January 25, 2021 at 6:30 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:  It has been found and determined that in accordance with the policies and orders of the Board, the notice of this meeting was posted publicly at the Administration Building in accordance with the terms and provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, Section 551.001 et. seq., and that all of the terms of said article have been fully complied with and that the 72-hour notice required has been properly and correctly given.

Description:  At this time, the Board will listen to comments from the public and others regarding both agenda action items and items that are not on the agenda. No action may be taken on non-agenda items. Public participation is limited to the designated open forum portion of a regular meeting. Any person wishing to address the Board concerning an item on the Agenda for an open meeting must register with the Board Secretary by email at egilpin@hfhorns.net no later than 10:00 a.m. the day of the Board meeting.  Any person wishing to address the Board concerning an item not on the Agenda can register with the Board Secretary at any time prior to the Board meeting.  Speakers will not be permitted to criticize HFISD employees, whether addressing the Board on an Agenda item or a subject not on the posted Agenda.

Description:  In the wake of flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda, a significant amount of the district’s facilities was damaged by flood waters.  The board hired LaBiche Architectural Group, Inc. to design a scope of work and bid the various projects for repair.  The board chose Mike Barnett Construction as its contractor for the Imelda repair work.

As part of flood mitigation, the board decided to have water-proof aluminum doors installed in affected flooded locations.  These doors are able to handle future flooding; the doors will only require cleaning, drying, and disinfecting.  The district’s architect, Mr. Dohn LaBiche, has worked with manufacturers to get aluminum doors in a timely manner and guarantee water-proofing.  Mr. LaBiche has now found water-proof, metal doors that offer the same level of flood protection with a faster delivery time.  In addition, the new doors would cost approximately $88,000 less than the aluminum doors.

Description:  By the Texas Education Agency statute, it is a state requirement that all school districts be audited by an independent firm on an annual basis.  This audit  is rigidly and strictly controlled through auditing procedures standard to all Texas school districts, with every effort made to present a thorough, non-biased and non-aligned picture of the annual operation of the district.

The audit for the year ending 08/31/2020 was performed by Gary Davis of the firm West, David & Company.  The audit report will be presented at this time.

Description:  As a result of the upcoming bond project, the board will continue to receive monthly updates and information throughout the life of the project to its completion.

The administration will discuss general items and answer questions for the board.  In addition, specific items will be discussed relating, but not limited to, a project manager, process for hiring a construction manager at-risk, the community bond committee, etc.

 

Description:  At its November 2020 meeting, the board opted to utilize the procurement method of construction manager at-risk (CMaR) for its bond project. The board established a process for selecting a CMaR which included a committee of the board along with school district administrators.

The board will receive information regarding the process it established for selection and hear the committee’s recommendation for hire.

 

Description:  The TAPR (Texas Academic Performance Report) provides information of
students in each school district in Texas. The reports also provides extensive
information on school and district staff, programs, and student demographics.

The TAPR report for Hamshire-Fannett ISD will be presented.

Description:  In keeping with the state’s 60x30 TX goal, the School Finance Commission recommended establishing a preK through 12th grade goal of at least 60 percent proficiency at TEA’s "Meets" standard for 3rd grade reading and math and 60 percent of high school seniors graduating either college or career ready. School boards must review progress of each plan at least annually at a public meeting by doing the following:
•    Adopt a monitoring calendar that describes the months during which           interim updates on goals and plan progress measures are reported to the   board
•    Receive annual/interim updates that contain the board outcome goal and   progress measure being monitored along with 5 year deadline targets. 
 

Description:  In keeping with the state’s 60x30 TX goal, the School Finance Commission recommended establishing a preK through 12th grade goal of at least 60 percent proficiency at TEA’s "Meets" standard for 3rd grade reading and math and 60 percent of high school seniors graduating either college or career ready. School boards must review progress of each plan at least annually at a public meeting by doing the following:

  •    Adopt a monitoring calendar that describes the months during which interim updates on goals and plan progress measures are reported to the board
•    Receive annual/interim updates that contain the board outcome goal and progress measure being monitored along with 5 year deadline targets. 

An interim update on progress towards the College and Career Readiness Goal 3 progress measure 3.1 will be updated to the board 
 

Description:  The update will focus on the current information the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has provided in regards to accountability for the special education program with a look back and a glance forward.  One of the previous accountability systems for special education was the Performance-Base Monitoring Analysis System (PBMAS).  The current system is the Results Driven Accountability (RDA) system.  TEA has sent the information for 2019-2020 for RDA, and two region 5 liaisons reviewed it with the principals, assistant superintendents and diagnosticians to familiarize them with the strengths and challenges contained in the report. While there are three areas (Bilingual-English Learners/Other Special Populations/Special Education) in the District report, only graduation/dropout data is reported as a performance indicator for the EL and OSP programs in 2020.  The Special Education (SPED) section includes placement, discipline and graduation/dropout as performance indicators. A large number of items in the overall District report are seen as "No Data" for 2020 since testing was waived due to COVID-19 in the spring of 2020.

Information on the Special Education Program is provided as an overview of the current strengths and challenges for Hamshire-Fannett ISD in terms of the overall instructional program for students. In a nutshell, the SPED program is currently engaged in the following:

 1) identifying actions regarding discipline of SPED students in light of RDA     data
 2) correcting testing timeline issues from the spring of 2020 (SPP#11)
 3) preparing for a self-assessment this year and a cyclical review by TEA in   spring 2022
 

Description:  Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) of 2020 provided employees with 10 days of paid and protected leave for days missed from work due to pandemic related reasons.  That act expired on December 31, 2020.  The board will receive information regarding employee leave and discuss the possibility of extending and protecting employee leave.

 

Description:  The Texas Education Code §12.1101 requires charter requestees to submit to each school district’s President of the Board its application for charter.  The Board President and Board determines the charter’s impact and responds appropriately to the Texas Education Agency it's findings by way of the application process.

The board will receive information regarding the process it established for selection and hear the committee’s recommendation for hire.
 

Description:  The Board of Trustees have been supplied detailed background information regarding each item of business on the "Consent Agenda" if one is so indicated or it has been discussed at a previous meeting of the Board. All items will be acted upon by one vote without being discussed separately.  If requested by a Board member, individual items may be removed the  "Consent Agenda" to be discussed and voted upon separately.  All items are as recommended by the Superintendent.

Description:  All investments made by the District shall comply with the Public Funds Investment Act (Texas Government Code Chapter 2256, Subchapter A) and all federal, state, and local statues, rules or regulations.

Not less that quarterly, the investment office shall prepare and submit to the Board a written report of investment activities for all funds covered by the Public Funds Investment Act.  This report shall be presented to the Board within a reasonable time after the end of the period.

Description:  This waiver allows the district or charter school to modify the schedule of classes
for students who are not being tested to report to school after the state
assessment testing period has ended thereby eliminating interruptions during
testing period. Students who are not being tested must still meet the maximum 2-through-4 hour requirement for funding

Description:  It is a requirement of TEA accounting procedures that the annual budget be amended as necessary throughout the budget year.

The Board has been provided with the necessary documents for the budget amendment for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

Description:  The district currently has one or more vacant positions.  Interviews are currently being conducted and the Superintedent will bring recommendations for the position(s) to this board meeting, if feasible.

Description:  It is possible that one or more resignations could be in the process of being submitted to the Superintendent.  If received, the Superintendent will present letters of resignation for Board information.

Description:  he district currently has one or more vacant positons.  Interviews are currently being conducted, and the Superintendent wil bring recommendations for the position(s) to this Board meeting, if feasible.