFICIENCY OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT. DOES THE DISTRICT USE SALARY BONUSES OR MERIT PAY SYSTEMS? NO, MOST ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS, UM, DON'T USE, IN FACT, BONUSES IS LIKE A BAD WORD. WE DON'T SAY BONUSES IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

UM, DO THE DISTRICT SALARY RANGES INCLUDE MINIMUM, MIDPOINT, MAXIMUM TO PROMOTE COMPENSATION EQUITY BASED ON THE EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND OTHER RELEVANT FACTORS? AND THEY DO. THAT IS YOUR COMPENSATION PLAN, AND IT'S, UM, LARGELY BROKEN DOWN BY EMPLOYEE CLASSES, AND WHEN SOMEBODY'S BEING HIRED, UH, IT IS BASED ON WHERE THEY'RE HIRED IN, ON WHERE THEY ARE FROM MINIMUM, MIDPOINT TO MAXIMUM. DOES THE DISTRICT PERIODICALLY ADJUST ITS COMPENSATION STRUCTURE USING SALARY SURVEY INFORMATION, BENCHMARKING, AND COMPARABLE SALARY DATA? UH, THE DISTRICT, UH, RESPONDED YES. AND HAS THE DISTRICT MADE ANY INTERNAL EQUITY OR MARKET ADJUSTMENTS TO SALARIES IN THE PAST 2 YEARS, AND THEY RESPONDED NO.

IN REGARD TO PLANNING, UH, WE HAVE TO ASK, DOES THE DISTRICT DEVELOP A DISTRICT EDU- A DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT PLAN ANNUALLY? AND YOU DO. DO ALL CAMPUSES DEVELOP A CAMPUS IMPROVEMENT PLAN? THEY DO.

DOES THE DISTRICT HAVE AN ACTIVE OR CURRENT FACILITIES MASTER PLAN? THE DISTRICT RESPONDED NO. UM, BUT THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT THEY RESPONDED YES TO THE FOLLOWING, THAT THEY USE ENROLLMENT PROJECTIONS, THEY DO ANALYZE FACILITY CAPACITY, AND THEY DO EVALUATE FACILITY CONDITIONS. SO IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY DON'T DO THOSE THINGS, IT JUST MEANS THAT THERE'S NOT A FORMAL FACILITIES MASTER PLAN AT THIS POINT. DOES THE DISTRICT HAVE AN ACTIVE OR CURRENT ENERGY MANAGEMENT PLAN? YES. DOES THE DISTRICT MAINTAIN A CLEARLY DEFINED STAFFING FORMULA FOR STAFF IN MAINTENANCE, CUSTODIAL, FOOD SERVICE, AND TRANSPORTATION? SO AGAIN, THOSE AUXILIARY EMPLOYEES THAT WE USUALLY REFER TO AS OPERATIONS. YES. UM, WE, WE DID A, UH, Y'ALL DO HAD A LOT OF REPORTS TONIGHT ON YOUR ACADEMIC PROGRAM. SO DOES YOUR DISTRICT HAVE A TEACHER MENTORING PROGRAM? YES. ARE THE DECISIONS TO ADOPT NEW PROGRAMS OR DISCONTINUE THEM MADE BASED ON QUANTIFIABLE DATA? YES.

WHEN ADOPTING A NEW PROGRAM, DOES THE DIFF- DISTRICT DEFINE EXPECTED RESULTS? YES. DOES THE DISTRICT ANALYZE STUDENT TEST RESULTS AT THE DISTRICT OR CAMPUS LEVEL TO DESIGN, IMPLEMENT, OR MONITOR THE USE OF CURRICULUM? I COULD EASILY SEE THAT TONIGHT, UM, IN YOUR REPORT, SO YES. DOES THE DISTRICT MODIFY PROGRAMS, PLAN STAFF DEVELOPMENT, OR EVALUATE STAFF BASED ON ANALYSIS OF STUDENT TEST RESULTS, AND THEY RESPONDED YES. SO OVERALL, UM, WE DON'T ISSUE LIKE A D- A FINDING, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT GOING TO SAY YOU'RE DOING A FANTASTIC JOB, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE, UM, POCKETS WHERE YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE DOING EXCEPTIONALLY WELL, AND YOU HAVE POCKETS WHERE YOU'RE, UH, MAYBE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER OR A LITTLE BIT LOWER, BUT ON, BUT PRETTY MUCH ON PAR WITH THE STATE AVERAGE. SO, UM, WITH THAT, I'LL ENTERTAIN ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.

WERE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? I HAVE, I HAVE ONE.

YES.

UM, THIS DATA WAS BASED ON 24-25, AND SO WHEN YOU SAID STAFFING WAS AT SEP- WE PAID 75% IN S- IN SALARY, WOULD BRINGING, DOES BRINGING TRANSPORTATION IN-HOUSE, BECAUSE LAST YEAR WAS THE FIRST YEAR WE DID THAT, DOES THAT BOOST OUR PERCENTAGE? IT PROBABLY WILL, YES. I THINK I ACTUALLY ASKED THAT QUESTION.

I SAID, I THINK I REACHED OUT AND I SAID, NOW YOUR STAFFING IS REALLY BELOW WHAT I'M USED TO SEEING, AND AND YOU WERE SAYING THAT.

DID YOU NEED ONE TO SAY? WELL, YES, WHEN WE WE BROUGHT THAT STAFF IN-HOUSE FOR, UH, AND THAT WOULD THAT WOULD ADJUST THAT RATIO UP MORE IN LINE WITH STATE, STATE AVERAGE. WILL BE 8%.

THOSE PROVES THE CONTRACTED SERVICE, NOT SOME OF THE FOLKS' SALARY.

YEAH. THAT'S TYPICALLY, YOU KNOW, WE SEE, WHEN WE SEE LIKE THAT, IT'S USUALLY A TRANSPORTATION IS OUTSOURCED, OR CUSTODIANS OUTSOURCED, OR CHILD, WELL, CHILD NUTRITION'S IN ITS OWN FUND, BUT IT'S USUALLY ONE OF THOSE THINGS.

OKAY. I HAD A QUESTION. UM, YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO YOUR WATA? YOU HAVE YOUR WATA? WATA? YEAH.

UH-HUH.

BACK THERE.

LET'S SEE. DID WE PUT WADA UP

[02:40:02]

WAS IT IN THE BEGINNING? OH.

SORRY, HOLD ON. WE NEED TO MAKE A MOTION REAL QUICK.

IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THIS REPORT, THE REPORT? SO MOVED.

OH, THERE. MR. MONTEMAYOR MADE A MOTION. IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND.

MR. ENGLISH MADE THE SECOND.

NOW WE'RE GOING TO ASK, PLAY LIKE WE DID, WE'RE GETTING QUESTIONS.

ALL RIGHT. UM... ARE WATER NUMBERS COMPARABLE TO OUR SUPPORTING DISTRICTS AT 1.364? AND I THINK YOU HAD ANOTHER SLIDE THAT MOVED FORWARD THAT BROKE IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT MORE FOR THE PENNIES.

I'M SORRY, SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME.

IS, IS THERE, UM, TWO PENNY, NO, YOU CAN MOVE FORWARD JUST A LITTLE BIT. YEAH, I THINK THERE WAS ANOTHER NUMBER THAT I WAS LOOKING AT. DISTRICT COUNT, KEEP GOING. OH, RIGHT THERE.

HERE? YES.

OKAY.

SO IT'S INTERESTING, OUR, OUR LOCAL, THE MONEY WE RECEIVE LOCALLY IS HIGHER YES.

THAN OUR AVERAGES THAT ARE COMPARABLE BY A COUPLE THOUSAND DOLLARS ALMOST.

YES.

UM, WHAT, WHAT IS THE, WHAT'S JESSE, WHAT'S THE CAUSE OF VARIATION OF WHY WE RECEIVE MORE LOCAL COMPARED TO OTHER DISTRICTS? IS THAT, IS WHAT- WE'RE MO- WE'RE A MORE PROPERTY VALUE DISTRICT, A HIGHER PROPERTY VALUE.

THIS BUSINESSES, MORE, MORE, MORE OF THE DISTRICTS ARE MORE BUSINESSES. THE MORE BUSINESSES, YOU'RE GOING TO GET MORE OF THE STATE FUNDING BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GETTING THAT HOUSING PROPERTY TAX, YOU'RE GETTING A LOWER PROPERTY TAX VALUE ON THE ASSESSMENT OF GENERALLY THAT LAND FROM A PERCENTAGE PERSPECTIVE.

YEAH, LET ME LIKE EX- KIND OF EXPLAIN JUST IN GENERAL. SO YOU ARE ONLY, LET'S SAY THAT, LET'S SAY THAT, THAT THIS BE BASED ON YOUR STUDENTS AND ALL OF THE WEIGHTED FUNDING THAT YOU GET BASED ON THE KIDS THAT ARE IN THOSE PROGRAMS, RIGHT? THAT IS ONE POT. LET'S JUST SAY IT'S, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOURS IS, BUT LET'S SAY IT'S 80 MILLION DOLLARS. NO, THAT'S A LOT. LET'S SAY 60 MILLION DOLLARS. OKAY? SO THEY'RE GOING TO FILL THAT BUCKET UP WITH YOUR LOCAL COLLECTIONS FIRST.

OKAY.

RIGHT? SO YOU HAVE MORE PROPERTY VALUE THAN YOUR NEIGHBORING DISTRICTS.

OKAY.

OKAY? SO THEIR, LITTLE ELM IS GETTING THE MAJORITY OF THEIR MONEY FROM THEIR LOCAL TAX COLLECTIONS, MM.

AND THEN THE STATE IS COMING IN AND OFFSETTING AND OFFSETTING.

THE REST OF THAT.

BUT THESE DISTRICTS OVER HERE DON'T HAVE AS MUCH PROPERTY VALUE, SO THEY'RE GETTING LESS FROM THEIR LOCAL, AND THE STATE'S MAKING UP THE DIFFERENCE. SO THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING THERE.

SO THAT LEADS MY NEXT, HE BROUGHT UP A QUESTION. ARE WE THE ONLY RECAPTURE IN OUR PEER DISTRICT? ARE WE THE ONLY RECAPTURE DISTRICT WHERE WE'RE SENDING MONEY TO THE STATE OR OUT OF THESE PEERS? YES.

NO, THERE'S PLENTY, THERE'S MOST ALL OF THEM WERE RECAPTURE AS WELL.

OKAY, SO WE'RE ALL SENDING MONEY TO THE STATE.

YEAH, BUT THERE COULD BE, YOU KNOW, YOU GOT TO KEEP IN MIND THERE'S... WHAT WE TRIED TO KEEP IT AS AS EVEN AS POSSIBLE, BUT THE WEIGHTED FUNDING MEANS THAT SOME DISTRICTS COULD BE GETTING MORE FUNDING BECAUSE THEY MIGHT HAVE MORE KIDS. REMEMBER HOW WE LOOKED AT WHERE Y'ALL HAD, I'M SORRY, I'M TEXAS, I SAY Y'ALL, UM, WHERE YOU HAD MORE KIDS IN THIS, BUT BUT LESS KIDS IN, YOU KNOW, THESE OTHER PROGRAMS. WELL, THOSE OTHER PROGRAMS MAY YIELD MORE STATE FUNDING THAN WHAT YOU'RE CURRENTLY GETTING.

WILL YOU GO TO THE SLIDE THAT HAD THE TRANSPORTATION? UH, LET'S SEE, I THINK, YES, RIGHT HERE.

SO, EXPENDITURES ON INSTRUCTION, WE SPEND LESS.

THAT DOESN'T SOUND GOOD. SO THE QUESTION IS, WHAT DO WE SPEND OUR MONEY ON? WELL, PLANT MAINTENANCE, WE SPEND LESS. SCHOOL LEADERSHIP, WE SPEND LESS.

FOOD SERVICE, WE SKIN- SPEND LESS. THE ONLY ONE WE SPEND MORE ON IS TRANSPORTATION. AND I JUST SAY THAT'S, AGAIN, A UNIQUE SITUATION OF OUR PENINSULA DISTRICT. WE'RE HAVING TO SPEND MORE ON TRANSPORTATION, WHICH IS CAUSING US TO SPEND LESS EVERYWHERE ELSE.

AND IT'S AGAIN, IT'S JUST ABOUT THE UNIQUE NATURE OF, OF, OF OUR DISTRICT AND THEN WHAT WE HAVE TO DO FOR TRANSPORTATION.

MIKE, WHAT IS, WHAT IS THE AVERAGE DISTANCE THAT WE USE FOR BUSES? IS IT LIKE, I THINK IT WAS LIKE A MILE OR 2 MILES? WHAT IS IT? WELL, THE ONLY MI- WITHIN 2 MILES, WE'RE NOT TO TRANSPORT THEM.

OKAY. YEAH, I KNOW THAT WE HAD A NUMBER, THOUGH. I THINK BUT 2.1 OR 2.2, IS THAT? IT'S 2.

IS IT 2? OKAY, 2 IS THE BUT WE DON'T TRANSPORT THEM.

BUT THE THING THAT KILLS US IS HOW LONG WE GO INTO, SAY, THE PALOMA CREEK PENINSULA AND GET THEM BACK TO ONE OF OUR SCHOOLS. A- AGAIN, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU SEE THAT WE SPEND LESS IN A, IN AN AREA, THE QUESTION IS, WELL, WHERE ARE WE SPENDING MORE? AND THE ONLY PLACE UP THERE WE'RE SPENDING MORE IS IN TRANSPORTATION.

YES. OH, DOWN AND BACK, DOWN AND BACK, DOWN AND BACK.

YEAH.

I MEAN, IT'S NOT, AND AGAIN, WITH ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE BEING SAID ON THE TV AND

[02:45:01]

OKAY, THANK YOU.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? NO.

ALRIGHTY. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR HAVING ME. OKAY. ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THIS REPORT, SAY AYE.

AYE.

MOTION CARRY. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AND I JUST WANT TO SAY, UH, THANK YOU TO LORI AND WORKING WITH HER TEAM. THEY WERE VERY EASY TO WORK WITH AND MADE THE PROCESS VERY SMOOTH. SO THANK YOU GUYS.

OKAY. UM, OUR NEXT ITEM IN ORDER IS TO CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE DELEGATE AND ALTERNATE TO THE 2026 TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS DELEGATE ASSEMBLY. IS THERE A MOTION FOR A DELI- IS THERE A NOMINATION FOR OUR DELEGATE? I'LL MOVE TO NOMINATE JEFF BURTON AS THE PRIMARY AND DAVID MONTEMAYOR AS THE ALTERNATE.

IS THERE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND.

MISS- MR. OLSON MADE THE MOTION, MR. BEBER MADE THE SECOND. IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? NOPE.

ALL IN FAVOR OF MR. BURTON AND MR. MONTEMAYOR, UH, SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE AND RAISING YOUR HAND.

AYE.

AYE.

MOTION CARRIES. NEXT, I HAVE AN ORDER, CONSIDER APPROVAL OF SENATE BILL 12, CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE. MR. LAMB, YOU GET TO TALK TO US AGAIN.

OKAY. WELL, HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, THIS IS SOMETHING SINCE THE LAST, UM, LEGISLATIVE SESSION, YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT IT, DIFFERENT TRAININGS AND STUFF THAT THIS WAS COMING. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE THAT THEY, THEY ALLOWED TO SPILL INTO THE SECOND PART OF THE BIENNIUM. SO HERE WE ARE IN SEPTEMBER NEEDING TO APPROVE THIS. WHAT IT IS, IF YOU, YOU KNOW, WANT TO REMEMBER WHAT WHAT'S BEEN SAID, UH, IT'S A CHECK THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, IN THE LAST LEGISLATION SESSION, THEY WANTED TO MAKE SURE IN OUR HIRING PRACTICES THEY WERE SQUARED AWAY WITH THE WAY WE GO ABOUT THAT, AND THERE WAS NO UNEQUAL TREATMENT OF ANYBODY, UH, IN OUR EDUCATIONAL SCENARIOS, IN OUR CURRICULUM AND STUFF, THERE WAS NOTHING ALONG THAT LINE. SO WE HAVE WORKED REAL CLOSELY WITH OUR LAW FIRM, EICHELBAUM, UH, IN CHECKING ALL OF OUR HANDBOOKS, CHECKING ALL OF OUR, UH, THEY'VE ASKED FOR EVERY DOCUMENT. ASHLEY AND I BOTH HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME SENDING THEM THINGS TO CHECK FOR US, AND THEY'VE DONE ALL THAT.

UH, PENNY AND HER TEAM HAVE DONE SOME WORK TOWARDS THE CURRICULUM ASPECTS OF THAT, WHICH I'VE, I'VE SENT YOU IN SEPARATE COVER AT THIS POINT. UM, SO REALLY WE GET TO THIS POINT, AND IT, UH, THE, THE ADMINISTRATION'S RECOMMENDATION IS THAT YOU APPROVE THE CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.

WE ARE IN COMPLIANCE, AND I BELIEVE, UH, THROUGH THE HELP OF OUR LAW FIRM, THROUGH THE HELP OF OUR, UH, CURRICULUM PEOPLE, UH, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE SURE WE THOROUGHLY CHECK THOSE THINGS AND, AND GOT OURSELVES IN COMPLIANCE. AND NOT THAT WE GOT OURSELVES IN COMPLIANCE BECAUSE WE WEREN'T OUT OF COMPLIANCE TO BEGIN WITH, BUT WE CERTAINLY CHECKED THOSE THINGS AND MADE SURE OF IT.

IS THERE A MOTION? MOTION.

MR. BEBER MADE THE MOTION. IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND.

I HEARD. ENGLISH MAKE THE SECOND. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? THERE BEING NONE, SIGNIFY BY RAISING YOUR HAND AND SAYING AYE.

AYE.

MOTION CARRIES. OUR NEXT ITEM IN ORDER IS CONSIDER THE APPROVAL OF THE HIRING OF THE DIRECTOR FOR MAINTENANCE AND GROUNDS, MRS. BROWN.

THANK YOU, PRESIDENT WATKINS.

UM, SO WE, THE DISTRICT, HAVE CONDUCTED A THOROUGH INTERVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS, AND WE ARE TONIGHT BRINGING TO THE BOARD FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION OUR RECOMMENDATION FOR DIRECTOR FOR MAINTENANCE AND GROUNDS, WHICH IS CURRENTLY A VACANT POSITION IN OUR DISTRICT. SO WITH THAT, THE ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF THE HIRE OF THE NEW DIRECTOR FOR MAINTENANCE AND GROUNDS AS DISCUSSED IN CLOSED SESSION.

OH, WAS I SUPPOSED TO? I'M KIDDING, I DID. I KNOW, I'M MESSING WITH HER.

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE CLOSED SESSION.

WE DID.

THANK YOU.

WE DID. IS THERE A MOTION? I'M SO MOVED.

I HEARD MR. BURTON, AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO PUT MR. WILSON AS THE SECOND. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MRS. BROWN? SIGNIFY BY RAISING YOUR HAND AND SAYING AYE.

AYE.

MOTION CARRIES, MRS. BROWN.

UH, SO WE'D LIKE TO ANNOUNCE, WE'RE VERY THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE THAT OUR CURRENT LOBO, CHAD LESLIE, WILL BE OUR NEW DIRECTOR FOR MAINTENANCE AND GROUNDS. THANK YOU, BOARD.

NEXT ITEM IN ORDER IS DISCUSS AND CONSIDER THE APPROVAL FOR THE RECLASSIFICATION OF THE TRANSPORTATION ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT POSITION.

YES, MA'AM. SO, UM,

[02:50:02]

IS THERE A MOTION? SO MOVED.

I HEARD MR. BEBER MAKE THE MOTION. IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND.

MR. WILSON MADE THE SECOND.

ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? MR. MONTEMAYOR.

MR. I'M SORRY, MR. MONTEMAYOR.

UM, IS THERE, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? THERE BE NO QUESTIONS, SIGNIFY BY RAISING YOUR HAND AND SAYING AYE.

AYE.

MOTION CARRIES. OUR NEXT ITEM IN ORDER IS THE F, THE CON- THE DISCUSS AND CONSIDER THE APPROVAL OF THE RESOLUTION TO SET THE 2026 TAX RATE.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, PRESIDENT WATKINS, AGAIN. AND THERE SHOULD BE A PRESENTATION.

THERE IT IS. ALL RIGHT, TONIGHT WE ARE, UH, GATHERING TO ESTABLISH OUR TAX RATE AND ADOPT IT FOR THE 25-26 SCHOOL YEAR, OR 26-27 SCHOOL YEAR. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YEAR IT IS. UM, JUST A REMINDER, BACK IN 25, 26, THE STATE LEGISLATURE INCREASED OUR HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION UP $40,000 TO $140,000, UH, REDUCTION IN TAXABLE VALUE ON A HOME.

AT THE SAME TIME, WE ALSO ALL VOTED TO INCREASE THE, UH, ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION, UH, FOR DISABLED OR OVER 65 RESIDENTS, UH, UP ANOTHER $50,000 TO A $60,000 DOLLAR TOTAL. SO THOSE TWO KICKED, THOSE TWO NEW EXEMPTIONS KICKED IN IN 25, 26. AND HERE'S OUR HISTORICAL PROPERTY VALUE TABLE. YOU SEE THE, THE, THE CLIMB WE'VE BEEN HAVING, AND THEN THAT SLIGHT DIP THERE FROM 24, 25 TO 25, 26 IS PRETTY MUCH REFLECTIVE OF THOSE INCREASES IN THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONS, UH, AND WE'VE SINCE KIND OF STAYED FLAT SINCE THEN.

UH, UH, IT'S PRETTY MUCH ALMOST ALL THE WAY FLAT YEAR OVER YEAR, UH, FROM 25, 26 TO 26, 27 THIS YEAR ON OUR PROPERTY VALUE. UM, THE COMPONENTS OF OUR TAX RATE THAT WE'RE ADOPTING TONIGHT, THERE IS A MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS TAX RATE, UH, AND THAT'S BASICALLY THE DAILY OPERATIONS OF THE DISTRICT, SUPPLIES, UTILITIES, SALARIES, MAINTENANCE, BENEFITS, CONTRACTED SERVICES, THINGS LIKE THAT. BASICALLY KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON, PAYING THE PEOPLE. IT'S ALL THE THINGS THAT GO INTO MAKING THE DISTRICT RUN ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS. AND THE OTHER COMPONENT IS THE INTEREST IN SINKING FUND, WHICH IS A WILDLY OUTDATED NAME, BUT IT IS HOW WE PAY OUR DEBT SERVICE. SO THAT IS HOW WE, WE, THAT TAX IS RAISED TO PAY OUR LONG-TERM DEBT PAYMENTS, UH, PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST ON THE MUNICIPAL BONDS THAT THE DISTRICT HAS ISSUED. SO THE WAY TO THINK ABOUT THAT IS IF, YOU KNOW, THAT'S LIKE OUR MORTGAGE PAYMENT, ESSENTIALLY. UH, THE TWO RATES ARE SEPARATE AND COMPONENTS OF THE TOTAL TAX RATE, BUT INS TAXES CANNOT BE USED FOR M&O EXPENSES. IT'S VERY, VERY, UH, CLEAR IN IN STATUTE. UH, MONEY THAT WE RAISE FOR DEBT SERVICE CAN ONLY BE SPENT ON PAYING DOWN, UH, PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST ON OUR, UM, BONDS THAT WE HAVE ISSUED.

THAT CAN'T GO TO COVER ANY OPERATIONAL EXPENSES. WE CAN'T USE THAT TO PAY UTILITIES. WE CAN'T USE THAT FOR, FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN SIMPLY PAYING OUR DEBT AND PRINCIPAL PAYMENTS. JUST KIND OF A, A PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN TO SEE HOW, UH, HOW THINGS ARE MADE. UM, I'M GONNA READ THIS OFF TO YOU, BREAKING EVERY LAW OF PRESENTATION. THIS LANGUAGE IS STRAIGHT FROM THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY, AND IT KIND OF GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF HOW WE ARRIVE AT OUR TAX RATE. SO, LOCAL COMPRESSION USES INDIVIDUAL DISTRICT PROPERTY VALUE GROWTH, COMPARING IT TO A 2.5% GROWTH TO DETERMINE THE DISTRICT'S MAXIMUM COMPRESSED RATE. WE'LL GET MORE INTO THAT LATER.

USING LAST YEAR'S MAXIMUM COMPRESSED RATE FOR EACH DISTRICT AS A STARTING POINT, UH, DISTRICTS RECEIVE THE LESSER OF THE MCR CALCULATED UNDER STATE COMPRESSION OR LOCAL COMPRESSION. STATE USES 3.6, LOCAL USES 2.5. SO HOW YOU GROW BASED ON THAT DETERMINES YOUR DISTRICT'S TAX RATE OR YOUR DISTRICT'S MAXIMUM COMPRESSED RATE, THAT TIER 1 RATE LORI

[02:55:02]

IF YOU'RE NOT GROWING LIKE US, IT KIND OF STAYS FLAT. UH, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A TAX RATE EQUITY, NO DISTRICT MAY HAVE A MAXIMUM COMPRESSED RATE LESS THAN 90% OF ANY OTHER DISTRICT. SO THE LIMIT ON LOCAL COMPRESSION FOR TAX YEAR 2026 IS 56 CENTS, 56.28 CENTS, UH, OR 0.6254 TIMES 0.90. UH, THIS RESULTS IN A TOTAL RANGE FOR MAXIMUM COMPRESSED TAX RATES FOR ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS OF, UH, 0.5628, UH, PER 100 DOLLAR VALUE UP TO 0.6254 100 DOLLAR VALUE. SO BASICALLY EVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE STATE OF TEXAS IS GIVEN THIS RANGE.

UH, I LIKEN IT TO LIKE BOWLING ALLEY, YOU GET THE BUMPERS IN THE BOWLING ALLEY. UH, YOUR, YOUR STARTING TAX RATE, YOUR FLOOR, YOUR T1 RATE IS GOING TO BE SOMEWHERE IN THAT RANGE. SO, WELL, YES, WE DO, UH, ADOPT AND SET THE TAX RATE TONIGHT HERE AT THIS MEETING. WE ARE GIVEN VERY NARROW PARAMETERS IN WHICH TO ADOPT THAT. THAT THAT'S THAT'S ALL GOVERNED BY THE, BY THE STATE. THIS IS HOW WE CALCULATE THAT, BASICALLY. YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THIS. WE FILL THIS OUT, UH, SEND IT, SEND IT TO TEA, AND THEY COME UP WITH OUR NCR. UH, THAT'S THAT VERY BOTTOM NUMBER. OUR MAXIMUM COMPRESSED TAX RATE WAS 0.6169, SO WE'RE WITHIN THAT RANGE OF 0.5628 TO 0.6254, BECAUSE BASED ON OUR PRIOR YEAR VALUES, AND WE HAVEN'T GROWN SINCE THAT, IT'S ACTUALLY THE EXACT SAME MAXIMUM COMPRESSED RATE THAT WE HAD BEFORE. SO, AFTER TEA APPROVES OUR MAXIMUM COMPRESSED CALCULATION, SCHOOL DISTRICTS THEN ADD THEIR ENRICHMENT PENNIES TO THAT.

SO LITTLE ELM HAS 13.83 ENRICHMENT PENNIES TO ADD.

IT'S THE COPPER AND GOLDEN PENNIES WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IN THE PAST. THE GOLDEN PENNIES ARE NOT SUBJECT TO RECAPTURE, SOME OF THE COPPER PENNIES ARE, UM, AND LAISD VOTERS APPROVED THOSE ENRICHMENT PENNIES BACK IN 2015. UM, SO THE CALCULATION IS YOUR MCR PUSH PL- PLUS YOUR ENRICHMENT PENNIES EQUALS YOUR M&O TAX RATE. SO FOR US, 0.6169 PLUS 0.1383 GIVES OUR M&O TAX RATE OF 0.7. AND IF YOU NOTICE, THAT'S THE SAME AS IT WAS THE YEAR BEFORE, UM, BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY GROWTH, OUR MAXIMUM COMPRESSED RATE STAYS THE SAME, AND WE'RE, WE'RE HAVE THE SAME NUMBER OF ENRICHMENT PENNIES THAT WE ARE OFFERING. SO JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT, WHILE YES, WE ARE SETTING THE RATE TONIGHT, THERE'S A RANGE OF RATES THAT'S THAT ARE THAT ARE SET, UM, WHEN THE STATE ISSUES WHAT THEIR MAXIMUM COMPRESSED RATE RANGE IS, UH, BECAUSE THE MOST ENRICHMENT PENNIES THE DISTRICT CAN HAVE IS 17. SO THE HIGHEST TAX RATE A DISTRICT COULD HAVE WOULD BE, UH, THAT 0.6254 PLUS 0.17, SO 0.7954.

SO WHEN THEY ISSUE, WHEN THE STATE SETS THEIR MAXIMUM COMPRESSED TAX RATE RANGE, THEY'RE IN A F- IN A SENSE GOVERNING THE BOTTOM AND THE TOP OF THE TAX RATE. WELL, YES, YOU KNOW, WE CAN GO FROM THAT DOOR TO THAT DOOR.

WE JUST PICK WHERE WE STAND WITHIN THAT RANGE, BUT THE WHERE THE DOORS ARE ARE KIND OF SET BY THE STATE. UH, AND THEN THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN IS OUR INTEREST AND SINKING FUND, WHAT WE PAY OUR DEBT WITH.

THAT'S AT 0.47 CENTS PER 100 DOLLAR VALUE OF A HOUSE.

THAT'S BEEN MAINTAINED PRETTY CONSISTENTLY FOR US TOO, AND THE CALCULATION FOR THAT IS JUST WHATEVER IT COSTS TO MAKE THE MINIMUM DEBT PAYMENT THAT YEAR, THAT'S THE TAX RATE YOU SET.

SO, UH, WE'RE GONNA HAVE 0.7552 AND 0.47 GIVES A TOTAL OF 0.12252 AS A TAX RATE, AND THAT REMAINS UNCHANGED YEAR OVER YEAR. IN A MOMENT, I'M GOING TO ASK THAT YOU GUYS READ A, RECOMMEND THAT YOU GUYS READ A RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE TAX RATE. AND THERE'S SOME LANGUAGE IN THERE I KIND OF WANTED TO POINT OUT, UM, IT TALKS ABOUT THIS IS AN INCREASE IN TAXES YEAR OVER YEAR, WHERE WE'VE HAD THE SAME TAX RATE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. AND JUST

[03:00:01]

IS THERE A MOTION? I MOVE THAT THE PROPERTY TAX BE INCREASED BY THE ADOPTION OF A TAX RATE OF $1.2252, WHICH IS EFFECTIVELY A 1.17% INCREASE IN THE TAX RATE.

ON THIS DATE, WE, THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF LITTLE ELM INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, HEREBY LEVY OR SET THE TAX RATE ON $100 VALUATION FOR THE DISTRICT FOR THE TAX YEAR 2026 AT A TOTAL TAX RATE OF $1.2252 TO BE ASSESSED COLLECTED BY DULY SPECIFIED ASSESSOR AND COLLECTOR AS FOLLOWS. 0.07552 FOR THE PURPOSES OF MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS, AND 0.47 FOR THE PURPOSE OF PAYMENT OF PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST ON DEBTS. SUCH TAXES ARE TO BE ASSESSED AND COLLECTED BY THE TAX OFFICIALS DESIGNATED BY THE DISTRICT. THIS TAX RATE WILL RAISE MORE TAXES FOR MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS THAN LAST YEAR'S TAX RATE. THE TAX RATE WILL EFFECTIVELY BE RAISED BY 1.17%, AND WILL RAISE TAXES FOR THE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS ON A 100,000 DOLLAR HOME BY APPROXIMATELY 8 DOLLARS AND 70 CENTS. THESE TAX RATE CALCULATION FORMS WILL SERVE AS AN APPENDIX TO THE DISTRICT'S ADOPTED BUDGET, ADOPTED ON THIS 21ST DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2026 BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND.

MR. BEBER MADE, MR. OLSON MADE THE MOTION, MR. BEBER MADE THE SECOND. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MR. WISE? HE ANSWERED MINE.

THERE BEING NO QUESTIONS, SIGNIFY BY RAISING YOUR HAND AND SAYING AYE.

AYE.

[10. Consent Agenda]

MOTION CARRIES.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU.

THAT BRINGS US TO THE END OF OUR CON- OUR ACTION ITEMS. OUR NEXT ITEM IN ORDER IS OUR CONSENT AGENDA.

IS THERE A MOTION? SO MOVED.

SECOND.

MR. OLSEN MADE THE MOTION, MR. WILSON MADE THE SECOND.

ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ON THE CONSENT AGENDA? THERE BEING NO QUESTIONS, SIGNIFY BY RAISING YOUR HAND AND SAYING

[11. Board President Comments]

MOTION CARRIES. NEXT ITEM IN ORDER. WE'RE GOING TO BOARD PRESIDENT COMMENTS. I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY WHO IS SITTING IN THE AUDIENCE. THANK YOU FOR STAYING. I KNOW THIS WAS A LONG MEETING. UM, WE'VE HAD A GREAT START TO OUR SCHOOL YEAR. WE ARE 3 AND 0 ON THE FOOTBALL, ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD, AND OUR BAND HAS HAD SOME WINS.

OUR GOLF TEAM HAS HAD SOME

[12. Board Comments]

DITTO. THANKS TO YOU STAFF FOR ALL THE REPORTS, ALL THE PRESENTATIONS. THEY WERE AWESOME AND VERY INFORMATIVE, SO APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU DO FOR US ON THAT REGARD, AND AS MISS WATKINS SAID, IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE A LOBO.

LIKEWISE, I THINK, UH, A LOT OF INFORMATION WAS PRESENTED TONIGHT, AND A LOT OF WORK WENT INTO THOSE BRIEFINGS, AND SO THANK YOU FOR THAT, UH, AND I APPRECIATE IT.

JUST GONNA ECHO WHAT MY FELLOW TRUSTEES HAVE SAID. THANK YOU ALL FOR STAYING LATE. I KNOW ONCE SCHOOL STARTS AGAIN,

[03:05:01]

UH, ECHO MY BOARD MEMBERS, AND UH, GOOD JOB, AND LET'S START THE YEAR OFF STRONG.

I WILL ECHO THOSE OTHER ACCOUNTS. IT'S UH, IT'S GREAT TO SEE OUR LOBOS ACROSS ALL THE EA SPORTS, BUT AS WELL AS THE EDUCATIONAL, AND UH, IT'S, IT'S A FUNDRAISING TIME FOR THE, FOR THE CAMPUSES. IF YOU'RE IN CLOSE TO THAT, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO HELP THEM OUT THE BEST YOU

[13. Superintendent Comments]

I JUST WANT TO SAY IT'S BEEN A LONG MEETING, AND I HOPE EVERYBODY GETS HOME SAFELY.

MR. LAMB, YOU ARE UP.

GREAT DAY TO BE A LOBO. A LOT OF GOOD THINGS GOING ON. LONG NIGHT, BUT A GOOD NIGHT. UM, JEFF, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU HAD TO DO WITH IT, BUT THANK YOU. I, I LEAVE WITH A PRIZE, AND I'M EXCITED ABOUT IT. SO, UH, WHAT AN HONOR, WHAT A SURPRISE, UH, THANK YOU ALL. THANK YOU GUYS FOR SERVING ON THIS BOARD AND WHAT YOU DO.

THANK YOU TO ALL THE FOLKS HERE THAT GAVE THE GREAT REPORTS TONIGHT. SO, LET'S GET THEM.

WE WILL CONSIDER A MOTION TO ADJOURN. SO MOVED. MR. OLSON MADE THE MOTION. IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND. MR. MONTEMAYOR MADE THE SECOND.

ALL IN FAVOR, SIGNIFY BY SA- RAISING YOUR HAND AND SAYING AYE. AYE. I DON'T KNOW WHERE MY GAVEL WENT. MOTION CARRIES. WE STAND ADJOURNED AT 10:01.

* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.