The Board President or his/her designee will call the roll of members.

Citizens wishing to address the Board of Trustees have so indicated by listing their name on the Communications from the Public sign-in sheet located on the table at the entrance to the boardroom if the meeting is done in person, or at the link provided on the published board agenda if conducted remotely. Those signing have given a brief indication of the topics to be addressed.
Comments to the Board of Trustees under this provision will be limited to three minutes.
The members of the Board of Trustees will listen to citizen presentations during this portion of a regularly scheduled meeting, but they will not comment or participate in a discussion of the topic. 

Board members routinely approve items on the consent agenda as a group.  These are routine agenda items.  Board members have the option to ask questions regarding any of the items listed under "consent agenda".

State law requires that a record be kept in the form of official minutes on each meeting held by a governmental body and that these minutes be approved at the next regular meeting.  Included in this board packet are minutes from the June 21, 2021 board meeting.

Monthly reporting of financial position in relation to the budget.  The Board is provided monthly financial statements.

Meet legal reporting requirements for investments.
In order the meet legal reporting requirements for investments, the Board receives quarterly reports on District investments.

The Board has requested a monthly status report of earned state aid in relation to the budget.

The Board has requested a monthly status report of earned state aid in relation to the budget.

Attached is the Tax Assessor-Collector's Report.

First National Bank and Lone Star Investment Pool, depositories for Smithville ISD, require that the Board pass a resolution each time we wire transfer our bond payment.
Attached is a resolution for the Board’s approval.
 

The Chief Financial Officer, Jean Ann McCarthy, will review the financial disbursements for the previous month with the Board of Trustees.  No action is required.

The Superintendent will update the Board on important issues pertaining to the District.

The school district staff is currently in the process of developing the proposed budget for the 2021-2022 school year.  The process began in January with budget planning at the campus level.  The Board must adopt the final budget on or before August 31, 2021 in accordance with legal requirements.

Budget hearings were conducted with each campus principal and each department director.  Expenditure adjustments from the first draft were made based upon input received from SISD staff as well as the public.

The first draft of the 2021-2022 district budget was presented to the Board of Trustees at the June 21, 2021 regular meeting.
 

The purpose of this agenda item is to inform the Board concerning student performance on the state mandated STAAR testing.  The report will allow the district staff to disaggregate the data by sub-groups, grade levels, and subjects in order to plan for improvement in the future in the area of student performance.  A more comprehensive report will be given to the Board of Trustees at the August meeting when all results have been received and analyzed.

The Superintendent would like to review Board Policy EIC (local) as it pertains to current course offerings and class ranking calculations. 

The Superintendent has received requests by community groups to use district facilities, including Tiger Stadium.  To this point, the Superintendent has not allowed outside for-profit organizations to use Tiger Stadium.  This is a discussion item for clarification of current policy and possible future implications.

a.  Public Hearing on Proposed Budget
b.  Financial Report
c.  Superintendent’s Report
d.  Annual SHAC Report
e.  Annual Technology Report
f   Adoption of 2021-2022 District Budget and Tax Rate
g.  Approval of District and Campus Improvement Plans
h.  Personnel  

District administrators have been working on an updated salary schedule for teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, and trades for the upcoming school year 2021-2022.  Salary schedules are necessary to calculate the 2021-2022 budget, and it has been Smithville I.S.D.'s practice to inform staff as early as possible of any changes to the salary schedules.  Staff will be returning to work prior to the next regular board meeting.  Salaries have to be set each year and have a major impact on the district budget, which must be adopted no later than August 31, 2021. 

This Request for Proposals (RFP) will be used by the District as a tool in the decision making process in the best interest of the District. This RFP is issued for the purpose of negotiating a contract for Security Fence Installation at the Brown Primary campus to improve the safety for our students and staff. The expenditure will be purchased through General Operating funds, not Bond funds, to save the district costs

The purpose of this agenda item is to authorize the purchase of two playgrounds, as well as upgrades to the current 3rd grade playground and Brown Primary playground to meet ADA requirements.  The Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer obtained proposals from two companies that were recommended for these types of projects.

Based on the proposal from Game Time, the total cost of all 4 projects is $596,771.53.  This proposal can be reduced in scope and cost, as approved by the Board of Trustees.


 

The student dress code is annually reviewed by the administration, campus site-base committees, and the district site-base committee.  The Board will need to formally adopt the dress codes for the district.  After review from the above-mentioned groups, attached are the student dress codes for the secondary school and the elementary schools of the district for 2021-2022.  There are no changes to the primary/elementary/secondary dress code this year.  

At this time, Board Policy DC (Local) states that the Board of Trustees maintain all authority to hire contracted staff year round.  We have found that this can cause a bit of conflict when trying to fill positions between board meetings in the summer months of June, July and August.  Districts in Texas are not required to release an employee from contract later than 45 days before the first day of instruction.  For this reason, at times it is imperative that we have the flexibility to hire staff prior to that deadline.  Many times this is not conveniently near a regularly scheduled board meeting, and it may not be feasible to call a special meeting each time this situation comes up.  We have consulted with the Texas Association of School Boards and have been advised that many school districts in Texas amend their policy to allow the Superintendent to be the final hiring authority, provided that the Board of Trustees is kept informed at all times, of staff being hired under contract during the months of June, July and August when it is not practical to wait for a regularly scheduled meeting.  Mrs. Burns requests that the Board amend policy DC (Local) to include a provision to allow the Superintendent to hire contracted staff during the months of June, July and August without action by the Board of Trustees, and to keep the Board informed of each occurrence.

The Board, along with the Superintendent, is required to participate in at least three hours of team building conducted by the Texas Association of School Boards, or another registered provider, on an annual basis.  It is time to schedule the Team of Eight team building work shop for this year.  Mrs. Kay Douglas, a facilitator for TASB that we have used in the past, is available for a workshop on Monday, August 16, 2021.
 

The Superintendent would like to inform the Board of the following resignations: 

Echoe Burkhart - teacher at Smithville Elementary
Paulette Bonorden - teacher at Smithville Elementary
Brenda Garbe - teacher at Smithville Junior High
Ashley Ramirez - teacher at Smithville Junior High
Shelly Huerta-Johnson - teacher at Smithville Junior High
Patricia Rivers-Taylor - teacher/coach at Smithville Junior High
Jacob Rigby - newly hired teacher/coach at Smithville Junior High
Dena Beattie - teacher at Smithville High School

No action is required.

According to Board Policy DC [Local], the Superintendent has the authority to make recommendations to the Board regarding the selection of all personnel.

Veronica Donahue - Teacher
Degree - BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara
Certification - Out of State Certification 
Years of Experience - 5 years
Campus - Smithville Elementary 
To replace Paulette Bonorden

Hanna McDorman - Teacher
Degree - BA from Midwestern State University
Certification - Alternative Certification for Music grades PK-12
Years of Experience - 0 years
Campus - Smithville Elementary
To replace Echoe Burkhart

Haley Nunn - Teacher
Degree - BS from University of Houston, Clear Lake
Certification - Mathematics grades 4-8
Years of Experience - 1 year
Campus - Smithville Junior High
To replace Jenny Davis

Oscar Nunez - Teacher/Coach
Degree - BS from UTPA
Certification - Special Education grades EC-12, Spanish grades 6-12, PE grades PK-12
Years of Service - 22 years
Campus - Smithville Junior High
To replace Shelly Huerta-Johnson's teaching position and Jacob Rigby's coaching position

Joe (Brad) Bass - Teacher
Degree - BS from Texas Tech University
Certification - Vocational Agriculture Production grades 6-12
Years of Experience - 4 years
Campus - Smithville High School 
To replace Erich Schatte

Linda Neville - Teacher
Degree - BA from Our Lady of the Lake University
Certification - Life Science grades 7-12
Years of Experience - 1 year
Campus - Smithville High School
To replace Dawn Vinklarek

Shawna Randall - Teacher/Coach
Degree - BS from Texas Tech University
Certification - Alternative Certification pending for Science 7-12
Years of Experience - 0 years
Campus - Smithville High School 
To replace Maygan Washington

Jaqueline Alvey - Teacher
Degree - BA from Texas State University
Certifications - Secondary Mathematics grades 6-12, Technology Applications grades EC-12
Years of Experience - 25 years
Campus - Smithville High School
To replace David Leist's teaching position
 

Board Policy BJCD [Legal] requires the Board to annually evaluate the Superintendent.  One part of the appraisal process involves the superintendent completing and providing to Board members a self-evaluation.  The self-evaluation is presented to the Board in December, and the superintendent’s evaluation by the Board takes place in closed session in January.  The Superintendent would like to provide the Board with a mid-point review of her progress and accomplishments.  She will present this to the Board in closed session.