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

Students from Smithville Elementary who have received the most Tiger Tokens for the month will lead the group in the pledge. Those students are: first graders Arianna Herrera, Kerri Addleman, Brynlee Kramr and Brooks Motley; second graders Andrew Stark, Cash Sweeney and Billie (Wyatt) Wells; third graders Emilee Alvarado, Adaly Duty, Ruby Flores and Ivanna Silva Martinez; fourth graders Jason Khai, Kyzer Macks and Rachel Sanchez Aviles; and fifth graders Brayden Cook, Lathan Gregory, Riyann Snow, Audrianna Risinger, Layton Vicencio and Kathryn Hodges.

Smithville Elementary School recognizes outstanding students with the "Tiger of the Month" award.  Elementary staff nominate students who exhibit characteristics such as kindness, strong character, and helpfulness.  Each month, one exceptional student will be honored by the campus, recognized at the school board meeting, and will receive a special yard sign to proudly display at home.

Our Tiger of the Month for September is Lydia Colosky.  Lydia is a first-grader in Ms. Polich's class. Congratulations, Lydia!

Citizens wishing to address the Board of Trustees on agenda or non-agenda items must indicate their intent by listing their name on the Communications from the Public sign-in sheet located on the table at the entrance to the boardroom prior to the start of the meeting. 
Comments to the Board of Trustees under this provision will be limited to three minutes or six minutes if an interpreter is required. The Board of Trustees will listen to citizen comments during this portion of the 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 in accordance with Board Operating Procedures.  

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 August 25, 2025 regular meeting.

The board is provided monthly reporting of financial statements in relation to the approved budget.   

In accordance with legal reporting requirements for investments, the Board receives quarterly investment reports.

A monthly status report of earned state aid in relation to the budget is provided at Board request.

A report of earned state aid in relation to the budget is provided at Board request.

The Tax Assessor-Collector's Report is provided for review.

As required by law and in accordance with Policy CDA(LEGAL) and CDA(LOCAL), the investment policy and the investment strategy shall be reviewed not less than annually.  The Board shall adopt a written instrument stating that it has reviewed the investment policy and investment strategies and that the written instrument so adopted shall record any changes that were made.   

In accordance with Section 2256.008(a), Texas Government Code, local governing body must approve sources of training for the treasurer, chief financial officer and investment officer of the District, relating to investment responsibilities.  Officers must have training every two years and not less than 8 hours of training are required by law.

A review of financial disbursements for the previous month is provided to the Board of Trustees.  

Texas Education Code §21.057 and Board Policy DBA [Legal] require the Superintendent to notify the parents or guardian of each student in a classroom that is staffed by a teacher who is inappropriately certified or non-certified for their classroom instruction assignment.  Furthermore, the school district is required to make teacher certification information available to the public upon request. No parent notification is required for teachers currently enrolled in alternative certification programs, serving under a one-year certificate, or who are certified under the District of Innovation.

As of September 1, 2025 eleven members of our staff are employed under non-certified contracts as allowed by the District of Innovation plan.  Those individuals are enrolled, or are being required to enroll, in alternative certification programs and have not yet met ACP requirements. 

Two members of our staff are certified teachers, but are currently teaching outside their area of certification.

Three employees are in alternative certification programs, have met their requirements, and have been issued intern certificates for the 2025-2026 school year.

Reports have been made to parents as mandated by TEA, and no action is required.

As per Texas Education Code, Chapter 28, at least annually, the Board shall approve the membership of the SHAC.  A recommendation for the 2025-26 SHAC member roster is presented for approval to the Board of Trustees.

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

The 89th Texas Legislature recently passed several amendments to the Texas Education Code and Texas Government Code that will affect the way school board meetings are posted and conducted beginning on September 1, 2025. These changes include the posting of board meeting agendas and minutes, recording of meetings, recording of votes, public comment procedures, and time of meetings. The board will discuss these changes and any resulting adjustments to existing procedures.

The TASB Delegate Assembly is a crucial component of the Association’s governance structure.  Each active member (school board) of the Association is entitled to have a delegate and an alternate attend the Assembly and cast our district’s vote on action items coming before the Assembly.  The TASA/TASB txEDCON this year was September 11-14, 2025 and was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.  The 2025 Delegate Assembly met on Saturday, September 13th.  Mr. Bryan Jones was voted by the Board as the delegate for this year’s assembly and attended the Delegate Assembly on behalf of the Smithville ISD Board of Trustees. Information from the conference and delegate assembly will be discussed.

Dr. Logan, Assistant Superintendent, will provide an update on the Smithville ISD Strategic Plan.  This month’s update will focus on Priority 1: Student Success.

Tentative items for the October agenda are:

1.  Smithville Elementary School Tiger of the Month
2.  Recognition of Outstanding Students for the First Nine-Weeks
3.  Tiger Award Recipient
4. Public hearing on FIRST Ratings
5. Routine Consent Items
6.  Superintendent’s Report
7.  Accept a donation from TCS Mechanical
8. TASB Update 126
9.  Strategic Plan Update: Priority 2
10.  Annual Bilingual Report
11.  Personnel

Board Policy BQ [Legal] requires the Board to annually approve district and campus performance objectives and ensure that the district and campus improvement plans are mutually supportive to accomplish identified objectives and at a minimum, support the state goals and objectives.  Smithville ISD presents these plans and objectives to the Board of Trustees in order to meet legal requirements for approving campus performance objectives and to improve student achievement.

Site-Based committees, campus principals, and central office staff began working on revising our improvement plans and establishing performance objectives for the 2025-2026 school year last spring.  The committees have made final revisions this fall and are ready to present their performance objectives and improvement plans to the Board for approval.  Included with the board packet are the performance objectives and improvement plans established for the district and each campus.

In order for the district to be able to provide credit towards attendance and receive ADA funding, students must be in attendance in person. However, in extreme cases, a district may seek approval to provide Remote Homebound instructional services, count the student as in attendance, and receive ADA funding for that student.

Currently, there is an individual student who, for medical purposes, requires Remote Homebound as an option as they undergo treatment.

It is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the submission of a waiver to TEA to provide a student with Remote Homebound.

Approval requested for the following expenditures for the following purposes:

1. Ratify the expenditure associated with the replacement of a boiler at Brown Primary and HVAC at Smithville High School in the total amount of $50,310 to Rabroker via Buyboard purchasing co-operative utilizing General Funds.
2. Purchase of a school bus in the amount of $150,767 using General Funds.

An important component of the District’s Multihazard Emergency Operations Plan (MEOP) is reunification of students and parents following an emergency event. Should the need arise to relocate students to an alternative location, the City of Smithville has agreed to partner with the District in utilizing the Recreation Center and/or Riverbend Park. 

The Smithville City Council approved this MOU on September 8, 2025.

It is recommended that the District enter into a written agreement with the City of Smithville to identify reunification sites and clarify responsibilities of each party in the event of an emergency situation requiring reunification at an alternate location.

In accordance with HB 121 resulting from the 89th Legislative Session, public school districts must annually evaluate for renewal a good cause exception to having armed guards at every campus when hiring a school safety officer who meets the alternative requirements under statute. This good cause exception will provide for the continuation of our current practice of providing armed security at each campus, including a combination of School Resource Officers (SROs) and armed guards. 

It is recommended that the Board approve the Good Cause Exception resolution as presented.