Katy Citizen Watchdog$

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Minutes From School Board Work/Study Session

The Board Meeting was reconvened from Executive Session  at 6:45 P.M.

 

Those attending were:   Jackie Birkel

     Joe Adams

     Rebecca Fox

     Robert Shaw

 

Those not attending were:  Joe Kimmel

    Judy Snyder

    Eric Duhon

 

The Board President announced that the missing Board members were "out of town on business."

 

The Board voted 4 to 0 to approve the hiring and accepting of resignations of professional and non-professional personnel

 

The Board then convened a public hearing to receive public input regarding the 2005-2006 budget and proposed tax rate.

 

Bill Moore, Chief Financial Officer, presented the budget.  He announced $379,983,766 in revenue, and $396,878,573 in expenses. He stated that there were currently 47,245 students enrolled in KISD.  He noted that property taxes would pay 70% of the budget and 30% of the amount would come from the State. 

 

The Fund Balance (which is a reserve built up for emergencies) amounts to $40,030,041 in the General Fund, $3,185,832 in the Special Revenue Fund, and $25, 966, 588 in the Debt Service Fund for a total of $89,182,459.

 

Mr. Moore announced that there will be $12,625,000,000 in property value from which to draw tax revenue.

 

The amount spent for instruction will be $182, 065, 430.

 

Those speaking with regard to the budget included Chris Cottrell, A. D. Muller, Kari Crow, and Kevin Tatum.

 

Mr. Cottrell expressed concern that the District was once again dipping into the Fund Balance to finance a budget that calls for spending almost 18 million dollars more than there are revenues.  He chastised the Board for their extravagant building programs, and for not starting long ago to cut back on their excessive spending.

 

Mr. Muller questioned the practice of sending local Katy tax dollars to groups such as the TASB (Texas Association of School Boards) and the TASA (Texas Association of School Administrators), who use considerable amounts of that money to lobby against the wishes of Katy taxpayers.  Mr. Muller pointed out that it was these particular education lobbyists as well as others who stifled any attempt to pass Governor Perry’s school finance reform bill.

 

Mrs. Crow suggested to the Board that since they are at the point of deficit spending that they look into the practice of other Texas school districts, which she named, to sell the rights to school buildings such as the new arena that recently opened in the Katy Administrative Complex. She stated that such naming rights for this particular arena, if sold to a business, might garner at least one million dollars in revenue which would help to cut the deficit with which the District is faced.

 

Mr. Tatum asked if the Board could tell him if there are penalties that must be paid if the District does not fill up a newly constructed school with students. 

 

There were no comments made by the Board members, and there were no responses to questions that were asked. The Board has no obligation to reply as the hearing is held to receive input.

 

The Board recessed to Executive Session to hear a Level III grievance from John Hartman at 7:15 P.M.  They reconvened at 7:47 and announced that the matter would be placed on the Agenda for the Monday Regular Board meeting.

 

The next item of business was a report from Dr. Elizabeth A. Clark, Ed. D., the Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.

 

Dr. Clark’s Power Point presentation  explained how KISD is "recreating our schools" with "vision, mission, and specific goals to leave no child behind."

 

The District wishes to make students "effective communicators, become academically prepared, leaders, good citizens and productive and continuous learners."

 

She pointed out that the difficulties of reaching these goals is exacerbated by changes in the make up of the student body.  Seven years ago 70% of students were Anglo and 30% "economically disadvantaged."  Now the composition is 60% Anglo and 40% economically disadvantaged.

 

Dr. Clark stated that the District’s "job" is to provide "educational experiences, meet diverse needs, and achieve a systemic transformation."

 

She further stated that the District’s "mission is transforming systems."

 

She cited a book called Good to Great as being a source of inspiration for their work.

 

She recited the Katy ISD Mission Statement:  In partnership with parents and community, the Katy Independent School district, as a premier district in the state of Texas, seeks academic excellence for each student to pursue a productive and fulfilling life through a balanced curriculum aligned with quality instruction and assessment of achievement.

 

Dr. Clark then discussed the components of the plan to satisfy the Mission Statement:

 

Under "Planning for Learning" are the Curriculum Management Plan which includes KMS, KMAC and ADCON; the Education Plan, the Strategic Plan for Automated Curriculum System, the District Departmental Plan, the Staff Development Plan, the Assessment Plan, and the Leadership Development Plan.

 

She stressed that these plans constitute a shift to "planning for learning" instead of "planning for teaching," and that "assessments chosen are outcomes of the activities and strategies chosen."

 

To explain "strategy planning" a video clip of Charlie Bartholomey, a teacher at Katy Junior High, was shown to the Board.

 

Ms. Bartholomey stated in the video that "we want our graduates to be able to problem  solve."

 

Dr. Clark then pointed out that teachers have the necessary tools to implement the plan, and they include a database of test items all aligned with the curriculum.  She mentioned WebCAT and ExamGen as examples.

 

Dr. Clark pointed out that there is "a need in the future to do assessments on line."

 

She also mentioned ADM, an administrative data analysis tool for use by administrators.

 

Further discussion centered on summative and formative matters.

 

She implied that there will be "increased staffing for targeted schools, reorganization of the Central Office, Campus Visits and Walk Throughs, and Block Classes."

 

She once again stressed that "learning rather than teaching is the focus of our schools."

 

As part of the presentation, she described the New Teacher Academy which stresses "vertical teams, a mentoring program, campus teams, LEAP ( a preparatory academy for future administrators), and "Leaders of Learners."

 

Dr. Clark cited as a source book On Common Ground by Richard DuFour.

 

She stated in conclusion that we "must have collective excellence and impactful (sic) lessons."  "Technology is going to be the future," she said, and the "day will come when there is no printed word" and everything "will be on line."

 

Board member Robert Shaw commented upon completion of the presentation that "we’ve stepped out of the box." He said that he had spoken "with teachers at Seven Lakes and asked them their feelings about technology. They totally support what we are giving them.  New teachers are in awe."

 

Jackie Birkel, Board president said that she was thrilled with the continued emphasis on student learning, stating, "If our students aren’t learning, we aren’t doing our job. It takes a team; it takes a village."

 

Dr. Merrell spent considerable time defending the work of the Administration and the Board with regard to their strategic planning.

 

Board member Brenda Fox stated that "curriculum is a passion of mine."

 

The Board then moved to the Consent Agenda.

 

They considered approval of the proposals for bank courier service, replacement glass, maintenance of print shop equipment, proposals for printing on-demand, and proposals for commercial waste disposal.

 

They chose Security Management for the courier service even though they are not the low bidder because they "have experience with them."

 

Jackie Birkel asked, "Do we have any experience with the low bidder?"  The answer from the administration was "No."

 

Houtex Glass and Mirror was chosen for providing replacement glass. 

 

Proposals for "printing on demand" are necessary to accommodate "overflow of our  (in house) print shop."

 

Board member Fox asked if the District was "expecting to need this."  She was told that there was an expense of $27,000 last year for overflow printing. No discussion was held regarding increasing the capacity of the school operated print shop.

 

Board member Joe Adams asked if the orders go through the print shop instead of coming from individual schools.  He was assured that they did.

 

Garry O. Weiss, former Katy ISD School Board member and local owner of a land fill and trash hauling company,  was selected as the vendor for commercial waste disposal as his company "did not have a minimum charge,  and he lets schools take things to the landfill without additional charge."

 

Mr. Scooter McMeans and Mr. Mike Robinson presented the Health Care Plan design.  Mr.Robinson thanked the committee that helped to design the plan.  They stated that there would be no reduction in benefits for this year from those enjoyed last year by school employees.

 

He stated that Wade Jacobs is the insurance agent for the district, and that Joe Riojas is the Sales Vice President for Houston National Accounts.

 

Board member Joe Adams asked about the TRS (Texas Teacher Retirement System) Plan.  Mr. Adams question implied that the TRS plan might be better than what was being presented.  The reply was that once the District joined that plan, there was no way to get out of it.  He was told that there were some advantages to the TRS plan and that the differences (between that and the private company that the district uses) have narrowed, but that the District would like to see "more consistency from TRS" before they are considered.

 

There was a discussion of the voluntary benefit products for which employees may sign up.

 

The next item was to consider Board Policy CDA (LOCAL) -Other Revenue:  Investments.

 

Bonnie Holland explained that the policy would "add additional disclosure for risks."

 

The next item of business was the consideration of Board approval of the designation of the August 31, 2005 fund balance. The administrator noted the decreasing amount of the fund balance that will ensue because of the unbalanced budget.

 

The next item of business was the consideration of Board approval of the 2005-2006 employee salary schedules, pay ranges for non-teacher groups, and reclassifications and adjustments.  No discussion by board members was held regarding any of those items except the teacher salaries, although the discussion appeared to also include all salaries.  The superintendent explained that the District had included in the Budget a 2.75% increase for raises for employees.

 

Board member Robert Shaw, in an apparent surprise move, stated that he was "very disappointed for our teachers.  They shouldn’t be left to hang."  He suggested that teachers did not need a 2.75% increase or even  a 3.00% increase. He said that teachers  "needed a 4.00% across the board salary increase."  Mr. Shaw also stated that he "wanted to see a $38,100 starting salary for beginning teachers."  Mr. Shaw commented that he "saw salary schedules from other school districts," and this information motivated him to act.

 

Board member Jackie Birkel agreed with Shaw, but neither one made any motions or gave any direction to the superintendent.  Board member Fox had no comment.

 

Board member Joe Adams stated that the Board should come down "on the side of caution" with regard to salaries.  He said that "a few years ago in 1999, the Board gave a raise and the state legislature came along [afterward] and gave a raise themselves" which "put the district in a bind."  We "can’t give away the farm," he said.

 

Supt. Merrell stated that "purposeful budget preparation has given us the ability to give a salary increase."

 

The District’s CFO, Bill Moore, quickly moved to the presentation table and suggested that he had "better have more than one budget prepared for Monday night."  He commented that for each one per cent increase in salary, and increase of two million dollars in the budget is required.

 

The discussion/action items regarding the substitute salary schedule and the stipends paid to certain employees, were not discussed by the Board.

 

The next item was consideration of a resolution adopting the National Incident Management System.  The statement was made that the system is tied to Federal grants and is a requirement for receiving them.  Board member Jackie Birkel asked, "What do you see changing in our district as a result of this?  The answer was, "Nothing."

 

The next item was consideration of approval of the installation contract for a closed circuit television security system in the Leonard E. Merrell Center.  It was announced that the contract would be given to WFI Info Systems which was not the lowest bidder.  The comment was made by an administrator "but we have experience with the vendor."

 

Board member Joe Adams asked, "How does a vendor get experience with the District?  No answer was given to his question, but the remark was made that the "lowest bidder had not done a good job previously."

 

The next item of business was the consideration of Board approval of a Memorandum of Understandings for operations of a Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program (JJAEP) with Harris and Ft. Bend Counties.

 

Assistant Superintendent Bonnie Holland stated that there is an increase of three dollars to $59 per day in the rate paid to these facilities.  The District is also increasing the number of "reserved seats" there from five to seven for these extended period placements. She remarked that 90% attendance and good behavior by the incarcerated student can lessen his time there.  She also stated that KISD has reserved two seats in the Fort Bend facility. 

 

The next item of business was the approval of sewer plant renovations at Mayde Creek High School.  There is a waste water issue at the Mayde Creek schools complex.  A contract is recommended with Caruso and Snyder for $240,000 to fix the problem.  The waste water treatment plant at that location is 25 years old, but the proposed contractors stated that it "still has integrity." One of the proposed contractors then stated that the "aeration piping is falling apart."  The contractor will put a finer screen in the piping.  He stated that the system processes 50,000 gallons a day.  He said that it would take 75 days for the installation and that it would not interfere with the schools’ operations.

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:40.

Mary McGarr, Katy Citizen Watchdog$

Date: 08/24/2005