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:  Aydiran Aguilar, Erabella-Rose Aguilar, Kaniya Baskin

2nd Grade:  Jayda Hall, Lorenzo Grohall, Kohl Cooper

3rd Grade:  Ava Mares, Sadie Finley, Zanyriah Johnson

4th Grade:  Zoey Clanton, Perri Kellogh, JrMykail Kellough

5th Grade:  Zoey Armstrong, Alice Pearcy, Eric Gonzales

Student guest speakers will be present at each board meeting to read a short essay on the Character Trait of the Month. 
This month, the Board of Trustees will hear essays from Marley Smith and Paige Owen, 3rd grade students in Ms. Mahaffey's class and Avery Johnson, a 2nd grader in Ms. Hunsucker's class.  Virtue is the character trait of the month.  

Each nine-weeks the middle school and high school faculties select an outstanding student from their respective campus.  Students are rated on a scale of 1 to 10 on such criteria as grades, honesty, enthusiasm, cooperation with teachers and their peers, class participation and leadership.

Kiersa Henderson and Brady Jones, both sixth graders, have been chosen as outstanding students for the 3rd nine-weeks from Smithville Junior High. Kiersa is the daughter of David and Martha  Henderson.  Brady is the son of Matt and Lora Jones.
Outstanding students chosen from Smithville High School are eleventh graders Carina Berryann and Sylvio Campbell-Evans.  Carina is the daughter of Doug and Ana Berryann, and Sylvio is the son of Carrie Evans. 
Congratulations to these students for their outstanding achievement!

Tiger Award recipients are nominated by peers.  Each campus and department will nominate a representative.  Final nominations will be voted on by a select committee.  Each campus and department will have an award winner that will be recognized at the board meeting every 9-weeks. 

Tiger Award winners:
Brown Primary - Leanne Vinklarek (Teacher)
Smithville Elementary - Julie Bishop (Teacher)
Smithville Junior High - Kylee Friend (Teacher/Coach)
Smithville High School - Reena Reese (Counselor)
ISD - Paloma Martinez (Transportation)
ISD - Hillary Earp (Nurse)

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 are the minutes from the February 26, 2024 regular meeting and the March 6, 2024 special 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:
District enrollment as of Friday, March 22, 2024 is 1794 students with a daily attendance rate of 92.08%.

• The Lady Tigers varsity soccer team is playing a playoff game against La Vega in Georgetown this evening.

• The boys powerlifting competed at state over this past weekend and had a good showing.

• One Act Play competes Wednesday at the bi-district competition.

• Kindergarten has their ABC’s of Texas program tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

• Smithville ISD is working on the Teacher Incentive Allotment. An application will be submitted in April.  This is coming from the state for teachers who have the targeted score on their evaluation and student growth.

• Friday, March 29th is Good Friday and is a holiday for staff and students.

• Friday, April 5th is also a staff and student holiday.

• Many of our students will be competing in Jamboree events next weekend and 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 and/or program progress within the district and on campuses.

Administrators from the high school review and edit the course catalog on an annual basis for the upcoming school year.  A report will be given to the Board of Trustees and updates or changes will be noted.  Most changes are typically due to legislative mandate and the course catalog provides information for students and parents to select required courses as well as elective courses.  The information is also used to determine staff and budget.

a.  Financial Report  
b.  Superintendent’s Report  
c,  Consider Approval of Strategic Plan
d.  Resignations and Employment of Certified Personnel
 

Mrs. McCarthy will present information at the meeting.

In accordance with Texas Education Code 31.1011, school districts and open-enrollment charter schools are required to certify annually to the State Board of Education and the commissioner that, for each subject in the required curriculum other than physical education, students have access to instructional materials that cover all the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for the coming school year.  Additionally, in accordance with Texas Administrative Code 19 TAC 66.105, school districts or charter schools are required to certify that they protect against access to obscene or harmful content in compliance with the requirements for certification under the Children's Internet Protection Act, 47 USC 254(h)(5)(B) and (C).

These certifications must be ratified by local school boards of trustees or governing bodies in public, noticed meetings.  Districts and open-enrollment charter schools will be unable to order instructional materials through EMAT until the certifications have been received by the Texas Education Agency.

The Superintendent would like to inform the Board of the resignations of:
Rachel Altman, teacher/coach at Smithville High School, Regina Estrada teacher/coach at Smithville High School, Cari Ulrich, counselor at Smithville High School, Amanda Tyler, and Judy Supak, teachers at Smithville High School, Doug Simms agriculture teacher at Smithville High School, and Harlye Bonorden, teacher at Smithville Elementary.
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 is recommending hiring of the following personnel:

Sean Sanchez - Business Manager
5 years experience as business manager at Prairie Lea ISD

Hailey Sherrill - Teacher
Degree - Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from Louisiana State University
Certification - Out of State Elementary EC-6
Years of Experience - 1 year
Campus - Brown Primary
To replace Ashley Cooper

James Baker - Asst. Band Director
Degree - Master of Science from Western Governors University
Years of Experience - 10 years
Campus - Smithville Junior High
To replace Dianna King

The administrators of the district have submitted to the office of the superintendent their recommendations for contract renewal of existing certified staff members.  The Board of Trustees is the final hiring authority for certified contract employees for Smithville I.S.D. and will act upon the recommendations for renewal of certified staff as presented by the Superintendent.  According to Texas Government Code §573.062, employees affected by the nepotism laws would have to abstain from voting on the contract (or salary) of a spouse or family member if that action applies only to the individual and is not taken regarding a bona fide class or category of employees.  Therefore, according to code, we will need one motion for approval of faculty contracts.