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

Students representing Smithville Elementary will lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.  Those students are:
1st Grade: Collin Bennett, Brycen Esser, Kinley Powell
2nd Grade: Zachary Kellogg, Gwendolyn Magden, Joshua Colosky
3rd Grade: Sullivan Brantley, Paige Owen, Case Kristynik
4th Grade: Shayrani Borjas Juarez, Preslee Manuel 
5th Grade: Nicholas Henry, Alexis Kuenzi, Jett Adams
 

Student guest speakers will be present at each board meeting to read a short essay on the Character Trait of the Month. 

This month's speaker is Mavis Guillory-Whitehead, a 5th grade student in Mrs. Armstrong's class. The character trait is loyalty.

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.
Attached are the minutes from the January 22, 2024 regular 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.

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 including:
 

February Superintendent Report

• District enrollment as of Friday, February 23, 2024 is 1804 students with a daily attendance rate of 91.7%.

• Interviews for Athletic Director are wrapping up and we hope to have a recommendation for a special meeting on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

• We also hope to recommend a Chief Financial Officer at the same meeting.

• Congratulations to the elementary students who participated in the Greater Austin Regional Science and Engineering Fair this past weekend. Smithville ISD is proud of our four first place, 4 second place and two third place winners!

• Congratulations to our Smithville High School UIL debate champions. Two students won 1st place for the second year in a row!

• Congratulations to the Smithville Elementary and Junior High Destination Imagination teams for their participation in the Capital Area Regional Event.  

• Next Friday, March 8th is a regular attendance day for students and staff.  This is a makeup day for the recent bad weather event. 

• Spring sports are in full swing.  Please come out and support your Tigers and Lady Tigers!

• Board member continuing education hours will be reported at the regular April meeting.  You have access to your continuing education progress report on your mytasb account.  Training is available online through Region 13, Vector Solutions (SafeSchools) and various other websites.

• The Tiger Insider is at your seats.

• Please refer to the Smithville ISD website for the latest news and resources.

The Board will be presented with curriculum and program area highlights on a regular basis.  The purpose of each presentation is to keep the Board informed of the academic progress within the district and on campuses.

Dr. Michael Caudill, Assistant Superintendent, will report to the Board on measures being taken in the district to address safety and security for students and staff, and update the Board on the recent safety audit.  

Tentative items to be included on the March agenda are:

a.  Financial Report  
b.  Superintendent’s Report  
c.  Board Recognitions
d.  Curriculum Highlight
e.  Presentation of 2024-2025 High School Course Catalog
f.  Resignations and Employment of Certified Personnel
g.  Consider and Take Action Regarding Certified Staff Contract Renewal
 

Mr. Mark Goulet, formerly an attorney with Walsh Gallegos Trevino Kyle & Robinson, PC, the school district's legal counsel, has now moved to private practice and has approached Smithville ISD to allow him to continue serving the district in a legal capacity.  Smithville ISD has enjoyed a professional working relationship with Mr. Goulet in excess of 25 years, and we are comfortable that Mr. Goulet has broad knowledge of the legal needs and history of SISD.  While it is the intent of the district to continue the services of Walsh Gallegos Trevino Kyle & Robinson, P.C. as its primary legal counsel, we would like to request authorization by the Board of Trustees to use Mr. Goulet as an attorney as needed. 

Our current agreement with IQS, Inc became effective June 15, 2019.  The agreement was for one year with four possible renewals each year thereafter by amendment upon approval of the Board of Trustees.  Since IQS is a member of the Buyboard purchasing coop, we are able to extend our services for an additional year.   
Per the terms of the custodial service agreement, it is the recommendation of administrative staff that the Board of Trustees extend the custodial contract with IQS, Inc for an additional year through the purchasing coop procurement method.

HB 3033 passed during the 88th Legislative Session, effective September 1, 2023, makes significant changes to the Texas Public Information Act (PIA), prompting a need for districts to update their procedures and for the board of trustees to take action. 

Various provisions throughout the PIA require a governmental entity to act within a prescribed number of "business days." The statute previously did not define the term "business days," However, for years, the Attorney General’s Office interpreted the term "business days" to not include days the governmental entity was closed for business or holidays the governmental entity chose to observe. For school districts, this meant that closures such as fall break, winter break, and spring break were not counted as business days when calculating applicable deadlines. 

This longstanding interpretation has now been changed by the legislature. Under HB 3033, the only days that do not count as business days are the following: 

• Weekends - Saturday or Sunday; 
• National Holidays - New Year’s Day; Martin Luther King, Jr., Day; President’s Day; Memorial Day; Independence Day; Labor Day; Veterans Day; Thanksgiving Day; and Christmas Day; 
• State Holidays - Confederate Heroes Day; Texas Independence Day; San Jacinto Day; Emancipation Day; Lyndon B. Johnson Day;  
• Optional Holidays - Rosh Hashanah; Yom Kippur; and Good Friday (only if the governmental body observes the holiday); 
• The Friday before or the Monday after a holiday described above if the holiday occurs on a Saturday or Sunday and the governmental body observes the holiday on that Friday or Monday; and  
• Up to 10 additional days each calendar year when the district’s administrative offices are closed or operating with minimal staff. 

To take advantage of the 10 additional "non-business days" each calendar year, the board of trustees must officially designate these days. 

Recently, Smithville ISD canceled and delayed school due to a freezing weather event on January 16, 2024.  Due to area flash floods, SISD delayed the start of school on Wednesday, January 24th by 2 hours.  SISD has adjusted the school calendar and the number of minutes in the school day to make up for the missed time for students, and the majority of the missed time for staff.  We will use the March 8, 2024 professional development day/bad weather day for a make-up day for students and staff. It is being proposed by administrators that the original professional development day be waived for staff and require no make-up for that day only.  This is a Board decision, requiring Board action.

Board policies EFAA (legal) and EFAA (local) address the selection and adoption of instructional materials for the district.  The instructional resource committee recommendation is to adopt all titles on the state approved list.  From the list, each campus will determine the supplemental materials to be ordered based on instructional allotment funds and need assessments for each campus. 
In order to remain in compliance with board policy and state guidelines to enable the district to obtain state-funded instructional materials for the school district, the Board of Trustees must certify the use of Instructional Material Allotment Funds for instructional resources within the school district.

All instructional materials presented are on the State Board of Education's state approved materials list.
Science K-8: SAVVAS
Science: Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Chemistry, Physics, Forensics,AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Physics: SAVVAS
Career and Technology Education and Social Studies Financial Literacy: BE Publishing
Technology Applications K-8: Learning.com
PreKindergarten Phonics: Frog Street Press

 

The Superintendent would like to inform the Board of the resignation of Dianna King, assistant band director.  Mrs. King is retiring as of the end of the school year.  Mrs. Burns is also reporting the resignation of Ava Zapalac, teacher at Smithville Elementary effective March 8th, and Ashley Cooper, teacher at Brown Primary effective the end of the school year.

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.

The Superintendent recommends the hire of:

Rachel Mahaffey - Teacher
Degree - BS from Texas State University
Certification - Core Subjects EC-6, ESL Supplemental EC-6
Years of Experience - 2 years
Campus - Smithville Elementary

Miss Mahaffey will take over for Ava Zapalac to complete the current school year, and is also being recommended for hire for 2024-2025.

The following administrators are currently on a two-year term contract and are in the first year of that contract.  The Superintendent recommends the following administrators for a one-year extension of their existing contract which will, in effect, give them a new two-year contract to expire June 30, 2026:
Michael Caudill - Assistant Superintendent 
Bethany Logan - Director of Curriculum
Tucker Copeland - High School Principal

The following administrators are currently on a one-year probationary contract and are being recommended for a two-year term contract to expire in June 2026:
Sarah Vinklarek - Brown Primary Principal

The following administrators are currently on a one-year probationary contract and are being recommended for a one-year term contract to expire in June 2025:
Tracy Johnson - Director of Special Education
Brenda Ricketts - High School Assistant Principal
Amanda Hudspeth - Junior High School Principal

The following administrators are currently on a one-year term contract, and are being recommended for a one-year term contract to expire June 30, 2025:
Holly Brockman - Elementary Assistant Principal
Erin O’Rourke - Elementary Assistant Principal
Whitney Brown - Special Programs Coordinator
Misty Vasquez - 504 Facilitator

The following administrator is currently on a one-year probationary contract, and is being recommended for a one-year probationary contract to expire June 30, 2025:
Gregory Maxwell - Assistant Principal at Smithville Junior High School