Monday, September 25, 2023 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Monthly learning spotlight will highlight our Career and Technical Education Program (CTE). Career and technical education programs offer a sequence of courses that provides students with coherent and rigorous content. CTE content is aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills needed to prepare for further education and careers in current or emerging professions.

The Dripping Springs ISD Board of Trustees is actively engaged in the vision and mission of the district. The trustees frequently attend district events to serve more than 8,500 students and approximately 1,100 employees. The trustees also serve as liaisons on committees
across the district.

• • Alignment of funds for payroll purposes due to account code errors
  • Transfers among functions with no effect on the total operating deficit/surplus.         

The Bond Advisory Committee (BAC) is a citizen group appointed by the Board of Trustees to monitor the progress of bond projects.  The Committee is comprised of nine members with two alternates appointed.  The charge of the BAC is to:   review bond expenditures and timelines, review possible scope changes and make recommendations to the Board, and make public reports to the Board twice a year.

The original Bond Advisory Committee was formed to oversee the 2018 bond program.  With the upcoming issuance of 2023 bond authorization, a new BAC needs to be formed to oversee the 2023 bond program.  The Operating Procedures & Polices for the 2018 BAC state "The BAC shall remain in place and functioning until 90% of the 2018 Bond funds have been spend, and the Board has designated the remaining unspent funds (approximately three years)".  While 90% of the 2018 bond funds have been spent, the Board has not designated all remaining unspent funds.  For this reason, the 2018 BAC will remain intact but a new 2023 BAC needs to be formed. 

As part of the application process to fill vacancies, the community had an opportunity to submit an application to be considered for the Bond Advisory Committee. The committee’s members will be selected based on their expertise as an engineer, architect, construction professional (specifically K-12 educational construction), accountant/banker, educator, parent, community member (who does not have children in the district), attorney, and previous service on district LRFPC or 2018 BSC.

The following names are presented for Board consideration and recommendation to serve on the 2023 Bond Advisory Committee.  The Bond Advisory Operating Procedures & Polices also need to be updated to govern the new Bond Advisory Committee.  Those changes will be brought to the Board in October. 
 

Chapter 1371 of the Texas Government Code provides for the use of a delegation order in the issuance and refunding of bonded debt.  A delegation order gives the named Authorized Officials authority to sell the bonds under parameters set by the order.  A delegation order gives the District flexibility on when to enter the financial market and eliminates the need for called Board meetings to approve the sale.

The Order submitted includes the following parameters:

• Names the Authorized Official(s) to approve the sale to be the Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent for Finance & Operations, or Chief Financial Officer.

• Requires the Bonds shall not bear interest at a rate greater than the maximum rate

allowed by Chapter 1204, Texas Government Code, as amended;

• Requires a maturity of no more than 30 years (February 15, 2054).

• Authorizes an amount to be sold up to $120,000,000 of the 2023 authorization.  The current estimate of cash flow needs is $103,672,116 so a sale of $104,000,000 will be targeted.

Under the delegation order, the Authorized Officials may approve the sale of bonds under the 2023 authorization only if the above parameters are met.  The delegation order also permits the refunding of certain outstanding bonds as long as the refunding transaction produces a net present value debt service savings of at least 1%.

The timing of the sale will be dependent on market conditions and completion of all the necessary documents to perform a sale.  Once the sale has been completed, a report of the results will be delivered to the Board.

Delegating the sale of 2023 bonds and refunding of other outstanding bonds, provides the district with greater flexibility as it relates to the timing of the bond sale.  If not delegated, the final pricing and sale of the bonds would be subject to Board approval at a regular or special board meeting.  Thus, through delegation, pricing is based on current market conditions without having to coordinate the timing around a Board meeting.  The missing elements within the documents are completed upon the closing of the sale.

Last year the district issued an RFQ for architectural services and in September 2022, the Board approved a pool of three architectural firms (PBK, Pfluger, and VLK) as the most highly qualified firms to provide design work on future bond projects. The 2023 bond package approved by the voters in May included funding for the design work on a second high school.

This summer, a selection committee comprised of several district administrators and one Board member worked through a process to select one of these firms to provide design services for the High School #2 project.  In July, the committee toured high schools designed by the three firms. Each firm showcased two high school campuses; a high school that had opened within the past 1-2 years, and a high school that has been open for several years. On August 31, each firm was interviewed with specific questions regarding the project.

After thorough and careful consideration, the selection committee recommends approval of VLK Architects to provide design services for the High School #2 project. If approved by the Board, the next step will be to negotiate a contract with VLK for High School #2 design services and form a community committee to participate in the design for this campus.

 

In June, the Board approved the Schematic Design for the Sycamore Springs Middle School Expansion Project. The next phase in the design process is Design Development. Over the past few months, VLK has continued work on the project and has completed the Design Development phase.  Following Design Development, the next phase of design is Construction Documents.  Construction documents are estimated to be completed and brought forward for approval by December 2023.  VLK will present the design development work for approval.

The Board also approved the selection of Bartlett Cocke as the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) contractor for this project in June. One of the benefits of the CMAR method is that the contractor is brought on during the design process to review constructability, develop cost estimates, and help identify potential cost savings options.  Bartlett Cocke has been working with VLK since being awarded the contract and will submit a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) following approval of construction documents.

1. August Financial Statements for: General Fund, Child Nutrition Fund, SpecialRevenue Funds (excluding Child Nutrition), Debt Service Fund, & Enterprise Funds
2. August Monthly Tax Collections
3. August Budgeted Cooperative Purchases Exceeding $50,000
4. August Monthly Investment Reports

The A-F Accountability System is a statewide rating system established by the Texas Legislature to provide information about the academic performance of Texas public schools. Texas Education Code 39.054, has granted broad authority to the Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency to "adopt the rules to evaluate school district and campus performance and assign each district and campus an overall performance rating of A, B, C, D, or F". A group of school districts have sued the Commissioner of Education over the application of accountability performance measures without adequate prior notice to school districts. The enclosed resolution provides details regarding the ongoing litigation and the district's opportunity to join the lawsuit.