Apr 06, 2026 Lockhart ISD Board of Trustees Special Meeting

[Call to Order]

[00:00:05]

I CALL THIS MEETING OF THE LOCKHART INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO ORDER ON APRIL 6, 2026 AT 6 O'CLOCK P.M. LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT A QUORUM OF BOARD MEMBERS IS PRESENT, THAT THIS MEETING HAS BEEN DULY CALLED, AND THAT NOTICE OF THIS MEETING HAS BEEN POSTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TEXAS OPENS MEETING ACT, TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE, CHAPTER 551.

LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT TRUSTEES PULLIAM, SANCHEZ, WRIGHT, GUYTON, LOCKHART, CHARLES ARE PRESENT.

WE WILL NOW MOVE ON TO ITEM TWO, PUBLIC COMMENT.

ANYBODY SIGN UP TO SPEAK? NONE. SO, WE WILL MOVE ON.

[Consider and possible action regarding Master Lease Agreement with PPDC Lockhart, LLC (also known as Upward Communities) for the workforce housing initiative project in the Wildflower Juniper Springs development area, including possible delegation of authority to Superintendent or designee regarding additional negotiations and/or executing agreement.]

ESTRADA? YES, THANK YOU. I THINK WE HAVE A PRESENTATION.

IF WE CAN PULL THAT UP, PLEASE. SO JUST A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT. I KNOW WE HAVE A LONG AGENDA, BUT THIS IS, I THINK THIS IS A MONUMENTAL TIME AND A MONUMENTAL OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT TO REALLY ADDRESS THE NEED THAT WE HAVE SEEN FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, A NEED THAT OUR STAFF HAS COMMUNICATED TO US AND SOMETHING THAT I'M VERY PROUD TO BRING TO THE TABLE WITH OUR PARTNERS FROM UPWARDS COMMUNITY. JUST WANT TO GO THROUGH SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS, BIG PICTURE. SO, THIS COMMUNITY PROVIDES 117 HOMES AND OF THOSE, 85% OF THEM ARE SINGLE FAMILY HOMES, WITH THE VAST MAJORITY, OVER 75%, BEING THREE BEDROOM AND FOUR-BEDROOM HOMES. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT OUR STAFF HAS CONSISTENTLY TOLD US THAT THEY'RE REALLY INTERESTED IN.

THEY FEEL THAT THIS REALLY PROVIDES THE, IT'S A SIGNAL OF THEIR PROFESSIONALISM AND SOMETHING THAT THEY REALLY WANT. THEY DO NOT WANT APARTMENTS. THEY DO NOT WANT, YOU KNOW, OTHER TYPES OF HOUSING PRODUCTS. AND WE JUST FEEL VERY, VERY PROUD.

THIS HAS AMENITIES CENTERS, WHICH WE'LL GET TO VERY WALKABLE, AND HIGH-QUALITY HOMES WITHIN THIS PERRY HOMES DEVELOPMENT ACTUALLY GOING TO BE BUILT BY OUR PERRY HOMES AS WELL. SO, KIND OF WANT TO DIVE INTO SOME OF THE SITE PLAN. AND YOU CAN SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS PICTURE, THAT'S BORCHERT LOOP ROAD. AND IF YOU WERE TO GO TO THE LEFT OR THE NORTH OF THIS PICTURE, YOU WOULD HAVE BORCHERT LOOP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND THE PERRY HOMES DEVELOPMENT. SO, THIS IS ACTUALLY WAS ONE OF THE PHASES FOR THE PERRY HOMES, JENNIFER SPRINGS DEVELOPMENT THAT WE'RE PARTNERING WITH UPWARDS ON DEVELOPING THIS SITE. SO WHY WILDFLOWER? I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS AN IDEA FROM OUR PARTNERS. WE KNEW THAT IT NEEDED TO SPEAK TO TEACHERS, AND I THOUGHT THEY CAME UP WITH A REALLY GOOD NAME BECAUSE THIS IS ABOUT RETAINING OUR STAFF.

IT'S ABOUT EVERY YEAR GIVING OUR STAFF A PLACE THAT THEY'RE PROUD OF AND A PLACE TO LIVE.

AND JUST LIKE WILDFLOWERS, THEY RETURN EVERY YEAR. THEY NEED THE CONDITIONS, NOT SPOTLIGHT. THEY'RE RESILIENT, AND THEY MAKE IT A BETTER PLACE. SO, WE JUST FELT LIKE THIS REALLY ENCOMPASSES AND SENDS A MESSAGE JUST IN THE NAME OF WHY WE'RE DOING THIS. THIS IS AN OVERVIEW OF THE AMENITIES CENTER. AS YOU'LL SEE, THERE'S PLANNED TO BE A POOL, A LOUNGE, EVENT SPACE THAT OUR STAFF CAN UTILIZE FOR BIRTHDAY PARTIES ETC MEETINGS. I HAVE A FITNESS CENTER AS WELL. HERE'S A RENDERING OF WHAT IT'LL ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE, SO THIS WILL BE THE ENTRANCE OF THE COMMUNITY AND YOU HAVE THE AMENITY CENTER THERE AS THE FIRST THING. ANOTHER PICTURE OF THE SWIMMING POOL AND POOL DECK POND VIEW RESIDENCES, SO THIS WILL HAVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRODUCTS, SO THESE HOMES THAT YOU SEE HERE ARE THREE- AND FOUR-BEDROOM HOMES. YOU KNOW, WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO WAKE UP OR SPEND TIME AFTER WORK WITH THAT VIEW? IF YOU WERE TO CONTINUE TO LOOK PAST THE PONDS, THAT'S GREEN SPACE, YOU KNOW, LOOKING TOWARDS THE EAST. YOU KNOW, SO BEAUTIFUL SUNRISES HERE.

ALL OF THE HOMES HAVE PRIVATE YARDS WITH ALLEY LOADED GARAGES AND PARKING, SO THIS IS A CONCEPT THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IN THE PAST. IT'S A CONCEPT THAT SOME OF THE COMMUNITIES THAT ARE

[00:05:02]

GET THE CARS OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY IN THE FRONT AND KEEP THEM IN THE BACK SO THE FRONT YARDS ARE AESTHETICALLY PLEASING.

SUGGESTED RENT, SO YOU HAVE ONE-BEDROOM COTTAGES, TWO-BEDROOMS, TWO-BEDROOM HOMES, THREE-BEDROOM HOMES, FOUR-BEDROOM HOMES. SO, PRICE POINTS ARE LISTED THERE AND WE EXPECT THESE TO BE WITHIN $400 TO $800 BELOW THE MARKET RATES.

I'VE SHARED SOME OF THESE PRICES WITH SOME OF OUR STAFF WHO CURRENTLY RENT IN THE AREA JUST TO CHECK THE MARKET STUDY THAT WE DID AND EVERYONE RESPONDS VERY WELL TO THESE PRICES. THE DESIGN AND INTERIOR DESIGN, YOU CAN SEE HIGH QUALITY, VERY NICE FEATURES, MATERIALS THAT ARE GOING TO LAST, MATERIALS THAT ARE GOING TO STAND THE TEST OF TIME AS WELL. IT'S VERY WELL DONE. THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE COTTAGES, SO JUST A FEW OF THESE ONE- AND TWO-BEDROOM COTTAGES. MOST OF THE UNITS ARE GOING TO BE SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES, STARTING WITH THE TWO BEDROOMS, WHAT THEY CALL THE BLANCO, TWO-AND-A-HALF BATH, ONE-CAR GARAGE, FRONT PATIO, AND BACK AS WELL. THIS IS THE FLOOR PLAN. FOR THIS, WE'RE GOING TO POST ALL THESE MATERIALS AS WELL. I CERTAINLY WANT TO GIVE YOU A HIGH-LEVEL VIEW.

THIS FLOOR PLAN IS A THREE-BEDROOM, TWO-AND-A-HALF BATH, TWO-CAR GARAGE. AGAIN, FRONT AND BACK PATIOS ON THE CLOVER. ANOTHER THREE-BEDROOM OPTION, TWO-AND-A-HALF GARAGE, TWO-CAR, TWO-AND-A-HALF BATH, TWO-CAR GARAGE, FRONT AND BACK PATIO AS WELL.

YOU CAN SEE THE FLOOR PLAN HERE. THE FOUR-STAR, FOUR-BEDROOM, TWO-AND-A-HALF BATH, TWO-CAR GARAGE. AGAIN, YOU'RE STARTING TO SEE THESE ARE HOMES. THESE ARE PLACES TO WHERE NOT ONLY OUR STAFF BUT THEIR FAMILIES CAN LIVE, PLACES THAT THEY CAN FEEL PROUD TO LIVE. VERY HIGH-QUALITY, BEAUTIFUL, WELL-DONE HOMES, THE FOUR-STAR. SO, WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY OVER THE LAST 18 MONTHS. SO, I KNOW WE'VE HAD A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT BOARD MEETINGS THAT YOU KNOW THAT WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS. WE'VE BEEN COMMUNICATING A LOT. WE ALSO HAVE OUR LEGAL COUNSEL HERE WITH US THAT YOU KNOW WOULD LIKE TO SHARE A FEW THINGS IN AN EXECUTIVE SESSION. SO, AT THIS TIME PRESIDENT I'M GOING TO ASK IF WE CAN PAUSE AND TALK WITH LEGAL COUNSEL JUST ABOUT SOME OF THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS OF THIS. OKAY, BUT FIRST, FOR THE RECORD, SHOW THAT TRUSTEE RENE RAYOS JOINED US AT 6.04 P.M. SO, WE'RE GOING TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSIONS.

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES ON APRIL 06, 2026, BEGINNING AT 6.08 P.M., WILL CONVENE IN CLOSED SESSION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TEXAS OPENS MEETING ACT FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCUSSING ITEMS LISTED UNDER TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 551.072, 551.129, 551.071. NO FINAL ACTIONS, DECISIONS, OR VOTES WILL BE TAKEN WHILE THE BOARD IS IN EXECUTIVE SESSION. 6.45 P.M.

ON APRIL 6, 2026. OKAY, WE'LL GO BACK TO ITEM 3A. CONSIDER AND CONSIDER IMPOSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING MASTER LEASE AGREEMENT WITH PB DC LOCKHART LLC ALSO KNOWN AS UPWARDS COMMUNITY FOR THE WORK FOR WORKFORCE HOUSING INITIATIVE PROJECT IN THE WILDFLOWER JUNIPER SPRINGS DEVELOPMENT AREA INCLUDING POSSIBLE DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO SUPERINTENDENT OR DESIGNEE REGARDING ADDITIONAL NEGOTIATIONS OUR EXECUTIVE AGREEMENT THE ANY BOARD MEMBER HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? NO. THEN WE'LL CONSIDER A MOTION. I MOVE TO APPROVE THE MASTER LEASE AGREEMENT WITH PPDC LOCKHART LLC, ALSO KNOWN AS UPWARD COMMUNITIES, FOR THE WORKFORCE HOUSING INITIATIVE PROJECT IN THE WILDFLOWER AT JUNIPER SPRINGS DEVELOPMENT AREA, INCLUDING DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO SUPERINTENDENT OR DESIGNEE REGARDING ADDITIONAL NEGOTIATION AND OR EXECUTING AGREEMENT. SECOND.

OKAY, WE HAVE A MOTION. WE HAVE A SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, RAISE YOUR HAND AND SAY AYE.

AYE. ANY OPPOSED? SAME SIGN.

PASSES 7 TO 0. WE'LL MOVE ON

[Consider and possible action regarding selection of vendor for property management services for the workforce housing initiative project in the Wildflower Juniper Springs development area, including possible delegation of authority to Superintendent/designee to negotiate and/or enter into a contract with selected vendor and PPDC Lockhart, LLC (also known as Upward Communities).]

CONSIDER IMPOSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING SELECTION OF VENDOR FOR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR THAT WORKFORCE

[00:10:01]

DISCUSSION? ENTERTAIN A MOTION? IS THAT THE SAME AS WHAT WE HAVE LISTED ON 3B FRED? NOT AN R. IS THIS A MOTION? OKAY, I MOVE TO APPROVE THE PROPOSAL AS PRESENTED IN AWARDING TO UC LOCKHART DEVELOPMENT LLC AND ASSET PLUS USA LLC AND INCLUDING THE DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO SUPERINTENDENT OR DESIGNEE REGARDING ADDITIONAL NEGOTIATION AND OR EXECUTING AGREEMENT. SECOND.

OKAY WE HAVE A MOTION. WE HAVE A SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE, RAISE YOUR HAND SAY AYE.

AYE. ANY OPPOSED? LIKE THAT.

THAT'S 7 TO 0. ITEM 3C, CONSIDER

[Consider and possible action regarding Purchase Option for residential homes from PPDC Lockhart, LLC (also known as Upward Communities) for the workforce housing initiative project in the Wildflower Juniper Springs development area, including possible delegation of authority to Superintendent or designee regarding additional negotiations and/or executing agreement.]

AYE. ANY OPPOSED? PASSES 7-0.

[Consider and possible action regarding Resolution Authorizing Public Purpose Housing Project in the Wildflower Juniper Springs development area and Related Agreements with Upward Communities, including approval and delegation of authority related to the Master Lease, Management Agreement, Purchase Option and related any agreements or any documentation.]

[2026 TASB Pay and Stipend Report]

ESTRADA. EACH YEAR WE PARTNER WITH TASB TO DO A PAY STUDY ON OUR COMPENSATION PLAN AS WELL

[00:15:03]

AND SO I'M GOING TO START JUST BY SHARING THE PROCESS THAT WE WENT THROUGH JUST TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE OF WHAT WE DO EACH YEAR. WE BEGIN WITH PLANNING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS. SO I HAVE A PLANNING MEETING WITH DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION, AND WE COLLECT DATA DURING THAT PROCESS. SO WE COLLECT PAYROLL DATA, PERSONNEL DATA PROCEDURES, THE CURRENT COMPENSATION PLAN THAT'S IN PLACE FROM THERE WE TAKE THAT DATA AND INFORMATION FROM THAT PLANNING MEETING AND WE CONDUCT A MARKET ANALYSIS OR A MARKET PAY REVIEW. SO WE MATCH JOBS IN LOCKHART ISD TO JOBS OUT IN THE MARKETPLACE TO SEE HOW LOCKHART COMPARES TO YOUR PEERS AND TO THOSE THAT YOU'RE COMPETING AGAINST. AFTER WE CONDUCT THAT MARKET ANALYSIS, WE USE THAT INFORMATION TO IMPROVE THE PAY SYSTEM AS NEEDED, MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE PAY SYSTEM AS NEEDED, PROVIDE SOME OPPORTUNITIES OR SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADJUSTMENTS TO SALARIES, TO PAY RANGES, THINGS OF THAT NATURE. SO I'LL SHARE THE FINDINGS OF THAT AS WE GO THROUGH THIS. I WANT TO START OUT BY JUST SHARING SOME KEY COMPENSATION CONCEPTS. I'M GOING TO KEEP THIS PRETTY BRIEF. BUT THERE'S FOUR PAY SYSTEM OBJECTIVES THAT WE LOOK AT WHEN WE'RE CONDUCTING THESE REVIEWS FOR DISTRICTS, AND WE ENCOURAGE DISTRICTS TO THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS AS WELL. I KNOW WITH LOCKHART, ONE OF Y'ALL'S MAIN GOALS IS RETAINING EMPLOYEES, AND THAT'S ONE OF OUR OBJECTIVES AS WELL WHEN WE'RE WORKING WITH DISTRICTS IS TO HELP YOU RETAIN EMPLOYEES.

RETAINING EMPLOYEES CAN BE DONE BY A NUMBER OF WAYS. SOME OF THE THINGS Y'ALL ARE DOING RIGHT NOW WITH THE HOUSING, THAT'S GOING TO HELP RETAIN EMPLOYEES. WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT COMPENSATION, THE BEST WAY TO RETAIN EMPLOYEES WITH COMPENSATION IS GIVING REGULAR PAY INCREASES. WHEN STAFF KNOW THAT THE DISTRICT'S GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THEM ON AN ANNUAL BASIS AND HELP THEM KEEP UP WITH COST OF LIVING, THAT'S GOING TO HELP STAFF TO STAY AROUND. SO REGULAR PAY INCREASES IS IMPORTANT TO HELP RETAIN EMPLOYEES WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT COMPENSATION.

AGAIN, THERE'S OTHER WAYS, SUPPORT, LEADERSHIP, OTHER WAYS TO HELP RETAIN EMPLOYEES, BUT COMPENSATION ALONE IS REGULAR PAY INCREASES. MOVING TO THE RIGHT THERE, RECRUITING EMPLOYEES IS ANOTHER OBJECTIVE.

TURNOVER HAPPENS. WHEN IT DOES HAPPEN, YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO RECRUIT QUALITY EMPLOYEES TO REPLACE THOSE STAFF THAT LEFT.

THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY HAVING COMPETITIVE PAY STRUCTURES.

YOUR PAY STRUCTURE DRIVES YOUR HIRING RATES WHEN YOU HAVE VACANCIES. SO WE LOOK AT THAT. MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADJUSTING STRUCTURE IS NEEDED AND I'LL TALK MORE ABOUT THAT I'M GOING TO MOVE TO THE BOTTOM LEFT PAYING FOR THE JOB VALUE IS ALSO ANOTHER OBJECTIVE. WE RECOMMEND MARKET BASED PAY SYSTEMS WHICH MEANS YOU'RE PAYING FOR THE VALUE OF THAT JOB OUT IN THE MARKETPLACE OR CLOSE TO IT, THAT'S GOING TO KEEP YOU COMPETITIVE BUT THE OTHER THING THAT IT'S GOING TO DO IS GOING TO PREVENT OVERPAYMENT OR UNDERPAYMENT AND IN OUR WHOLE PAY STRUCTURE HELPS THIS. WE SET SALARY RANGES FOR JOBS AROUND MARKET RATES.

IT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS. YOU'RE USING PUBLIC FUNDS. YOU NEED TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF PUBLIC FUNDS. AND SO IF YOU'RE UNDERPAYING, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF TURNOVER, AND THAT'S COSTLY. IT'S EXPENSIVE TO RETRAIN STAFF.

IT'S EXPENSIVE TO HAVE A LOT OF TURNOVER. IF YOU'RE OVERPAYING, THEN YOU'RE PAYING EXCESSIVELY AND NOT BEING GOOD STEWARDS OF THOSE FUNDS. SO WE WORK TO SET THOSE RANGES TO MAKE THEM APPROPRIATE FOR THE JOBS. AND THEN THE LAST ONE TIES INTO ALL OF THAT, CONTROLLING COSTS. THE BOARD'S RESPONSIBLE FOR ADOPTING THE

[00:20:01]

ONE THING THAT WE RECOMMEND IS LET YOUR BUDGET DRIVE SALARY INCREASES. YOU WANT TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT THAT.

YES, YOU WANT TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR STAFF. YOU ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S SUSTAINABLE. SO, WE TRY TO HELP YOU TO CONTROL COSTS BY PROVIDING YOU SOME COST MODELS TO THINK ABOUT THAT'S GOING TO ALIGN WITH YOUR BUDGET. SO LET'S DIG INTO THE FINDINGS.

THE FIRST THING I'M JUST GOING TO SHARE IS THE LIST OF PEER DISTRICTS THAT WE USED, AND THIS IS THE SAME LIST WE'VE BEEN USING FOR YEARS. THESE ARE THE 12 DISTRICTS THAT WE LOOKED AT THAT ARE PEERS OF YOURS.

THEY'RE IN THIS GEOGRAPHIC AREA. THERE ARE DISTRICTS THAT YOU COMPETE WITH FOR STAFF FOR THE MOST PART. IT GIVES US A GOOD SAMPLE SET OF MARKET RATES IN THE AREA. A COUPLE THINGS I'LL POINT OUT ARE THAT COMAL AND SAN MARCOS DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN OUR SALARY SURVEY THIS PAST YEAR. IT'S A VOLUNTARY SURVEY THAT WE DO EVERY YEAR. SO THOSE TWO DISTRICTS, WE WERE ABLE TO COLLECT THEIR TEACHER SALARY SCHEDULE. SO, THEY'LL BE INCLUDED IN THE MARKET ANALYSIS FOR YOUR TEACHERS, BUT THEY WERE NOT INCLUDED FOR ALL OF THE NON-TEACHING JOBS. SO ALL OF THOSE NON-TEACHING JOBS IS JUST THE OTHER 10 DISTRICTS THAT WE HAD FOR MARKET COMPARISON. AND THEN ANOTHER THING THAT I'LL ADD, WE DO EXPAND THAT SEARCH SOME, AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT ON THE NEXT SLIDE OUTSIDE OF THESE PEER DISTRICTS. AND THAT CAN HAPPEN FOR SOME JOBS, SPECIFICALLY HIGHER-LEVEL JOBS IN CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION. WE WILL LOOK AT STATEWIDE DISTRICTS OF COMPARABLE SIZE. AN EASY EXAMPLE IS A CFO AT LOCKHART ISD IS NOT THE SAME JOB AS A CFO AT AUSTIN ISD. IT'S A MUCH DIFFERENT JOB BECAUSE OF THE SCOPE, THE SIZE OF THE DISTRICT. SO, FOR THOSE HIGH-LEVEL JOBS, WE LOOK AT DISTRICTS OF SIMILAR SIZE, AND WE'LL TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION.

AND WE ALSO LOOK AT SOME NON-SCHOOL MARKET SOURCES. WE USE COMP ANALYSTS AND PAY FACTORS FOR JOBS THAT COMPETE OUT IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

THINK ABOUT SOME OF YOUR AUXILIARY JOBS, CUSTODIANS, CAFETERIA STAFF, MAINTENANCE STAFF, THINGS OF THAT NATURE. WE WILL LOOK IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO SEE WHAT THOSE JOBS, THE MARKET LOOKS LIKE FOR THOSE JOBS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR. OKAY, SO THIS, THERE'S A LOT OF DATA ON THIS SLIDE HERE, SO LET ME EXPLAIN WHAT I'M SHOWING HERE.

I THOUGHT THIS, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS WITH THE LEADERSHIP TEAM, AND THE TEAM THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE VERY BENEFICIAL FOR THE DISTRICT TO SEE.

ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE, THE PIE CHART IS SHOWING THE TEACHER DEMOGRAPHICS FROM 2018-19 SCHOOL YEAR. SO THAT'S 2018-19 SCHOOL YEAR. SAY THAT AGAIN AND SO IF YOU SEE THE BREAKDOWN OF STAFF ROUGHLY HALF OF THE STAFF HAS LESS THAN SIX YEARS OF EXPERIENCE BACK THEN ON THE RIGHT IS THE TEACHER DEMOGRAPHICS FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR AND SO I WANT YOU TO LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE NOW WE'RE I'LL SAY ABOUT A THIRD OF THE STAFF HAVE LESS THAN SIX YEARS SO THAT'S IT'S SLIGHT BUT IT IS CONSIDERABLE AND SO WANT TO MAKE THAT POINT YOU'RE SEEING THOSE TEACHERS HANG AROUND IN THE DISTRICT AND SO YOU'VE SEEN A SHIFT FROM THAT ONE TO FIVE TO THAT SIX TO TEN RANGE THOSE TEACHERS HAVE STAYED WITHIN THE DISTRICT AND THEY'VE MOVED UP TO THAT NEXT MARK. YES, SIR.

YEAH, ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE WANTED TO LOOK AT THIS IS A QUESTION THAT WE HAD BECAUSE WE MADE A STRATEGIC CHOICE TO REALLY START HONORING OUR VETERAN TEACHERS, TO START PAYING TEACHERS MORE AT THAT YEAR SIX MARK. WE WERE CURIOUS TO SEE HAS THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE, AND I THINK THIS CHART CLEARLY SHOWS THAT THAT STRATEGY THAT THE BOARD HAS TAKEN IS PAYING OFF IN THAT OUR KIDS HAVE MORE EXPERIENCED TEACHERS NOW THAN WHAT THEY DID PREVIOUSLY. THANKS, DR.

ESTRADA. THERE WAS ABOUT FOUR YEARS THERE WHERE THE DISTRICT WAS VERY AGGRESSIVE ON INCREASING SALARIES FOR EXPERIENCED TEACHERS, AND YOU'RE SEEING THE RESULTS OF THAT NOW. SO WE WANTED TO SHOW THAT, AND I THINK IT SHOWS IT HERE AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THIS NEXT SLIDE IS GOING TO SHOW THAT AS WELL THESE ARE NEW HIRES FROM 2018-19 ON THE LEFT AND NEW HIRES FROM THIS SCHOOL YEAR SO BACK IN 2018-19 BEFORE THAT INITIATIVE STARTED IMPROVING SALARIES FOR EXPERIENCED TEACHERS, A LITTLE OVER HALF OF YOUR NEW HIRES WERE BRAND NEW TO THE TEACHING PROFESSION.

LESS THAN HALF HAD PRIOR TEACHING EXPERIENCE. WHEN I LOOK AT IT THIS YEAR, LOOK AT THE SHIFT THERE. NOW ABOUT TWO-THIRDS OF YOUR NEW HIRES ARE COMING IN WITH TEACHING EXPERIENCE.

THE WAY I THINK ABOUT THAT IS

[00:25:01]

HOPEFULLY BOTH OF THOSE ARE HAPPENING, RIGHT? BUT I THINK THE CHANGES THAT YOU ALL HAVE MADE WITH THE TEACHER SALARIES, YOU'VE SEEN THE BENEFITS OF IT, AND THE DATA SHOWS THAT. SO HOPEFULLY THAT'S GOOD FOR YOU TO HEAR THAT BECAUSE IT'S BEEN A LOT OF WORK. YOU ALL HAVE DONE A LOT OF WORK THERE, AND DR. ESTRADA HAS LED A LOT OF THAT. HE HAD THE FORESIGHT TO SEE THAT, AND WE PUT THAT IN PLACE, AND IT'S GONE WELL.

THIS NEXT SLIDE AGAIN, I'M BACKING UP TO 2018-19. SO THIS SHOWS THE THE TEACHER MARKET COMPARISON FROM 2018-19. I PULLED THIS BACK FROM THAT STUDY WE DID BACK THEN. HERE'S WHAT'S ON THIS GRAPH. THE BLUE LINE IS THE LOCAL MARKET MEDIAN SALARY OF THE PEER DISTRICTS SAME PEER DISTRICTS FROM BACK THEN THAT WE'RE USING NOW. SO THAT'S THE MIDDLE VALUE OF THOSE PEER DISTRICTS ON THE BLUE LINE. THE ORANGE LINE IS LOCKHART ISD SALARIES.

SO BIG PICTURE WHAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE IS LOCKHART ISD SALARIES WERE VERY COMPETITIVE THROUGH YEAR 10. THEY WERE ABOVE THE LOCAL MARKET MEDIAN.

SO YOU WERE ABOVE THE MIDDLE OF THE PEER GROUP IN YEARS 0 THROUGH 10, AND THEN YOU FELL BELOW THE PEER GROUP BEYOND YEAR 10. YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE ORANGE LINE DIPS BELOW THE BLUE LINE IN YEARS 15 AND 20. AND SO I THINK THAT'S WHAT LED TO SOME OF THIS IS WE NEED TO ADDRESS THIS. AND SO HERE'S THE CHANGE WHEN WE GO TO THIS YEAR. HERE'S THE CHANGE FOR THIS YEAR. AGAIN, THE BLUE LINE IS THE MARKET MEDIAN. THE ORANGE LINE IS LOCKHART ISD SALARIES. SO NOW LOCKHART IS BELOW THE MEDIAN IN YEARS 0 THROUGH 5, BUT THEN BEYOND YEAR 5, YOU'RE VERY COMPETITIVE WITH THE MEDIAN.

AND THEN AT YEAR 10, YOU'RE SLIGHTLY ABOVE. YOUR 15 AND 20 YEAR. SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE SO WE KIND OF FLIPPED THAT A LITTLE BIT AND MORE COMPETITIVE WITH THE THE EXPERIENCED TEACHERS NOW COMPARED TO THE MARKET. ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT? GOOD. THIS IS JUST THE DATA BEHIND THE THAT GRAPH FOR THIS YEAR JUST TO GIVE YOU THE THE DATA IN A DIFFERENT FORMAT SO AGAIN THIS IS FOR THIS YEAR FOR THE 25-26 SCHOOL YEAR. THE FIRST ROW SHOWS LOCKHART ISD SALARIES AT THOSE DATA POINTS 00, 5, 10, 15, AND 20. THE NEXT ROW IS THE LOCAL MARKET MEDIAN AT THOSE DATA POINTS. AND THEN IT JUST SHOWS HOW YOU COMPARE TO THE MEDIAN AS A PERCENT AND AS A DOLLAR AMOUNT. SO, AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE HOW YOU'RE FALLING BELOW THE MEDIAN IN DATA POINTS OF 0 AND 5, BUT YOU'RE VERY COMPETITIVE AFTER THAT. I'M SLIGHTLY ABOVE AT 10 AND SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE AT 15 AND EVEN MORE SO AT 20.

YOUR AVERAGE SALARIES ARE LOWER THAN THE MEDIAN, AND THAT'S DRIVEN BY EXPERIENCE. YOU STILL HAVE A FAIRLY YOUNG TEACHING STAFF EXPERIENCE-WISE, MUCH BETTER THAN IT WAS IN 18-19, BUT STILL YOUNG IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS. SO THAT'S WHY THE AVERAGE SALARIES ARE LOW. SO WE'VE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS IN THAT AREA.

HOW DOES THE GUY A? IT DOES NOT WE'RE LOOKING AT BASE SALARIES ONLY GREAT QUESTION TIA IS DIFFICULT FOR US TO TRACK. SO YOU KNOW THAT THAT MONEY GOES WITH THE TEACHER WHEN THEY GO FROM DISTRICT TO DISTRICT. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT BASE SALARIES ONLY. SO, YEAH GOOD QUESTION. THAT'S JUST HARD FOR US TO TRACK AND BE ABLE TO MONITOR THAT. THE NEXT SLIDE ARE SOME COMMON TEACHING AREA STOP-INS THAT WE SEE DISTRICTS PAY, AND I SHARE THIS EVERY YEAR WITH THE DISTRICT. THE FIRST COLUMN THERE, LOCKHART ISD, SHOWS WHAT THE DISTRICT IS PAYING FOR THESE STOP-INS, AND THEN THE MEDIAN STOP-IN FROM THE PEER GROUP IS NEXT TO THAT, AND THEN THE NUMBER OF DISTRICTS THAT ARE PAYING THAT STOP-IN OUT OF THE 10 THAT PARTICIPATED IN OUR SURVEY.

WHAT I'LL POINT OUT HERE IS OVERALL, LOCKHART ISD IS COMPETITIVE EXCEPT FOR ONE AREA, AND THAT'S SPECIAL EDUCATION HIGH NEEDS.

THE MEDIAN STOP-IN VALUE IS $4,750. ALL 10 PEER DISTRICTS ARE REPORTING THAT. LOCKHART'S AT $3,000. THE PAST COUPLE YEARS, THIS HAS BEEN A PRETTY HOT TOPIC FOR DISTRICTS. I'VE SEEN THAT STOP-IN INCREASE OVER THE PAST COUPLE YEARS.

DISTRICTS ARE SEEING TURNOVER ISSUES IN THAT AREA. THEY'RE HAVING A TOUGH TIME FILLING THOSE POSITIONS. SO THESE ARE TEACHERS THAT ARE ASSIGNED TO A SELF-CONTAINED SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSROOM TYPICALLY STUDENTS OF HIGH NEEDS AND SO

[00:30:02]

THIS JUST SHOWS THE FIRST COLUMN THERE UNDER PAY GROUP HEADING. THIS JUST SHOWS THE GROUP OF EMPLOYEES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. THE NEXT COLUMN SHOWS HOW THEY COMPARE TO MARKET FOR THAT ENTIRE GROUP.

SO THE PAY FOR THAT ENTIRE GROUP ON AVERAGE COMPARED TO MARKET. THE NEXT COLUMN SHOWS HOW THEIR PAY GRADE COMPARES TO MARKET. SO THAT'S HOW COMPETITIVE THEIR CURRENT PAY STRUCTURE IS TO MARKET.

AND THEN FOR YOUR NON-EXEMPT STAFF, SHOW HOW THE MINIMUM RATE COMPARES TO MARKET THAT MINIMUM RATE IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THOSE HOURLY STAFF AND THEN THE LAST COLUMN SHOWS THE NUMBER OF BENCHMARKS THAT WERE USED IN THE MARKET ANALYSIS SO AS AN EXAMPLE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION THAT'S GOING TO BE YOUR ADMINISTRATIVE AND PROFESSIONAL STAFF AT DISTRICT OFFICE THERE WERE 17 JOBS MATCHED AND SO THESE ARE COORDINATORS DIRECTORS ALL THE WAY UP TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SUPERINTENDENT. PAY TO MARKET IS 90% OF MARKET. SO THAT MEANS OVERALL OF THOSE 17 JOBS, THEIR PAY IS FALLING 10% BELOW THE MARKET MEDIAN FOR LOT JOBS OUT IN THE MARKETPLACE. THE PAY GRADE MIDPOINT IS 92% OF MARKET. SO THAT MEANS THAT THEIR STRUCTURES OVERALL ARE FALLING 8% BELOW MARKET RATES. SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS IF ONE OF THESE JOBS BECOMES VACANT, AN INDIVIDUAL LEAVES, THE WAY THE STRUCTURE IS SET UP RIGHT NOW, THE PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING A HIRING RATE ARE GOING TO FALL BELOW MARKET RATES. SO THAT'S GOING TO MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO FILL THAT POSITION. AND SO THAT'S WHAT THE DATA IS SHOWING HERE. SO YOU CAN SEE THE SAME.

THING FOR CAMPUS ADMINISTRATION.

THEY'RE 5% BELOW MARKET, STRUCTURES ARE 3% BELOW. SEVEN JOBS MATCH THERE, THAT'S PRINCIPALS AND ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS. YOUR PROFESSIONAL STAFF, THIS IS GOING TO BE COUNSELORS, SPECIAL EDUCATION SUPPORT LIKE DIAGNOSTICIANS, THOSE TYPE OF STAFF. PAY HERE IS 95% OF MARKET OR 5% BELOW.

THE STRUCTURES ARE 5% BELOW.

SO IF YOU JUST LOOK AT THOSE THREE GROUPS, THOSE THOSE ARE YOUR EXEMPT STAFF, THOSE ARE YOUR SALARY STAFF.

WE'RE SEEING THAT PAY IS FALLING A LITTLE BELOW MARKET FOR THESE, AND OUR STRUCTURES ARE LOW.

AND SO WE WANT TO TRY TO ADDRESS THOSE. WE WANT TO TRY TO MAKE SURE WE'RE STAYING COMPETITIVE WITH MARKET SO THAT WE CAN REPLACE STAFF IF WE HAVE TURNOVER OR HOPEFULLY PREVENT TURNOVER FIRST OFF.

THE NEXT THREE ARE OUR HOURLY STAFF OR NON-EXEMPT STAFF. THE FIRST IS INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT.

THESE ARE GOING TO BE YOUR CLASSROOM AIDES, THOSE THAT ARE ASSISTING IN THE CLASSROOM. YOU CAN SEE THAT PAY IS STRONGER HERE, 98% OF MARKET. STRUCTURE IS ALSO STRONGER AT 99% OF MARKET.

YOUR MINIMUMS ARE FALLING A LITTLE BIT BELOW HERE AT 94% OF MARKET. SO THERE'S SOME STRATEGIES WE CAN TAKE TO TRY TO ADDRESS THOSE MINIMUMS. AND THEN WITH YOUR CLERICAL AND TECHNICAL, THIS IS CLERICAL SUPPORT STAFF FOR THE MOST PART, 18 JOBS MATCHED. PAY IS CONSIDERABLY BELOW AT 10% BELOW. STRUCTURES ARE ALSO FALLING LOW AT 94% AND THE MINIMUMS ARE LOW AT 93%. THE LAST GROUP, SHOCK ZERI, THIS IS GOING TO BE MAINTENANCE CUSTODIAL.

THEIR PAY IS 91% OF MARKET.

STRUCTURES ARE 90% OF MARKET AND THE MINIMUMS ARE AT 93% OF MARKET. SO WHILE OUR INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT LOOKS FAIRLY STRONG OVERALL, WE DO SEE OUR CLERICAL AND TECHNICAL AND OUR AUXILIARY STAFF FALLING A LITTLE BIT BELOW MARKET. I JUST WANT TO MENTION A COUPLE THINGS.

OBVIOUSLY, THAT'S A HUGE PRIORITY FOR US, 90% AND 91%.

THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I THINK I HOPE WOULD BECOME A PRIORITY FOR US. ALSO, WHEN WE'RE HIRING FOLKS FOR THOSE POSITIONS, IT'S INCREDIBLY HARD TO FIND PEOPLE BECAUSE THE PAY, AS THIS STUDY SHOWED, IS LOW THEY'RE LIKELY MAKING MORE MONEY WHEREVER ELSE THEY'RE WORKING AT. SO IT'S HARD TO HIRE PEOPLE IN THAT AUXILIARY, CLERICAL, TECHNICAL ESPECIALLY. AND THEN I KNOW IT'S AN EASY ONE TO ATTACK. IT'S NOT A POPULAR THING OUT THERE IN THE WORLD, BUT THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION IS ALSO LOW AND SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT AS WELL. LEADERSHIP MATTERS. IT MATTERS GREATLY. I THINK THAT'S AN AREA TO WHERE WE COULD IMPROVE.

[00:35:04]

THE SECOND ONE IS TO HELP RETAIN OUR STAFF.

LET'S REWARD OUR STAFF THAT ARE HERE, HELP RETAIN THEM, AND THAT'S GIVE THEM A GENERAL PAY INCREASE. THE FIRST BULLET THERE IS JUST TO ADDRESS HOUSE BILL 2 AND THE TEACHER RETENTION ALLOTMENT. FOR 25-26 THERE WAS A REQUIREMENT TO GIVE THE TEACHER RETENTION ALLOTMENT FOR THOSE ENTERING YEARS 3 AND ABOVE. WELL, THAT CARRIES OVER INTO 26-27 FOR A TEACHER ENTERING YEAR THREE AND 26-27 THEY'RE STILL REQUIRED TO GET THAT TEACHER RETENTION ALLOTMENT AND SAME FOR THAT TEACHER ENTERING YEAR FIVE SO ALL OF THE MODELS DO INCLUDE THAT TO ENSURE THAT THE DISTRICT IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE BILL 2 AND THEN FOR YOUR TEACHERS THEIR GENERAL PAY INCREASE IS CALCULATED AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE MARKET MEDIAN SALARY. SO EVERY TEACHER GETS THE SAME DOLLAR AMOUNT INCREASE BUT IT'S A PERCENT OF THE MARKET MEDIAN SALARY.

WE HAVE OTHER PAY GROUPS THAT GENERALLY PAY INCREASES PERCENTAGE OF THE EMPLOYEES PAY GRADE MIDPOINT THE NEXT SLIDE IS GOING TO SHOW YOU A SUMMARY OF THE THREE MODELS THAT WE PROVIDED FOR YOU FOR FOR BUDGET PURPOSES SO MODEL ONE AND I PUT THIS ON ONE SLIDE BECAUSE IT CAN THIS CAN BE A LITTLE CONFUSING BUT MODEL ONE WOULD BE A TWO PERCENT PAY INCREASE FOR YOUR TEACHERS AND THAT'S A ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE DOLLAR INCREASE FOR EVERY CONTINUING TEACHER AND THEN AGAIN THOSE ENTERING YEARS THREE AND FIVE WILL GET THE TEACHER RETENTION ALLOTMENT THAT THEY'RE REQUIRED TO RECEIVE. YOUR ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL WOULD RECEIVE A 3% PAY INCREASE AS A PERCENT OF MIDPOINT. CLERICAL PARAPROFESSIONAL IS 3.5%, AND AUXILIARY IS 3.5%. SO IT'S BEING STRATEGIC BASED ON THE DATA. THIS IS WHAT THIS IS. AND THEN MODEL TWO WOULD BE 2%, AGAIN, FOR THE TEACHERS, 3% FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL, AND IT'S SLIGHTLY HIGHER FOR CLERICAL PARAPROFESSIONAL AND AUXILIARY. IT WOULD BE 4% FOR THOSE TWO GROUPS. AND THEN MODEL 3 IS A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A BIT LOWER MODEL SO IT GIVES YOU GUYS A ANOTHER OPTION TO LOOK AT AND WE'LL LOOK AT THE COST HERE IN A MINUTE BUT IT'D BE 1% FOR YOUR TEACHERS 625 DOLLARS 2% ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL AND 3% FOR YOUR NON-EXEMPT PAY GROUPS ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT? SO THIS IS YOUR MODEL ONE, TWO, AND THREE? CORRECT, CORRECT.

AND SO THE COST ESTIMATES THAT WE'LL SEE HERE IN A MINUTE REPRESENT THOSE MODELS. AND SO THE DISTRICT COULD, I MEAN, Y'ALL COULD MIX AND MATCH THIS ANY WAY YOU WANT TO, OR Y'ALL COULD CHOOSE TO GIVE A PERCENT INCREASE ACROSS THE BOARD TO EVERY GROUP. I KNOW, AND SHE USUALLY DOES HER MODEL.

WELL, ACTUALLY, I THINK LAST YEAR WE HAD A BIG MIX-UP. WHAT ONE STARTED OUT AS THREE, I THINK, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

SO, NO, DON'T READ ANY INTO THIS AS ONE IS PREFERRED.

THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO GET FEEDBACK FROM THE BOARD, LISTEN TO THE BOARD. WE TRIED TO GIVE YOU DIFFERENT OPTIONS SO THAT IT MADE IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER, JUST KIND OF MATHEMATICALLY, WELL, WHAT IF WE DID? 2% FOR EVERYONE OR 3% FOR EVERYONE OR 4%. THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE KIND OF GIVE YOU DIFFERENT OPTIONS TOO

[00:40:01]

BUT WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAYS TO GO BEFORE I LOOK AT THIS BECAUSE NOT TO SPOIL MS. WEISER'S PRESENTATION COMING UP, BUT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIND A LOT OF MONEY TO GIVE ANY OF THESE RACES. I WAS GOING TO SAY, WHERE'S THE MONEY? YEAH, NICOLE ALWAYS TELLS ME, HERE'S HOW MUCH I THINK WE CAN SPEND, AND I'M ALWAYS LIKE, OH, NO, I THINK I WENT OVER. 100% OF THE TIME. YES. SO, YEAH, THAT'S PART OF THE GOAL HERE, LIKE DR. ESTRADA SAID, IS TO GIVE YOU GUYS SOME OPTIONS. I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU HERE IN A MINUTE, AND DR. ESTRADA ALLUDED TO THIS, I'LL SHOW YOU.

WHAT THE COST IMPACT IS ON AVERAGE FOR EVERY PERCENT ADJUSTMENT.

SO WE CAN LOOK AT THAT HERE IN A MINUTE. SO WE'LL CIRCLE BACK AROUND TO THAT HERE. SO RECOMMENDATION THREE, SO BACK UP. RECOMMENDATION ONE, JUSTICE STRUCTURES.

RECOMMENDATION TWO IS GIVE A GENERAL PAY INCREASE.

RECOMMENDATION THREE, THIS IS ADDRESSING THAT SPECIAL EDUCATION HIGH NEEDS STOP-IN THAT WE TALKED ABOUT AND SAW IN THE MARKET. SO JUST AS A SUMMARY, THE CURRENT STOP-IN IS $3,000.

THAT'S BELOW THE MARKET MEDIAN OF $4,750. SO I'M MAKING A RECOMMENDATION TO INCREASE IT TO A MINIMUM OF $4,000. SO YOU CAN GO HIGHER, GREAT, BUT I WOULD SAY TRY TO GET TO AT LEAST $4,000. THE COST IMPACT FOR THAT WOULD BE $19,000. IT'S A $1,000 INCREASE FOR 19 EMPLOYEES. SO YOU CAN DOUBLE THAT IF YOU WENT UP TO $5,000, AND SO IT KIND OF GIVES YOU AN IDEA, BUT YOU CAN SEE WHAT THE COST IMPACT THERE. AND THEN RECOMMENDATION FOUR, I'LL TALK ABOUT THIS ONE BRIEFLY. AS I SAID, I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE DISTRICT, I THINK, SEVEN OR EIGHT YEARS. I'VE BEEN WITH TASB FOR 12 YEARS IN A COUPLE DIFFERENT ROLES, BUT ALWAYS SUPPORTING DISTRICTS IN THIS ROLE. I WAS LOOKING BACK AT THE HISTORY AND IT'S BEEN 10 YEARS SINCE WE'VE DONE A COMPREHENSIVE PAY REVIEW FOR THE DISTRICT. SO LET ME EXPLAIN WHAT THAT MEANS. 10 YEARS AGO, WE CAME IN AND DID AN INITIAL REVIEW FOR THE DISTRICT AND IT WAS KIND OF LIKE OVERHAULING THE ENGINE.

WE TOOK THE ENGINE APART AND REBUILT IT AND PUT IT BACK TOGETHER AND AND GAVE YOU A NICE SMOOTH RUNNING ENGINE AND OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS WE'VE BEEN CHANGING THE OIL SO WE'VE BEEN MAINTAINING THAT PLAN AND WHILE I WORK WITH THE DISTRICT AND WE DO SOME TWEAKS HERE AND THERE AND WE MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS WE DON'T DO THE DEEP DIVE INTO THE ENGINE USING THAT ANALOGY THAT WE DID 10 YEARS AGO I THINK IT'S TIME TO CONSIDER THAT IN AND SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE THE DISTRICT TO CONSIDER THAT I'M GOING TO WORK WITH NICOLE AND ON WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE FEE WISE IT DOES COST MORE MONEY WE PUT MORE EFFORT INTO IT AND SO IT DOES COST MORE MONEY TO DO THAT BUT WE BOUGHT THE WARRANTY 10 YEARS AGO. THE WARRANTIES RUN OUT IS THE PROBLEM. QUICK QUESTION ON THAT PROCESS. I'VE ONLY BEEN THE SUPERINTENDENT FOR EIGHT YEARS, SO THAT WAS BEFORE MY TIME. BUT DOES THAT PROCESS IDENTIFY SAVINGS AS WELL, OR DOES EVERYTHING THAT COMES BACK NEW BUDGET ITEMS? IT WON'T IDENTIFY SAVINGS.

WHAT IT'S GOING TO BE FOCUSED ON IS. THINK ABOUT BACK TO THE MARKET ANALYSIS AND WHERE WE SAW STARTING TO FALL BEHIND IN SOME AREAS. IT'S GOING TO ALLOW US TO PUT THE RESOURCES INTO IT TO HELP IMPROVE THAT AND BE STRATEGIC ABOUT HOW YOU SPEND THAT MONEY.

BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO TAKE A LOT OF STRUCTURE ADJUSTMENTS. WE WOULD LOOK MORE IN DETAIL, TOO, AT JOB PLACEMENTS WITHIN THE PAY PLAN, OR DO WE HAVE SOME JOBS THAT MAYBE NEED TO GO ON A DIFFERENT PAY GRADE? AND SO JUST BEING A LITTLE BIT MORE STRATEGIC AND MORE IN-DEPTH AT LOOKING AT WHERE JOBS ARE PLACED AND HOW THE STRUCTURE IS SET UP. CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT OUR CURRENT STUDY, THE ONE THAT WE JUST COMPLETED, IT LOOKED AT EVERY JOB, RIGHT, AND COMPARED IT TO THE MARKET.

MARKET YOU'RE JUST SAYING THAT YOU'RE GONNA DIVE DEEPER TO GIVE US MORE RECOMMENDATIONS YEAH WE DIDN'T LOOK AT EVERY JOB AND SO WE LOOK AT THE JOBS THAT ARE IN OUR, THAT ARE WITHIN OUR SURVEY.

IN A

[00:45:01]

THERE IS A FEE FOR IT.

BUT AS I SAID EARLIER, I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO INCREASE YOUR STRUCTURES MORE. THAT TAKES A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF WORK TO ENSURE THAT YOU'RE NOT CAUSING ANY INTERNAL INEQUITIES THERE. AND SO THAT'S WHERE A LOT OF OUR RESOURCES WOULD BE PUT FORTH LET'S GET YOUR STRUCTURES IN A BETTER PLACE AND WHEN WE SAW SOME PAY GROUPS THAT WERE 10% BELOW MARKET THE STRUCTURES LET'S GET THOSE IN A BETTER PLACE BUT THEN LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW WE TAKE CARE OF THE STAFF THAT'S IN THOSE STRUCTURES TOO AND NOT LEAVE THEM BEHIND COST SOME MONEY IT DOES AND SO THE DISTRICT WOULD NEED TO DETERMINE ARE WE READY TO DO THAT OR NOT THAT'S MY RECOMMENDATION GRANT PROGRAM.

NICOLE HAS ONLY SO MANY BUCKETS.

ARE WE GETTING MORE BUCKETS? SO WHAT I'LL DO IS I'LL GET WITH NICOLE AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT A FEE FOR THAT AND THEN Y'ALL CAN DECIDE AS A DISTRICT IS THAT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO OR NOT I'M JUST I'M TELLING YOU JUST FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN THAT I THINK THERE WOULD BE SOME BENEFITS FOR THAT CAN Y'ALL CONTINUE DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH PAY MAINTENANCE SURE AND I WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT YOU AS AS MUCH AS WE CAN IT WOULD JUST ALLOW US TO PUT SOME MORE RESOURCES INTO THAT TO BE ABLE TO HELP YOU OUT WE DO THAT ALREADY RIGHT WE LOOK AT MARKET WHEN WE PAY LIKE A JANITOR WE LOOK AT THAT ALREADY? YES SIR, ALL I KNOW IS THAT WHEN WORKING FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WE HAVE THIS EVERY 10 YEARS AS WELL.

AND SOME PEOPLE WILL GET PUT INTO A DIFFERENT PAY CLASS.

AND THAT RETAINS THE EMPLOYEES BECAUSE NOW THEY KNOW THAT THERE'S NO CEILING. NOW THEY HAVE A WAY TO MOVE UP. THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT. AND I WANT TO CLARIFY TOO, WE DO THAT EVERY YEAR AS WELL.

WHEN WE IDENTIFY AND THEY'LL GIVE US RECOMMENDATIONS, YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS JOB ACTUALLY SHOULD BE PAY GRADE 6 INSTEAD OF 5. SO WE'RE MAKING THOSE ADJUSTMENTS OVER THE YEARS AS WELL. OKAY, OVER THE PAST SEVEN OR EIGHT YEARS, THERE'S MULTIPLE TIMES THAT I'VE MADE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MOVING A JOB UP. THAT'S THE ONLY ONE I'VE SEEN. SO, YEAH, WE'RE LOOKING AT THOSE BIG, HUGE OUTLIERS ANNUALLY. WHAT WE COULD BE MISSING IS SOMETHING LITTLE BECAUSE WE'RE JUST NOT DIGGING INTO IT. RIGHT. I UNDERSTAND THAT. IT'S JUST THAT FROM MY EXPERIENCE IS THAT WHEN YOU DO THIS IN-DEPTH RESEARCH, THAT MOST OF THE TIME THERE'S NOTHING THAT COMES OUT OF IT.

SO IT SEEMS SORT OF LIKE A I WORDED THAT WRONG.

THERE'S WHEN YOU DIG DEEP, YOU'RE GOING TO FIND SOMETHING. BUT IT'S LIKE IT'S GOING TO BE A COUPLE OF POSITIONS. IT'S NOT GOING TO BE LIKE OH YOU KNOW THIS WHOLE CLASS OF EMPLOYEE NEEDS TO BE ALL BUMPED UP NO IT'S GOING TO BE SOMETHING VERY VERY SMALL AND I KNOW FROM LIKE I WAS LIKE OH I'M SO HAPPY THAT THEY'RE DOING THIS FOR ME BECAUSE THEY'RE GOING TO BUMP ME UP INTO A BETTER NO I GOT THE SAME PAY AND I WAS LIKE AH MAYBE MAYBE MAYBE THEY DO IT EVERY FIVE YEARS MAYBE NEXT FIVE YEARS MAYBE THEY'LL BUMP ME UP INTO A DIFFERENT CLASS OR SOMETHING BUT NO I UNDERSTAND THAT BUT IT'S, IT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT I THINK THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL FOR THOSE ONE OR TWO POSITIONS TO JUST LOOK AT. I THINK WHAT THE DISTRICT'S GOT TO DECIDE IS ARE YOU WILLING TO SPEND SOME MONEY TO ADDRESS IT? BECAUSE THE THINGS WE'RE GOING TO FIND, THERE'S PROBABLY GOING TO BE A COST IMPACT. WHEN YOU GUYS DO THAT TYPE OF IN-DEPTH STUDY, WHAT'S THE AVERAGE PERCENT INCREASE TO THE BUDGET THAT COST THE DISTRICT? ALL OVER THE MAP ARC IT JUST IT DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION AND SO THERE'S IN AND WHEN WE DO THE IN-DEPTH STUDY THERE'S DIFFERENT TIMES WHEN WE WOULD DO IT THERE'S WE HAVE A LOT OF DISTRICTS THAT DO THE MAINTENANCE THEMSELVES AND THEY COME TO US TO SEVEN YEARS AND DO A FULL REVIEW TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE STAYING ON TRACK WITH MARKET, MAKE SURE THEY HAVEN'T CREATED ANY

[00:50:02]

BUT THEN WE HAVE OTHERS THAT ARE LIKE LOCKHART. WE WORK WITH THEM EVERY YEAR, DO THE MAINTENANCE EVERY YEAR, AND TYPICALLY AROUND THE 10-YEAR MARK. WE'LL DO A PAY REVIEW. THERE'S VARIABLES THERE. SOMETIMES THE DISTRICT MAY NEED IT BECAUSE THEY'VE SEEN SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH AND THEY HAVE NOT KEPT UP WITH THAT GROWTH AND SO WE MIGHT DO IT EARLIER THAN 10 YEARS BECAUSE WE'VE ADDED ALL THESE JOBS, ARE WE PUTTING THEM IN THE RIGHT PLACE, ARE WE HANDLING THESE APPROPRIATELY, OR VICE VERSA, THEY'RE SEEING A DECLINE AND THEY NEED TO RESTRUCTURE BECAUSE THEY'VE DECREASED JOBS AND THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING'S OKAY.

SO THERE'S A LOT OF VARIABLES INVOLVED THERE. I DON'T THINK I COULD GIVE YOU AN ACCURATE ANSWER TO THAT JUST BECAUSE OF ALL THE VARIABLES. WHAT ARE YOU SEEING ACROSS THE STATE RIGHT NOW IN TERMS OF I MEAN, BECAUSE THIS IS ALL ABOUT REMAINING COMPETITIVE WITH THE MARKET, AND WE SEE SOME ERRORS WHERE WE'RE NOT COMPETITIVE, BUT GENERALLY WE ARE COMPETITIVE. WHAT ARE YOU SEEING I MEAN, IF WE'RE NOT ABLE TO GIVE SIGNIFICANT RAISES, ARE PEOPLE GOING TO CONTINUE TO GIVE RAISES? AND WE'RE GOING TO BE CHASING THEM. THEM GETTING FURTHER BEHIND OR WHAT ARE YOU SEEING ACROSS THE GOOD QUESTION NOW I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE A VERY LOW YEAR FOR PAY INCREASES ACROSS STATE DISTRICTS I'M WORKING WITH MY CAUGHT IN MY COLLEAGUES WORKING WITH THE MODELS WERE RUNNING RIGHT NOW ARE LIKE ZERO PERCENT NO PAY INCREASE WHICH IS SOME ADJUSTMENTS THAT ARE NECESSARY YOU KNOW A STEP INCREASE FOR THE TEACHERS WHICH WHICH IS THE BARE MINIMUM. LET'S JUST MOVE THEM UP TO THE NEXT STEP AND THEN A 1% AND A 2% JUST FOR KICKS AND HOPING THEY CAN GET THERE. I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE A VERY LIGHT YEAR. NOW, THE BENEFIT OF THAT IS IF A DISTRICT HAS SOME FUNDS AVAILABLE, YOU CAN MAKE SOME HEADWAY.

THAT'S WHAT I'M THINKING. AND I THINK, AND I'LL SAY THIS TOO.

NICOLE MIGHT HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS, BUT I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF FINANCE FOLKS THAT ARE FEARFUL OF WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE NEXT SESSION WITH HOUSE BILL 2. BECAUSE THE STATE HAS FUNDED THE TEACHER ATTENTION ALLOTMENT FOR THESE TWO YEARS. IS THAT GOING TO CONTINUE? THAT'S PART OF YOUR BUDGET NOW. THAT SALARY INCREASE THAT THE STATE REQUIRED IS NOW PART OF YOUR BUDGET. THEY HAVE AGREED TO FUND IT FOR TWO YEARS, BUT IS THAT GOING TO CONTINUE? WE HAVE ANOTHER SESSION COMING UP NEXT SPRING, AND WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DECIDE TO DO? ARE THEY GOING TO SAY, WE'RE NOT GOING TO FUND THAT ANYMORE? WELL, NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN, Y'ALL ARE IN CHARGE OF THAT INCREASE TO THOSE TEACHERS, AND THAT JUST INCREASED YOUR BUDGET SIGNIFICANTLY. AND SO I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF FINANCE FOLKS IN THE DISTRICTS GOING I DON'T THINK WE WANT TO JUMP OUT THERE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I'M FEARFUL OF WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN SO WE'RE GOING TO PUT A LITTLE IN SAVINGS AND NOT GIVE A VERY BIG PAY INCREASE THIS YEAR. OUR TEACHERS GOT A SEVEN TO EIGHT PERCENT PAY INCREASE LAST YEAR BECAUSE OF HOUSE BILL 2, SO WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO MUCH.

THAT'S WHAT I'M SEEING HERE.

BECAUSE THEY'RE WORRIED THAT THE LEGISLATURE DOESN'T PROVIDE FUNDING. WELL, THAT MEANS THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GIVE EVERYONE A 7% TO 8% RAISE. THAT'S RIGHT. BUT REALLY NOT GIVE THEM A RAISE BECAUSE THAT'S FLAT, BUT JUST TO MAKE UP FOR THE LOSS OF STATE FUNDING. YOU'RE GOING TO ABSORB THAT 7% TO 8% INCREASE THAT TEACHERS GOT.

EXACTLY RIGHT. I THINK THAT'S THE FEAR, AND THAT'S WHY A LOT OF DISTRICTS WE'RE WORKING WITH RIGHT NOW ARE SAYING, I DON'T THINK WE'RE GOING TO DO MUCH. AND THAT COULD CHANGE, BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE SAYING RIGHT NOW. I THINK WE ALL NEED TO REMEMBER THAT WE'LL BE OPENING A NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL NEXT YEAR, AND THERE ARE GOING TO BE SIGNIFICANT COSTS WITH THAT. DR. ESTRADA, HAS THERE BEEN A YEAR WHERE IT'S BEEN LIKE THAT WITH US? YES, SIR. WHAT YEAR WAS THAT? 2020? YEAH. YES, SIR. WE DID A ONE-TIME PAYMENT. THAT SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT. 2021, MAYBE.

ON THE BOARD. 2020. SO SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.

JUST, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU WHATEVER YOU DECIDE. THIS IS OUR RECOMMENDATION, BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT WE DON'T DEAL WITH ALL THE THINGS Y'ALL ARE DEALING WITH, AND Y'ALL HAVE TO MAKE THE DECISION THAT'S BEST FOR THE DISTRICT. OKAY, SO LET'S LOOK AT THE COST MODELS. MODEL ONE, AGAIN, YOU COULD REFER BACK TO THE OTHER SLIDE, AND I'LL

[00:55:02]

THIS WOULD BE A 2% INCREASE FOR YOUR TEACHERS, AND YOU CAN SEE IT UNDER THE PAY GROUP COLUMN THERE. A 3% INCREASE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL, THREE AND A HALF PERCENT FOR YOUR NON-EXEMPT PAY GROUPS AND THEN I JUST SHOWED YOU THE COST FOR THE HIGH NEEDS STOP AND IF YOU INCREASED IT BY A THOUSAND DOLLARS SO TOTAL COST IMPACT UNDER THIS MODEL IS ALMOST 1.4 MILLION. YOU CAN SEE MOST OF THAT OBVIOUSLY IS THE GENERAL PAY INCREASE. THE TEACHER RETENTION ALLOTMENT OF $108,200 WOULD BE COVERED BY THE STATE. SO IF YOU SUBTRACTED THAT FROM THE 1.3, THAT'S WHAT THE DISTRICT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR. SO THAT'S JUST FOR THOSE TEACHERS IN THEIR YEARS 3 AND 5 FOR THIS NEXT YEAR. SO IT'S NOT VERY MUCH. I JUST WANT TO PUT THAT OUT THERE. MODEL 2 WOULD BE 2% FOR YOUR TEACHERS, 3% FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL, JUST LIKE MODEL 1, BUT CLERICAL, TECHNICAL, AND AUXILIARY INCREASES TO 4%. THAT GETS YOU A LITTLE OVER $1.4 MILLION WITH THE TEACHER RETENTION ALLOTMENT.

TAKE THAT OUT, YOU'RE SLIGHTLY UNDER THAT. AND THEN MODEL 3, THIS WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, WE CALL IT YOUR COST SAVINGS MODEL IF YOU WANT. THIS WOULD BE 1% FOR YOUR TEACHERS, 2% FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL, 3% FOR CLERICAL, TECHNICAL, AND AUXILIARY. IT GETS YOU JUST SLIGHTLY BELOW $1 MILLION, $980,000. MINUS THE 108. MINUS THE 108, CORRECT. AND THEN THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT EARLIER. I JUST WANTED TO SHOW YOU, IF YOU WERE TO GIVE EVERY GROUP A 1% GENERAL PAY INCREASE, IT WOULD COST ROUGHLY $680,000. A 2% PAY INCREASE WOULD BE ABOUT $1.1 MILLION, SO THAT'S A $428,000 INCREASE. IF YOU WENT UP TO 3% ACROSS THE BOARD, IT WOULD BE ALMOST $1.6 MILLION, SO IT'S A $472,000 INCREASE. SO IF YOU JUST WANTED TO ROUGH NUMBERS, YOU COULD SAY EVERY PERCENTAGE CHANGE, EVERY PERCENTAGE BASIS POINT CHANGE WOULD BE AROUND $450,000. KIND OF GIVE YOU AN IDEA THERE, AND YOU CAN SEE THE IMPACT BY GROUP AS WELL. SO YOU COULD SAY, OKAY, IF WE CHANGE OUR ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL BY 1%, WE'RE LOOKING AT ABOUT A $105,000 IMPACT. IF WE CHANGE OUR CLERICAL AND TECHNICAL BY 1%, WE'RE LOOKING AT ABOUT A $65,000 IMPACT.

AUXILIARY, WE'RE LOOKING AT ABOUT A $22,000 IMPACT FOR EVERY CHANGE. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? KIND OF GIVE YOU AN IDEA. IF YOU WERE RUNNING THROUGH YOUR HEAD, WELL, WHAT IF WE DID THIS OR THIS? YOU COULD GET SOME ROUGH NUMBERS REAL QUICK JUST BY BY DOING SOME MATH THERE. AND THE SPECIAL NEEDS PART IS THAT IN HERE. IT IS NOT SO IT THAT THAT STAYS 19,000 IF YOU DO A 1,000 INCREASE AND THEN YOU KNOW IF YOU WENT UP TO 2,000 IT WOULD DOUBLE OR 2,000 MORE IT WOULD DOUBLE DO WE HAVE ANY VACANCIES THE SPECIAL NEEDS FUNCTIONING OR THEY'RE ALL FULL, SO WE WOULDN'T BE LOOKING AT ADDING EVEN MORE TO IT.

WELL, NO. WE ARE FOR HIGH NUMBERS FOR NEXT YEAR, WE ARE LOOKING AT ADDING. BUT CURRENTLY THOSE POSITIONS ARE. CURRENTLY IT'S 19, BUT THEN IF WE ADD IT TO THE SALARY PLUS ANOTHER 01,000. ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANYTHING? I THINK THAT WAS MY LAST SLIDE. ANYTHING ELSE, COREY? THAT'S RIGHT. YEAH, I GOT THE EASY PART. I JUST TELL YOU ALL THE THINGS. HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO, BUT HE'S GOT TO TELL YOU, WELL, HERE'S WHAT WE CAN DO. THOSE ARE OUR OPTIONS. ALL RIGHT.

THANK YOU, MR. HOPPS. ANYTHING ELSE FOR ME IN THE GROUP? THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE YOU GUYS. I ALWAYS ENJOY WORKING WITH YOU ALL. YOU ALL GOT A GOOD TEAM HERE. I ALWAYS ENJOY WORKING WITH THEM. SO I GET TO COME DOWN AND VISIT WITH THEM. WE ALWAYS HAVE A GOOD TIME. THEY GOT SOME GREAT IDEAS SOMETIMES. SOMETIMES.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

BUT THEY'RE A LOT OF FUN, RIGHT? SO IT'S FUN ANYWAY,

[2026-2027 Staffing and Budget Session]

MS. WEISER. OKAY, GOOD EVENING, PRESIDENT WRIGHT, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, AND DR.

ESTRADA. THIS IS OUR FIRST BUDGET WORKSHOP FOR THE 26-27 FISCAL YEAR THAT WE WILL BE ADOPTING AT THE END OF JUNE.

SO, WE'RE WARMED UP NOW. THAT WAS JUST THE WARM UP AND NOW WE'RE READY TO WORK THROUGH THE BUDGET SO I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH SOME

[01:00:02]

WE'LL TALK ABOUT STAFFING REQUESTS. WE'LL LOOK AT OUR BENEFITS SPECIFICALLY LOOKING INTO LIONCARE IN QUITE SOME DETAIL AND WE'LL LOOK AT VERY VERY EARLY TAX RATES AND THEN OUR BUDGET SUMMARY AT THE END. SO YOU HAVE THIS PRESENTATION UNDER TAB 3 IF YOU WANT TO GO ALONG ALONG WITH ME AND FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS AND DISCUSS AND DISCUSS ALONG THE WAY. SO HOW DOES LOCKHART ISD RECEIVE FUNDS TO EDUCATE THE STUDENTS HERE IN LOCKHART? THIS BUCKET HERE REPRESENTS THE TOTAL COST TO EDUCATE THE STUDENTS ATTENDING LOCKHART ISD. I PUT TOTAL COST TO EDUCATE IN QUOTES BECAUSE WE DO NOT GET TO REPORT HOW MUCH IT COSTS TO EDUCATE OUR STUDENTS TO ANY TYPE OF AGENCY AND THEN THEY FUND US. WE, THEY TELL US HOW MUCH IT COSTS.

TO EDUCATE THE STUDENTS BASED ON A BASIC PER-STUDENT ALLOTMENT. SO EVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT IN TEXAS GETS A BUCKET. EVERY SINGLE BUCKET IS DIFFERENT IN SIZE DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS. I'M LOOKING AT YOUR GOLDEN BUCKET OVER HERE. BASED ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS WITHIN THAT DISTRICT, THE NEEDS OF THOSE STUDENTS, AND THE ATTENDANCE OF THOSE STUDENTS SO WE ARE ONE OF THE LAST FIVE STATES THAT ARE FUNDED BASED ON ATTENDANCE AND IT'S JUST A IT'S JUST A PART OF HOW OUR HOW OUR BUCKET IS FUNDED SO WHAT FUNDS FILL UP THE BUCKET SO HOW DOES THE SCHOOL DISTRICT RECEIVE REVENUE IN ORDER TO EDUCATE THE STUDENTS THAT ATTEND HERE OUR LOCAL TAX COLLECTION FIRST GOES IN THE BUCKET. SO THE LOCAL TAX COLLECTION COMES IN, WE FILL THE BUCKET UP. THE STATE DETERMINES THE SIZE OF OUR BUCKET BASED ON OUR STUDENTS, THE NEEDS OF OUR STUDENTS, AND THE ATTENDANCE OF OUR STUDENTS. SO ONCE THEY DETERMINE THE SIZE, ONCE OUR LOCAL TAX COLLECTION HAS GONE IN, THEN THE STATE WILL COME AND FILL UP THE REST OF THE BUCKET WITH THEIR STATE REVENUE.

THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER LITTLE THINGS THAT HAPPEN. SOME BIG THINGS, BUT THESE ARE, THIS IS THE HIGH LEVEL OF HOW A SCHOOL DISTRICT RECEIVES REVENUE TO EDUCATE THE STUDENTS OF THEIR COMMUNITY. SO HOW CAN A SCHOOL DISTRICT'S BUCKET GET ANY BIGGER? IT CAN GET BIGGER THROUGH ENROLLMENT GROWTH, AND WE HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING THAT FOR THE PAST MANY YEARS.

OCTOBER SNAPSHOT, WE HAD A 43 STUDENT INCREASE FROM 24 TO 25. AT OUR LAST BOARD MEETING ON FEBRUARY 20TH, WE HAD A 28 STUDENT INCREASE AND THEN AS OF LAST THURSDAY WE HAVE HAD A 15 STUDENT INCREASE OR 15 STUDENTS HIGHER THAN WE WERE IN 24-25. SO WE DO HAVE SOME ENROLLMENT GROWTH PROJECTED TO CONTINUE AND TO BE MUCH HIGHER NEXT YEAR WITH ALL OF THE DEVELOPMENTS WE HAVE GOING ON WITHIN THE COUNTY. A VHRE IS ANOTHER WAY THAT A SCHOOL DISTRICT CAN INCREASE THEIR BUCKET. WE DO HAVE, WE DID PASS A VATRE BACK IN NOVEMBER OF 2023 WITH THREE GOLDEN PENNIES.

THERE ARE NINE ADDITIONAL COPPER PENNIES REMAINING AVAILABLE SHOULD WE WANT TO HOLD ANOTHER VATRE.

INCREASED ATTENDANCE DOES IMPACT THE SIZE OF OUR BUCKET. THE MORE DAYS THAT THEY'RE HERE, THE MORE DAYS WE'RE ABLE TO GET FUNDED. SO WE HAVE HAD A 1.4% INCREASE IN CUMULATIVE ATTENDANCE THIS YEAR THROUGH LAST THURSDAY, WHICH IS OUTSTANDING. WOO. YES. YES, THAT DESERVES AN APPLAUSE.

WHERE ARE YOU BEING? RIGHT THERE. YEP. SO THAT IS DEFINITELY A WAY TO INCREASE THE BUCKET AND DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE HAVE SEEN SO FAR THIS YEAR. SO THEN ONCE WE KNOW WHAT OUR BUCKET IS OR WE CAN PROJECT WHAT OUR BUCKET IS, WE'RE ALWAYS BASING OUR BUDGET ON OUR THREE DISTRICT GOALS THAT WE HAVE THROUGH NAVIGATE TO 28, WHICH IS ONE, CREATE INNOVATIVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL STUDENTS TO PREPARE FOR SUCCESS BEYOND GRADUATION. TWO, THAT EVERY CAMPUS WILL HAVE AN A RATING BY 2028 THROUGH EXEMPLARY TEACHING AND STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING. AND THREE, TO CULTIVATE AN

[01:05:01]

OKAY, SO REAL FAST, WE'LL LOOK AT OUR 25-26 BUDGET AS WE ADOPTED IT. WE DID ADOPT A BALANCED BUDGET OF $72.2 MILLION. 73% OF OUR BUDGET IS IN PAYROLL. HOWEVER, AT LOCKHART, WE DO OUTSOURCE OUR TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT AND OUR CUSTODIAL SERVICES SO WHEN I MOVE THAT IN WE HAVE 81% OF OUR BUDGET COME FUNDED THROUGH OUR STAFF AND SO THAT IS A NORMAL NUMBER THAT YOU'RE THAT YOU'LL SEE AT ALL OF THE TRAININGS THAT YOU GO TO IS THAT IT'S ANYWHERE BETWEEN 80 AND 85 PERCENT. IF IT GETS MORE THAN THAT THEN THE SALARIES ARE REALLY FUNDING A LOT, LOT OF THE BUDGET. ALSO ON THE REVENUE SIDE, WE RECEIVED 63% OF OUR REVENUE FROM THE STATE, 37% FROM LOCAL TAX COLLECTION.

AT THIS TIME LAST YEAR, I BELIEVE IT WAS 47% LOCAL TAX COLLECTION AND 53% STATE FUNDING. BUT DUE TO THE INCREASE IN THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION, THAT HAS NOW SHIFTED BACK AGAIN TO LESS LOCAL REVENUE AND MORE STATE REVENUE. SO HERE WE ARE IN OUR 26-7 BUDGET AND I JUST FIRST WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE REALLY LOOK AT CREATING THE BUDGET THE VERY FIRST THING THAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IS WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT REVENUE BECAUSE WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS THE PROJECTION OF OUR BUCKET SO WE CAN DETERMINE HOW MUCH REVENUE WE HAVE TO SPEND ON OUR STUDENTS FOR THE 26-27 STUDENTS. SO WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT REVENUE AND HOW WE'RE GOING TO PREDICT THE SIZE OF THIS BUCKET, WHICH IS REPRESENTING THE TOTAL COST TO EDUCATE OUR STUDENTS, WHAT STUDENTS ARE GOING TO SHOW UP IN 26, 27, AND WHAT ARE GOING TO BE THEIR NEEDS AND WHAT IS GOING TO BE THEIR ATTENDANCE. SO WHAT I DO, WHAT WE START WITH IS DOING FIRST AN ENROLLMENT PROJECTION. WE LOOK AT CURRENT ENROLLMENT WHEN WE'RE MAKING THAT PROJECTION AND THEN WE LOOK AT THE DEMOGRAPHIC STUDY SO THAT WE CAN DETERMINE WHAT WE ARE GOING TO PROJECT FOR NEXT YEAR BECAUSE THE ENROLLMENT PROJECTION IS THE BIGGEST DRIVER OF THE SIZE OF THAT BUCKET. SO THIS IS A NUMBER THAT WE DEFINITELY, THIS WAS THE BIGGEST START TO THE BUDGET RIGHT? AND THEN WE COME IN WE LOOK AT OUR TAX COLLECTION WE SEE WHAT OUR PROJECTION FOR OUR TAX COLLECTION IS GOING TO BE. AFTER THAT PROPERTY VALUE STUDY, WE'RE ABLE TO SEE WHERE WE FELL IN LINE WITH THAT. AND THEN WE ALSO GET A VERY PRELIMINARY NUMBER FROM THE COUNTY SO WE CAN SEE WHAT OUR LEVY IS GOING TO BE. THEN WE LOOK AT ATTENDANCE. WE SEE WHAT THAT ENROLLMENT IS GOING TO BE, AND THEN WE PUT AN ADA ANALYSIS ON IT, ATTENDANCE ANALYSIS FROM THIS YEAR, AND MAKE A PROJECTION OF WHAT WE THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT YEAR. SO WE'VE SEEN THIS EACH. EACH MONTH THIS YEAR WE JUST FINISHED OUR 29TH WEEK OF SCHOOL AND OUR ENROLLMENT WAS 6,744 AT THE END OF LAST THURSDAY AND YOU CAN KIND OF SEE WHAT OUR ENROLLMENT HAS DONE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. WE HAVE HAD A LITTLE BIT OF GROWTH OVER THE CHRISTMAS BREAK WE BECAME ABOUT THE SAME AND THEN NOW WE'VE KIND OF GROWN AGAIN AND WE CONTINUE TO SEE A FEW NEW STUDENTS ARRIVE EACH WEEK. YES SIR. HOW DOES OUR ENROLLMENT FIGURES COMPARE TO THE REST OF THE AREA IN GENERAL? OTHERS EXPERIENCE SIMILAR KIND OF SCALE GROWTH? YES, OTHERS ARE, IT'S PRETTY NORMAL IN A LOT OF FOLKS TALKING WITH THEIR DEMOGRAPHERS ON WHY. WHY THE NUMBERS WERE SHORT, ETC. I THINK IT'S PRETTY ON TREND WITH WHAT WE'RE SEEING. I THINK DEMOGRAPHERS ARE HAVING TO EVALUATE THEIR METHODS THAT THEY'RE USING.

HOUSING SALES KIND OF SLOWED LAST YEAR IN CENTRAL TEXAS AND EVERYWHERE.

[01:10:02]

I READ A PRETTY LENGTHY ARTICLE ABOUT THIS RECENTLY AND THE BIG PIECE IS INTEREST RATES HOUSING KIND OF STALLING ACROSS THE STATE ACROSS COUNTRY BUT ALSO JUST THE CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITIES THAT WERE GROWING 25 YEARS AGO, 20 THEY KIND OF THOSE FOLKS THEIR KIDS ARE THEY GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL, THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT MOVING BECAUSE WHERE ARE THEY GOING TO GO, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THE PRICES HAVE RAISED SO QUICKLY.

THAT'S BEEN A BIG PART OF THE TRENDS THAT YOU'RE SEEING, ESPECIALLY IN DISTRICTS THAT USED TO BE FAST GROWTH AND NOW ARE LOSING ENROLLMENT BECAUSE THOSE, THOSE HOMES THAT PEOPLE WERE BUYING 10, 15, 20 YEARS AGO, THEIR KIDS HAVE GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL NOW, BUT THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE STAYING IN THAT HOUSE AND NEW PEOPLE ARE MOVING IN.

THAT'S A BIG TREND THAT YOU'RE ALSO SEEING ACROSS THE STATE, BUT EVERY COMMUNITY IS DIFFERENT. SO WE LOOK AT OUR CURRENT STUDENT ENROLLMENT, WHAT IT'S DONE FOR THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, AND THEN WE LOOK AT THE DEMOGRAPHIC STUDY. SO THIS IS ACTUALLY LAST YEAR'S DEMOGRAPHIC STUDY, AND WE LOOK AT IT WHEN WE'RE GOING TO MAKE THE DETERMINATION FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR BECAUSE WE WANT TO LOOK AT SOME HISTORICAL DATA SO AT THE SAME TIME LAST YEAR WE WERE LOOKING AT THIS ONE WE HAD A DISTRICT ENROLLMENT AT THE TIME OF SIX THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN AT THE SAME BUDGET WORKSHOP LAST YEAR. I'M SORRY YEAH THAT WAS IT AND THE DEMOGRAPHERS HAD PROJECTED AT SNAPSHOT THAT WE WOULD HAVE SIX THOUSAND EIGHT SEVENTY FOUR AND THAT'S WHAT WE PROJECTED OUR BUDGET WAS BASED ON THE 6,874, THE LOW PROJECTION OF THE DEMOGRAPHER AT THAT TIME. NOW, IN APRIL, OUR ENROLLMENT WAS 6,716, WHICH IS LOWER THAN THE PROJECTION.

HOWEVER, IT'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE LOWER IN THE SPRING BECAUSE WE HAVE STUDENTS GRADUATE ALL THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THAT'S WHY THIS OCTOBER SNAPSHOT MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT DECEIVING BUT IT IS WHAT WE GO OFF OF FOR OUR ADA PROJECTION OKAY SO WE LOOK AT THAT WE PROJECTED ON THAT LOW SOMETHING THAT IS DIFFERENT THIS YEAR SO THIS IS THIS IS THIS YEAR THIS IS WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT FOR 26-27 WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS DEMOGRAPHER REPORT THAT THEY DID BACK IN THE FALL WHEN WE LOOK AT 25 THE PROJECTION AT SNAPSHOT. IF YOU REMEMBER FROM THE SLIDE BEFORE, IT WAS 06,874. WE WERE AT 6,802. AND JUST SEEING THIS, ALONG WITH WHAT DR. ESTRADA WAS SAYING, WITH THE RESIDENTIAL HOME BUILDING AND THE MARKET, WE JUST SAW A LITTLE BIT OF SLOW. ACROSS THE REGION, EVERYBODY SAW THE SAME THING.

SO NOW THE DEMOGRAPHER HAS A NEW PROJECTION FOR FALL OF 2026, AND THE LOW PROJECTION IS 06,855, THE MID IS 6,000, MODERATE IS 6,954, AND THEN THAT HIGH IS ALMOST 7,000 STUDENTS. SO SOMETHING THAT IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAT WE ARE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION AS WE'RE PROJECTING FOR NEXT YEAR, THAT 6,855 ONLY HAVING A GROWTH OF ABOUT 50 STUDENTS FROM SNAPSHOT TO SNAPSHOT JUST SEEMS A LITTLE BIT LOW CONSIDERING THAT WE HAVE FIVE NEW ACTIVE BUILD COMMUNITIES THAN WE HAD IN OCTOBER ALREADY WE HAVE FIVE NEW ACTIVE CONSTRUCTION

[01:15:03]

THERE'S 112 STUDENT GROWTH AT THE SECONDARY LEVEL, AND THEN A 41 STUDENT GROWTH AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL, A MAJORITY OF THAT BEING AT BORCHARDT LOOP. SOME OF THE CAMPUSES HAVE WHAT LOOKS LIKE A DECLINE, AND IT'S BECAUSE THEIR FIFTH GRADE CLASS IS MOVING OUT, AND IT'S A BIG CLASS, BUT THEIR KINDERGARTEN CLASS THIS YEAR IS PRETTY SMALL. OUR KINDERGARTEN CLASS OVERALL IS NOT SMALLER. IT'S BIGGER. BUT AT THREE OR FOUR OF OUR CAMPUSES, IT IS MUCH SMALLER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T HAD RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN THOSE ZONES FOR ABOUT THREE TO FOUR YEARS. SO THE FAMILIES MOVED IN. THEY HAD YOUNG TODDLERS. THEY WENT TO KINDERGARTEN A FEW YEARS AGO AND NOW THEY'VE GROWN OUT. SO WE'VE SEEN THAT AT A FEW OF OUR SCHOOLS. WE ALSO HAD FOLKS WHO FIFTH GRADERS, GRANDFATHER AND THEN THEIR SCHOOLS, INSTEAD OF GOING, I THINK THAT PLAYED A SMALL IMPACT AS WELL. THE HARD THING ABOUT THIS IS THAT IF WE DON'T PROJECT ENROLLMENT GROWTH, AND THEN WHEN THE KIDS SHOW UP, IT REALLY PUTS US IN A REALLY BAD SITUATION TO TRY TO CATCH UP IN THE SPRINGTIME, SEE CLASSES BURSTING AT THE SEAMS, ETC. THINGS THAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST THAT IS NOT IDEAL.

SO I THINK THAT OUR ENROLLMENT PROJECTION IS VERY CONSERVATIVE, ESPECIALLY AS MS. WEISER MENTIONED, YOU CAN DRIVE AROUND, AND THIS WASN'T TRUE LAST YEAR.

WE HAVE FIVE NEW RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS, ONE MASSIVE APARTMENT COMPLEX ON THE NORTHERN PART OF OUR BOUNDARY, A BIG KB HOME, HAVE THE CASTLE ROCK HOME HOME YOU HAVE MOXIE'S GOING TO BE STARTING UP AND THEN YOU STILL HAVE JUNIPER AND HEARTLAND. YEAH WE HAVE THE LENAR, THE LENAR. OH YEAH THE LENAR ONE. AND MAXWELL A D.R. HORTON RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE I'M TRYING TO EVEN HOW HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE HOW YOU GET THERE IT'S IF YOU GO TO KYLE ON BETWEEN KYLE AND LOCKHART YES IN BETWEEN KYLE AND LOCKHART WE HAVE A DARRAH HORTON THAT HAS POPPED UP. I'M SORRY. YES. YEAH, YOU AND ME ARE IN LOCKHART. YES.

YES. EXACTLY. THERE'S ONE ON ONE SIDE THAT'S FURTHER UP THE ROAD, AND THAT IS HAYES ISD, BUT THERE'S ONE ON THE LEFT SIDE AS YOU'RE COMING OUT OF LOCKHART, GOING TOWARDS KYLE, THAT IS IN LOCKHART ISD.

YEAH, SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR DEMOGRAPHER, HIS MODERATE WAS 6,954. I THINK THAT 6,900 IS FAIRLY CONSERVATIVE, BUT IT DOES ACCOUNT FOR SOME GROWTH THAT, YOU KNOW THAT HELPS US KIND OF STRATEGIZE AND BUDGET FOR A FEW FTES AND WHERE WE'RE GOING TO NEED TO PLACE THOSE FOLKS AND BE A LITTLE MORE PROACTIVE RATHER THAN JUST BEING CAUGHT ON OUR HEELS AND TRYING TO CATCH UP NEXT FALL YEAH NEXT FALL YEAH ABSOLUTELY AND THEN ALSO TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THAT THERE IS WITH THE WITH SOME OF THE SLOWER GROWTH IN THE HOUSING MARKET COMPARED TO WHAT IT WAS IN 2022 THAT WE HAVE SEEN AREAS THAT MAYBE DIDN'T GROW AS MUCH AS THEY SAID THEY WOULD AS FAST AS THEY SAID THEY WOULD BUT WE DO HAVE MUCH MORE ACTIVE CONSTRUCTION GOING ON WITHIN THE DISTRICT SO LET'S SEE WHAT'S THE NEXT THING IN REVENUE WE LOOK AT THE PROPERTY TAX COLLECTION SO WE DEFINITELY WANT TO SEE WHAT OUR LEVY IS GOING TO BE I HAVE RECEIVED A VERY VERY PRELIMINARY 2026 VALUES FROM THE COUNTY WE ONLY INCREASE THIS YEAR BY THREE PERCENT, WHICH IS LOW IN REGARDS TO WHAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING. AND THAT'S FOR A COUPLE OF REASONS. ONE, THE SLOWDOWN A LITTLE BIT. TO THE INCREASE IN THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION THAT'S OH THAT IS DEFINITELY THE

[01:20:04]

SO OUR PRELIMINARY VALUES SHOW A 3% INCREASE. WITH ALL THIS GROWTH THAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW IN 2026 THAT WE'RE STARTING TO SEE, I WOULD ASSUME AND PROJECT THAT OUR 2027 TAX YEAR IS GOING TO BE MORE THAN 3% GROWTH. SO WE'LL SEE. BUT AS OF RIGHT NOW, FOR THIS YEAR IN TAX YEAR 2026, WHICH IS WHAT WE COLLECT IN OUR FISCAL YEAR OF 26-27, WE'RE SEEING A 3%.

SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR US AS FAR AS OUR REVENUE PROJECTION? BECAUSE THE STATE PICKS UP THE REST OF THE BUCKET, RIGHT, OUTSIDE OF OUR LOCAL COLLECTION. BUT THE HIGHER THAT OUR VALUE INCREASES, THE MORE OUR GOLDEN PENNIES YIELD BECAUSE THAT MEANS THAT OUR GOLDEN PENNY GROWTH IS HIGHER BECAUSE WE'RE GROWING IN OUR VALUES BECAUSE WE DO HAVE THREE ADDITIONAL PENNIES THAN LOTS OF DISTRICTS. SO THAT'S WHERE WE LOOK AT OUR PROPERTY VALUE GROWTH A LITTLE BIT MORE. SO WE LOOK AT OUR TAX COLLECTION AND THEN WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE PROPERTY VALUE STUDY AND SO I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH IT BECAUSE OF WHERE WE STAND THIS YEAR.

SO I KNOW IT CAN BE A LITTLE BIT TEDIOUS BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT OUR DISTRICT HAS EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST AND IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT AS FAR AS A POSSIBILITY FOR US BECAUSE WE HAVE EXPERIENCED IT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS THREE OR FOUR YEARS AGO.

THE PTSD IS STILL THERE. SO LIKE I WAS TELLING YOU, THIS IS OUR BUCKET, OUR TAX COLLECTION FILLS IT UP AND THEN THE STATE COMES IN AND FILLS UP THE REST. BUT DON'T THINK THAT THEY DON'T CHECK THAT THEIR STATE AMOUNT IS FAIR AND RIGHT AND JUST FOR THEIR PAYMENT TO US, RIGHT? MEANING DID WE COLLECT ENOUGH ON OUR LOCAL COLLECTION SO THAT THEIR STATE COLLECTION IS IS RIGHT? SO WHAT THEY DO IN ORDER FOR THEM TO DO THIS AND TO HOLD COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICTS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE VALUES THAT THEY ARE GIVING THE PROPERTIES WITHIN CALDWELL COUNTY AND ALL OF THE PROPERTIES WITHIN THE STATE AND ALL THOSE APPRAISAL DISTRICTS IS THEY DO THE STATE PROPERTY VALUE STUDY. SO THEY HAVE STATE VALUES, THEY COMPARE THEM TO LOCAL, MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE'S IN LINE. IF THEY'RE TOO FAR OUT OF LINE, THEN THERE IS A FINANCIAL IMPACT THAT IS PASSED ON TO THE DISTRICTS FOR THAT.

SO THE PROPERTY VALUE STUDY IS RELEASED EVERY YEAR AT THE END OF JANUARY SO WHEN WE ARE PROJECTING OUR LEVY WHEN WE'RE PROJECTING THE VALUES THAT THE COUNTY HAS GIVEN US BASED ON OUR PROPERTY AND THEN WE SET OUR BUDGET BY IT SEVEN MONTHS AFTER THE BUDGET STARTS WE FIND OUT WHAT THE STATE SAYS THOSE VALUES HOW THOSE VALUES FALL IN LINE A LOCAL THE LOCAL VALUES HAVE TO BE WITHIN 90% OF THE STATE PROPERTY VALUES IN ORDER TO PASS THAT PROPERTY VALUES STUDY IF THEY ARE LOWER THE STATE VALUES OF THE PROPERTY VALUES THE DISTRICT GOES INTO A STATE OF GRACE LIKE THEY'RE FORGIVEN THE VERY FIRST YEAR THAT IT HAPPENS TO THE TWO COUNTY APPRAISALS THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF GRACE UNLESS THE PERCENTAGE IS HIGH IF IT'S TOO MUCH YOU'RE THERE IS NO GRACE AND THEY THEY WILL THEY'LL GIVE YOU STATE VALUES NO MATTER WHAT SO WITH THAT BEING SAID LOCKHART ISD WENT OUT OF GRACE WHEN IT FAILED THE TAX YEAR 2020 PROPERTY VALUE STUDY THAT WAS IN JANUARY OF 2021 THAT THAT WAS RELEASED WE LOST ABOUT 750,000 THAT THAT YEAR DUE TO THE PROPERTY VALUE STUDY BECAUSE WE WERE NOT IN GRACE ANYMORE THE YEARS PRIOR TO THAT THEY HAD FAILED AND AND WE'RE NO LONGER IN GRACE SO IN 2021 THE PROPERTY VALUE STUDY PASSED AND IF YOU ALL REMEMBER IF YOU LIVED IN LOCKHART OR ACTUALLY ANYWHERE IN TEXAS VALUES INCREASED DRASTICALLY ACROSS THE STATE. AND WE DID HAVE A PROPERTY VALUE STUDY THAT PASSED, AND IT PASSED SO HIGH THAT THERE WAS NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT WE WOULD FAIL IN 2022 BECAUSE THEY JUST CONTINUED TO RISE WITH THAT

[01:25:02]

WE FAILED AND THAT REALLY CAUSED OUR WHOLE PROPERTY VALUE STUDY TO FAIL. SO WHAT WAS THAT? WHAT WAS THE NON-AG LAND? THAT IS NON-AG LAND THAT WAS BEING PURCHASED BY LARGE DEVELOPERS AND CHANGING THE VALUE OF AN ACRE IN CALDWELL COUNTY. SO THAT'S WHAT REALLY CAUSED THAT PROPERTY VALUE TO STUDY TO TO FAIL AND WE RECEIVED STATE VALUE ASSIGNMENT. SO WHEN WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN A WHEN A SCHOOL DISTRICT RECEIVES STATE VALUE ASSIGNMENT? WE HAD A 2.7 BILLION DOLLAR, $2.8 BILLION TAX LEVY THAT YEAR. SO THAT'S WHAT WE COLLECT ON. WE COLLECT ON THE VALUE OF THAT TAX ROLL.

BUT THE STATE SAYS WE SHOULD HAVE COLLECTED ON $3.1 BILLION.

SO WHAT THEY DO IS THEY SAY YOUR LOCAL TAX COLLECTION THAT YOU COLLECTED ON $2.8 BILLION FILLED YOUR BUCKET UP. WE'RE GOING TO FILL THE BUCKET UP ONLY TO WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE COLLECTED $3.1 BILLION. BILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF LEVY AND WE HAD A 3.1 MILLION DOLLAR REDUCTION THAT YEAR SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS THEY SAID IF YOUR VALUES WOULD HAVE BEEN 3.1 BILLION THAT THE STATE SAID THEY SHOULD HAVE YOU WOULD HAVE COLLECTED 3.1 MILLION MORE DOLLARS IN TAXES SO WE'RE GOING TO REDUCE YOUR STATE REVENUE BY THAT AS A PUNISHMENT TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ESSENTIALLY FOR LACK OF BETTER WORDS FOR THE COUNTY APPRAISALS OKAY, SO I KNOW THAT THAT IS A LONG-WINDED EXPLANATION, BUT WITH US NOT BEING IN A YEAR WHERE WE KNOW WE'RE GOING TO BE PASSED OVER, WE KNOW WE'RE GOING TO GET A STUDY NEXT YEAR, I HAVE TO JUST COMMUNICATE AND LET YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS WHERE WE ARE. WE DON'T HAVE A STATE BASE THIS YEAR TO PROJECT WHAT THEY MIGHT BE SAYING OUR VALUES ARE GOING TO BE NEXT YEAR. SO IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO WATCH AND KEEP IN THE BACK OF OUR MIND. I WILL ALSO SAY I THINK THAT OUR COUNTY HAS, FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, TRIED REALLY HARD TO KEEP UP WITH THE VALUES. SO I'M NOT SITTING HERE SAYING THAT WE'RE GOING TO GET STATE VALUES. I'M JUST SAYING THE POSSIBILITY IS OUT THERE. WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE PASSED OVER THIS YEAR.

THIS IS WHERE WE MISSED SAM WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT HOW UNFAIRLY YES I'M TRYING TO DO IT JUSTICE I USED WORDS LIKE PUNISHED AND SINCE HE'S NOT HERE HE'S LISTENING THAT'S RIGHT YEAH SO I THOUGHT OKAY THIS IS WHERE HE STILL COMES IN RIGHT HERE YEAH SO THIS WAS OUR 2024 WHERE WE DID RECEIVE LOCAL LOCAL VALUES AND WHEN WE LOOK IN THAT FAR RIGHT COLUMN WE SEE THAT THOSE VALUES MATCH OUR LOCAL VALUES THAT'S THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHEN YOU HAVE A PAST PROPERTY VALUE STUDY AND YOU CAN SEE THAT OUR ALL OF OUR RATIOS ARE WITHIN THE VALUE OF THE STATE THEN THIS YEAR WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR LOCAL PROPERTY VALUE STUDY THE STATE VALUES EQUAL THE LOCAL VALUES BECAUSE WE'RE PASSED OVER WE DID THEY DON'T DO A STUDY ON US THIS YEAR SO THAT'S WHY THEY LOOK THE SAME ALL THE WAY ACROSS IF YOU WERE TO BE LOOKING ON THE

[01:30:03]

IT'S BECAUSE WE WERE PASSED OVER WHEN YOU HAVE TWO PASSED YEARS IN A ROW. AND THEN NEXT YEAR, WE WILL NOT BE PASSED OVER.

SO, HERE WE ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT OUR REVENUE AND WE'RE LOOKING AT ATTENDANCE. THAT IS STARTING TO GET VERY SMALL WITH 29 WEEKS UP ON THERE.

BUT THE BIG THINGS THAT I WANT TO POINT OUT ARE THE WEEKS THAT ARE IN GREEN, WE HAVE FOUR OF THEM, ARE WHEN WE HAD A CUMULATIVE INCREASE FROM THE PREVIOUS WEEK. THAT IS SUPER HARD TO DO. WE ONLY HAD ONE LAST YEAR WITHIN THESE FIRST 29 WEEKS OF SCHOOL, AND THIS YEAR WE'VE HAD FOUR.

THERE'S MUCH TO CELEBRATE. YOU CAN SEE THE INCREASE IN OUR ATTENDANCE, AND THAT IS REALLY, REALLY EXCITING. WE LOOK AT OUR SECONDARY CUMULATIVE ATTENDANCE THIS IS THROUGH LAST THURSDAY APRIL 2ND AND LOCKHART HIGH SCHOOL IS AT 90.65 CUMULATIVE ATTENDANCE AND LAST YEAR THEY WERE AT 88.45 SO THEY ARE OVER 2% HIGHER THAN LAST YEAR WHICH IS OUTSTANDING. THEY'RE GOING TO DO THAT AGAIN NEXT YEAR AND IT'S JUST GOING TO BE REALLY OUTSTANDING. SO PRIDE HIGH SCHOOL IS STRUGGLING A LITTLE BIT WITH THEIR ATTENDANCE. THEY HAVE A CUMULATIVE ATTENDANCE OF 75%, AND THEN LOCKHART JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL HAS ALSO INCREASED THEIR ATTENDANCE FROM LAST YEAR AT THE SAME TIME WITH A CUMULATIVE ATTENDANCE OF 93.43%. WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, ALL OF OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS HAVE INCREASED IN THEIR CUMULATIVE ATTENDANCE.

WE HAVE TWO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS THAT HAVE INCREASED THEIR CUMULATIVE ATTENDANCE.

SINCE THE LAST TIME WE MET IN FEBRUARY. SO AGAIN, REALLY HARD TO INCREASE YOUR CUMULATIVE ATTENDANCE AT THIS TIME OF YEAR BECAUSE YOU HAVE SO MANY DAYS THAT YOU'RE UP AGAINST. AND BORCHARD LOOP ELEMENTARY AND CARVER PRE-K BOTH INCREASED THEIR CUMULATIVE. CARVER ALSO HAD INCREASED IT THE LAST TIME WE MET. SO THEY HAVE CONTINUED TO HAVE A REALLY GREAT SECOND SEMESTER OF ATTENDANCE AND INCREASING THEIR CUMULATIVE. I BELIEVE NAVARRO, STRAWN, AND PLUM CREEK ARE, IF NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THEY WERE LAST TIME WE MET, THEY'RE JUST .01 DIFFERENT. I MEAN, THEY REALLY HAVE BEEN VERY CONSISTENT, AND SO OUR ELEMENTARIES CONTINUE TO ALSO HAVE A MUCH HIGHER ATTENDANCE. NAVARRO, 2.6% OR SOMETHING REALLY HIGH, A LOT HIGHER THAN IT WAS LAST YEAR. THOSE MEGAPHONES ARE REALLY WORKING. YEAH. OKAY, SO THOSE ARE ALL THE THINGS THAT WE REALLY LOOK INTO WHEN WE'RE PROJECTING OUR REVENUE BUDGET SO WE KNOW HOW BIG OUR BUCKET IS GOING TO BE ON THE REVENUE SIDE AND THEN WE GO TO OUR WE TAKE THAT AND WE BUILD OUR EXPENDITURE BUDGET AND AND SO WHEN WE'RE DOING THAT WE DEFINITELY WANT TO LOOK OUTSIDE THE BOX WE OF COURSE LIKE I SAID EARLIER WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DECISIONS THAT WE'RE MAKING A LINE WITH OUR DISTRICT GOALS WE WANT TO SEE HOW THINGS ARE WHAT NEW THINGS THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO DIFFERENTLY IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT ARE SHOWING RESULTS THAT WE NEED TO INVEST IN HOW DOES IT HOW DOES THE BUDGET IMPACT 1.5 OUR 1.5 GOALS AND THEN WHAT IS THE DATA TO SUPPORT ALL THE PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES THAT WE HAVE AS WE CONTINUE CREATE IN OUR BUDGET WE TRY TO AVOID THINGS LIKE WE'VE ALWAYS DONE IT THAT WAY BECAUSE ZERO-BASED BUDGETING REALLY STARTS FROM THE BOTTOM WHERE YOU'RE JUST REALLY ANALYZING EVERYTHING EVERY YEAR HOW'S IT GOING WHAT'S OUR RETURN ON INVESTMENT AND THESE ARE THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE LOOK AT AS WE'RE KIND OF ANALYZING THE BUDGET SO EVERY YEAR WE PUT SOME STAFFING REQUESTS OUT TO THE CAMPUS AND DISTRICT LEADERSHIP CAMPUS AND DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP EXCUSE ME AND WE RECEIVED 29 POSITION REQUESTS, 10 STIPENDS FOR NEARLY $2 MILLION WORTH OF REQUESTS FROM ALL CAMPUSES TO INCLUDE A POTENTIAL IDEA FOR A FINE ARTS ACADEMY AT CLEAR FORK. RTI TEACHERS, ATHLETIC POSITIONS, MAINTENANCE POSITIONS, FINE ARTS POSITIONS, TECHNOLOGY, SPECIAL ED, BOTH AIDS AND TEACHING POSITIONS, PRIDE HIGH SCHOOL AND LDMC POSITIONS, BOTH IN EDUCATION AND ON THE ADMIN SIDE, HEALTH SERVICES, AND SO THESE ARE ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF THINGS THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED. I WANT TO MENTION JUST ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I DON'T SEE ON HERE THAT I KNOW WAS REQUESTED ALSO. A LIBRARIAN PAY, THAT'S ANOTHER CONVERSATION THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AS WELL. SO IT'S A LOT

[01:35:03]

ABSOLUTELY. LAST YEAR FOR OUR CALDWELL COUNTY CONSTABLES, WE CREATED A THREE-YEAR PLAN TO INCREASE THEIR PAY. THIS YEAR WE INCREASED IT TO $27.

NEXT YEAR WE WOULD INCREASE IT TO $30, AND THEN THE FOLLOWING YEAR WE WOULD INCREASE IT TO $33. AT THAT POINT, THEY WOULD RECEIVE A PERCENTAGE INCREASE OF WHAT WE ARE GIVING TO OUR STAFF. MS. WEISER, CAN YOU GO BACK TO THAT 26-27 DEPARTMENT STAFFING REQUEST? I JUST WANT TO PAUSE AND GET SOME FEEDBACK FROM THE BOARD, LIKE THOSE ARE, THESE ARE KIND OF LARGE BUCKETS AND THERE ARE DIFFERENT ASKS WITHIN THOSE, BUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT OUR DISTRICT GOALS, THINK ABOUT OUR, YOU KNOW, OUR KIND OF MISSION FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, ARE THERE ANY THAT SPEAK TO YOU THAT YOU FEEL ARE PRIORITIES AND ALIGN TO OUR NAVIGATE TO 28 PLAN AND OUR DISTRICT GOALS? I WOULD LIKE TO SEE WHAT THOSE 28 PLANS ARE.

POSITIONS ARE BECAUSE I THINK EVERY ONE OF THOSE ITEMS GOES TOWARDS OUR GOAL I MEAN FINE ARTS TECHNOLOGY THEY'RE ALL EXTREMELY IMPORTANT SAME WITH ATHLETICS AND I JUST THERE MAY BE SOME POSITIONS THAT ARE BEING ASKED FOR THAT AREN'T NECESSARILY GOING TO INCREASE OUR GOAL AND SO I WOULD JUST I WOULD PREFER TO TO HAVE LIKE A LIST. THOSE 29 POSITIONS, THAT COULD KIND OF BETTER GIVE US AN IDEA OF IS IT INCREASING TOWARDS OUR GOAL OR IS IT JUST ANOTHER POSITION THAT'S NOT GOING TO GET US THERE? I'M NOT SURE.

THERE'S SOME POSITIONS THAT YOU CAN SEE ADDRESS SOME GOALS SPECIFICALLY. YOU TALK ABOUT ACADEMICS. BUT LIKE ATHLETICS AND MAINTENANCE AND FINE ART, LIKE WHAT ARE THOSE POSITIONS ASKING FOR? THAT MAKES SENSE. THAT GIVES US MORE INFORMATION. WE CAN ADD THAT IN OUR FRIDAY BRIEFING. THAT WAY YOU GUYS CAN EVALUATE IT AND THEN COME BACK AT OUR NEXT BUDGET CONVERSATION, YOU'LL HAVE A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION.

BECAUSE I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE OPINIONATED, LET'S JUST SAY ATHLETICS, YOU KNOW, ABOUT ADDING POSITIONS FOR ATHLETICS. AND SOME PEOPLE LOVE ATHLETICS AND THINK IT'S SUPER IMPORTANT, AND THEN SOME PEOPLE DON'T.

SAME THING WITH FINE ARTS. I THINK THOSE ARE KIND OF TWO HOT TOPICS THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT AND SOME PEOPLE DON'T THINK THAT THEY MATTER AS MUCH. SO I'M JUST CURIOUS ON THAT, ON KIND OF THE SPECIFICS OF THOSE.

YES, AND I APOLOGIZE. I SHOULD HAVE HAD THAT IN HERE. NO, NO,

[01:40:03]

THEY DID THE WILLY WONKA CHOCOLATE FACTORY JUST A MONTH OR TWO AGO. AND I FORGET THE TOTAL. I THINK THEY HAD 70 OR 80 KIDS INVOLVED IN IT, ALL AGE GROUPS. WHEN YOU THINK OF THAT, MANY KIDS INVOLVED IN A CLUB THAT IS I MEAN, THAT'S ABOVE AND BEYOND OF WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN ANY OTHER CLUB IN OUR SCHOOLS. AND AGAIN, THIS WAS A TEACHER-DRIVEN IDEA THAT SHE WANTED TO MAKE A PROPOSAL, AND I SAID, ABSOLUTELY. SO WE LISTENED TO HER PROPOSAL, AND ESSENTIALLY IT WOULD BE ADDING A SPECIAL AREAS TEACHER. AND SO THAT'S WHY WE JUST HAVE THAT INCLUDED AS AN OPTION. I WAS JUST REFERRING TO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT EVERYBODY HAS REQUESTS, AND I GET IT.

BUT IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT HOW YOU ALIGN SOME OF THE REQUESTS TO IMPACT ACCOMPLISHING THE GOALS THAT THE DISTRICT HAS OVERALL, I MEAN, THAT'S A MAJOR FACTOR TO LOOK AT BECAUSE WE'RE ALMOST TO 2028, AND ARE WE THERE? AND WHAT DO WE NEED TO GET THERE? YES, AND THAT'S WHAT THEIR PROPOSAL WAS REALLY FOCUSING ON, THOSE INNOVATIVE STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES WERE WITHIN THAT WORK GROUP THAT WE HAVE. THEY TALKED A LOT ABOUT OFFERING PARENTS CHOICE, ABOUT SCHOOLS NOT ALL BEING THE SAME AND ACTUALLY GIVING PARENTS SOME CHOICE IN THIS.

THAT'S A TOPIC THAT IS EXTREMELY RELEVANT NOW WHERE PARENTS NOW HAVE VOUCHERS AND THEY CAN CHOOSE THE TYPE OF THINGS. SO THERE WAS A LOT OF CONVERSATION ABOUT GIVING OUR PARENTS CHOICE, ABOUT PROVIDING THIS AS A PILOT, AND MAYBE MODELING AT OTHER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS WHERE THEY COULD DO THESE TYPES OF PROGRAMS AS WELL. I THINK THOSE ARE GREAT IDEAS. I JUST THINK THAT INNOVATION IS ALWAYS KEY TO MOVING FORWARD AND GETTING KIDS' INTERESTS AS WELL AS PARENTS' CHOICE. IT'S AGAIN, IT'S LARGELY STAFF DRIVEN.

ACTUALLY TODAY I WENT AND THEY APPLIED FOR A DISNEY GRANT AND ACTUALLY ARE A FINALIST FOR A DISNEY GRANT THAT GIVES THEM ALL THE PUBLISHING RIGHTS AND ALSO GETS THEM PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES. SO AGAIN, THIS TEACHER AND THESE STAFF MEMBERS ARE DOING THAT ON THEIR OWN RIGHT NOW. GOING OUT AND TRYING TO DO THIS FOR THE SCHOOL AND THEY MADE THIS PROPOSAL. AND I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT AS A SCHOOL DISTRICT TO ENCOURAGE INNOVATION, WHO TELLS OUR TEACHERS TO HAVE THAT SPIRIT OF 1.5. I WAS VERY PLEASED THAT THEY ACTUALLY MADE A PROPOSAL. THE CABINET CAME AND PRESENTED. I HOPE MORE PEOPLE DO THAT BECAUSE THAT'S THE WAY THAT WE GROW AS AN ORGANIZATION.

WELL, AND I THINK WE ALSO HAVE TO REMEMBER AS A BOARD TALKING ABOUT LIKE A LOT OF THESE THINGS LIKE THE CLEAR FORK FINE ARTS ACADEMY, ATHLETICS, FINE ARTS. SOME OF THOSE ARE EXTRACURRICULAR ITEMS BUT THEY IN TURN CAN INCREASE ATTENDANCE THE MORE PEOPLE THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THOSE ITEMS AND THE BETTER BUILT THAT PROGRAM IS YES IT MAY COST THE DISTRICT MORE MONEY BUT THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT WILL BE THERE IF THE MORE KIDS THAT WE CAN GET INVOLVED IN THOSE TYPE OF THINGS THEY'RE THEY'RE BETTER STUDENTS, THEY HAVE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY TO THEM, THEY'RE IN SCHOOL MORE. SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE THINK ABOUT THINGS LIKE THAT. I AGREE TOTALLY ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, ESPECIALLY LIKE THERE ARE SOME KIDS THAT AREN'T INVOLVED.

LIKE YOU SAID, ATHLETICS, SO BALLET. YOU KNOW, MARIACHI IS LIKE A BIG DEAL NOW FOR A LOT OF KIDS, EXPANDING THAT. EVEN AT THE ELEMENTARY GRADES, WHEN WE WENT TO A.B. STRONG, IT'S LIKE THAT. IT'S ALSO SOMETHING IN ADDITION TO THAT SEVERAL PARENTS ARE INVOLVED IN DOING THAT. SO YOU CAN SEE THE EXCITEMENT. AND THEN WHEN OTHER PARENTS HEAR, WELL, WHY DON'T WE HAVE IT AT OUR CAMPUS? AND I'M LIKE, WELL, THAT'S TO INITIATE FROM WITHIN. YOU KNOW, THERE'S SO MANY OTHER THINGS THAT KIDS WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN.

BUT THOSE ARE ALL GOOD IDEAS, ALL GREAT EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE WANT, AND MORE EMPHASIS ON FINDING MORE GRANTS. AND I THINK, TOO, TO YOUR POINT OF SO YOU KNOW, PARENTS WHO, WHY DON'T WE HAVE THAT ON OUR CAMPUS? I THINK LONG TERM WE NEED TO START THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ALLOWING PARENTS TO TRANSFER AS WE HAVE THESE TYPES

[01:45:02]

YEAH, AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO BE MORE FLEXIBLE AND ADAPT TO.

YOU KNOW, TO THE REALITY OF PARENTAL CHOICE. AND AS WE, IF WE'RE ABLE TO GROW PROGRAMS LIKE THIS, THAT GIVES US THE ABILITY TO MARKET OUR SCHOOLS IN DIFFERENT WAYS. AND IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT ONE SCHOOL IS BAD OR BETTER THAN THE OTHER, BUT WHEN PARENTS HAVE THE CHOICE TO SAY, LIKE, MAN, MY KID, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD FIT FOR THEM AT THIS SCHOOL, I THINK WE NEED TO START AT LEAST CONSIDERING THAT AS A SYSTEM BECAUSE IF WE DON'T, I'M FEARFUL THAT WE'RE GOING TO WAKE UP 10 YEARS FROM NOW AND PARENTS ARE JUST GOING TO CHOOSE SOMEWHERE ELSE. A CHARTER SCHOOL THAT'S FOCUSED MORE ON XYZ. THANK YOU, MS. WEISER. MS. WEISER, LET'S PAY FOR ALL OF THIS. OKAY. A LARGE PART OF OUR, WELL, WE SAW THAT OUR SALARIES IS ABOUT 81% OF OUR BUDGET, AND A PORTION OF OUR EMPLOYEE SALARY IS REALLY, WELL, WE HAVE A COMPENSATION PLAN.

SO WE HAVE OUR SALARY, AND THEN WE HAVE OUR BENEFITS PACKAGE.

SO THESE ARE THE EMPLOYEE BENEFIT OFFERINGS THAT WE HAVE FOR OUR EMPLOYEES. THE BIGGEST ONE IS LION CARE, WHICH IS OUR MEDICAL INSURANCE. AND SO THAT'S WHAT I'M REALLY GOING TO TALK ABOUT BECAUSE THIS IS THE PORTION THAT IS WHAT WE CONSIDER A BENEFIT. THESE OTHER OPTIONS ARE FOR UNLESS YOU DON'T TAKE MEDICAL WHERE YOU CAN GET DENTAL, ALL OF THESE OTHERS ARE VOLUNTARY BENEFITS THAT YOU CAN HAVE. SO WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT LION CARE FOR YEARS NOW. AND LAST YEAR, I KNOW WE REMEMBER THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE WERE HAVING ABOUT LIONCARE. WE LOVE LIONCARE. WE LOVE THE HEALTH CARE THAT OUR EMPLOYEES ARE RECEIVING. LIONCARE DOES CONTINUE TO HAVE MORE COST THAN THE PREMIUMS ARE FUNDING. SO THERE IS SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT, THOUGH, FROM LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME.

AND WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT THAT HERE IN JUST A SECOND. THERE HAS BEEN SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT.

HOWEVER, MEDICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL COSTS JUST CONTINUE TO RISE. WE'RE JUST NOT IMMUNE TO INFLATION. SO IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS JUST GOING TO HAVE TO BE EVALUATED EVERY SINGLE YEAR AS THE PLAN CONTINUES. SO WE HAVE 693 EMPLOYEES ON THIS PLAN, AND SO IT IMPACTS NEARLY EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE. 525 EMPLOYEES ARE JUST ON EMPLOYEE ONLY AND THE REMAINDER OF THE THE EMPLOYEES ARE ON WITH THEIR CHILDREN WITH THEIR SPOUSE OR WITH THEIR FAMILIES SO WE DO HAVE THOSE DIFFERENT OPTIONS BUT A MAJORITY OF OUR STAFF A MAJORITY OF THE 693 PEOPLE THAT ARE ON THE PLAN ARE ON THE EMPLOYEE ONLY PLAN I'VE GOT A QUICK QUESTION ON PHARMACEUTICAL COST DOES THAT IS THAT JUST FALL STRAIGHT UNDER THEIR DEDUCTIBLE OR DO THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT PHARMACEUTICAL PLAN? WE HAVE, IT FALLS UNDER THEIR DEDUCTIBLE. YEP, IT'S THE SAME DEDUCTIBLE. IS THERE AN OPTION WHERE YOU COULD INCORPORATE LIKE EVEN $5 COPAY FOR A GENERIC AND $10 FOR SPECIALTY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? SO WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT THAT. OKAY. YEP.

THAT, THAT. OKAY OH THAT'S KIND OF SMALL BUT OKAY SO THIS IS A REFRESHER BUT BUT YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE TO SEE THE NUMBERS THIS IS LAST YEAR SO LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME THE BLUE LINE IS THE REVENUE THAT FUNDS THE PROGRAM WHICH IS GOING TO BE THROUGH PREMIUMS THE PREMIUMS THAT THE DISTRICTS PUT IN BUT THE DISTRICT PUTS IN FOR EACH OF THE EMPLOYEES PER MONTH AND THE PREMIUMS THAT THE EMPLOYEES PUT IN AND THEN THE RED LINES ARE THE EXPENDITURES SO LAST TIME. THIS IS SIX MONTHS INTO THE PLAN YEAR. SO OUR FISCAL YEAR STARTS JULY 1ST, BUT OUR BENEFIT PLAN YEAR RUNS SEPTEMBER 1 TO AUGUST 31ST. SO

[01:50:02]

BUT, HOWEVER, WE ARE $432,000 SHORT AT SIX MONTHS, WHICH IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE FROM THE $1.2 MILLION THAT WE WERE AT THE SAME TIME LAST YEAR.

SO WE ARE SEEING A FINANCIAL IMPACT. TWO REASONS. ONE, THE FINANCIAL CHANGES THAT WE MADE.

TWO, WE ARE HAVING A LESS LAST YEAR, WHILE WE NEEDED TO MAKE A CHANGE TO OUR PREMIUMS, WE ALSO HAD A VERY HIGH NEED YEAR. AND THIS YEAR WE'RE SEEING LESS NEEDS.

HOWEVER, THAT IS NORMAL WITHIN THE INDUSTRY, THAT WE WOULD HAVE KIND OF AN ANOMALY YEAR AND THEN BOUNCE BACK TO A YEAR LIKE THIS YEAR. SO WE ARE SEEING SOME REALLY POSITIVE IMPACT. STILL $400,000 SHORTFALL SO FAR. SO IF WE WERE TO DOUBLE THAT BECAUSE WE HAVE SIX MORE MONTHS TO GO, WE'RE AT AROUND $800,000. WE DID HAVE A $170,000 REBATE CHECK COME IN. SO THE $434,000 IS $170,000 LESS BECAUSE WE DID RECEIVE ANOTHER REBATE CHECK A COUPLE OF DAYS AFTER THIS ENDED.

BUT IT WILL BE REFLECTED IN THE NEXT MONTH. DO YOU SEE AN INCREASE IN THE SUMMER MONTHS OF PEOPLE USING HEALTH CARE BECAUSE THEY'VE GOT THE TIME OFF AND THEY'VE GOT TIME TO GO AND GET A SURGERY OR SOMETHING NEEDED SO REALLY WE'RE DOUBLING THAT 432 IT ACTUALLY MAY BE MORE THAN DOUBLING IT BECAUSE SUMMERTIME PEOPLE ARE USING IT MORE. WE DO SEE A LITTLE BIT OF THAT WHERE WE REALLY SEE IT IS DECEMBER. LAST YEAR'S DECEMBER WAS WAS REALLY HIGH AND SO WAS THIS YEAR'S. BUT, YES, I CAN LOOK AT THAT EVEN MORE TO BRING NEXT TIME. THAT'S GOOD. NO, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD THING TO LOOK AT AS FAR AS JUST PROJECTING.

BECAUSE I'M KIND OF IN MY MIND THINKING WE NEED TO GET TO 800,000. HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO THAT? JUST DOING A QUICK, LIKE, 400,000 PLUS SIX MORE MONTHS, SAY WE DO THE SAME THING AGAIN. I'M THINKING WE'LL HAVE THE TIME OFF, BUT NOW I CAN GO AND GET MY PROCEDURE DONE. ABSOLUTELY. WE CAN LOOK AT THAT, AND I'LL BRING IT NEXT MONTH.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE STOP-LOSS REIMBURSEMENT? YES. SO WHEN WE HAVE, SO WE HAVE TWO TYPES OF STOP LOSS. WE HAVE STOP LOSS ON, THOSE ARE STOP LOSS ON INDIVIDUALS BECAUSE WE DO HAVE A LARGE STOP LOSS THAT WE'RE GOING TO RECEIVE ABOUT, I THINK IT'S $250,000. EXPLAIN TO EVERYBODY WHAT STOP LOSS IS.

YEAH. I MEAN, IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN IN THE. SO STOP LOSS IS INSURANCE FOR INSURANCE, BASICALLY. AND SO WHAT WE HAVE ON OUR EMPLOYEES IS THAT IF WE HAVE AN INDIVIDUAL THAT HAS A YEAR OF EXPENDITURES THAT IS MORE THAN $175,000, EVERYTHING ABOVE THE $175,000 WE RECEIVE THROUGH INSURANCE STOP-LOSS CLAIM. SO IF WE HAVE A HIGH-COST EMPLOYEE, OR I'M SORRY, A HIGH-COST MEMBER IN GENERAL, IT MAY NOT BE AN EMPLOYEE, IT COULD BE A DEPENDENT. THAT COST MORE THAN $175,000 FOR THAT PLAN YEAR, THEN WE RECEIVE A STOP-LOSS REIMBURSEMENT FOR THOSE COSTS. YEAH, YEAH.

SO THAT'S ONE PART OF OUR STOP LOSS. THEN THE PROGRAM AS A WHOLE HAS AN AMOUNT, IF IT GOES OVER $5 MILLION OR $5.5 MILLION, WHATEVER THE UMBRELLA AMOUNT IS, WHATEVER THE HIGH AMOUNT IS, ANYTHING THAT WE GO OVER THAT, WE RECEIVE STOP LOSS ON IT. SO THERE'S TWO TYPES OF STOP LOSS THAT WE RECEIVE.

IT COULD BE FOR AN INDIVIDUAL OR IT COULD BE FOR THE PLAN AS A WHOLE.

LAST YEAR WE HAD SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS THAT WE RECEIVED STOP-LOSS ON, AND THE PLAN AS A

[01:55:02]

THE WAY I WAS READING IT IS THAT WE WERE OVERPAYING IT OR SOMETHING. OH, NO, NO, NO. BUT IT DOES MEAN THAT AN INDIVIDUAL HAD A HIGH-COST YEAR. THEY HAD EXPENSES THAT WERE HIGHER THAN $175,000. SO IT'S PROTECTION FOR THE PLAN, AND WE PAY FOR IT. IT'S NOT FREE, BUT IT'S AN INSURANCE THAT WE PAY. I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE BENEFITS WITHIN LIONCARE. I MEAN, ARE FACILITY OPTIONS FOR PEOPLE THAT THEY HAVE A CHOICE TO GO A, B, OR C, AND I CAN CHOOSE, AND SOME OF THEM ALL VARY IN COST, RIGHT? SO I CHOOSE C BECAUSE I JUST THINK THAT'S REALLY TOP OF THE LINE. I MEAN, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT EVIDENTLY IS OCCURRING IN LIONCARE? I MEAN, I CAN CHOOSE WHERE I CAN GO WHEREVER, AND IT'S MORE COSTLY. I GO TO THIS FACILITY VERSUS THIS OTHER ONE? WE DO. FOR THE SAME SURGERY OR WHATEVER? SO WE DO HAVE SOME OF THAT, BUT HONESTLY, WE'VE MADE A LOT OF THE EMPLOYEES. IT SAVES THE EMPLOYEES A LOT OF MONEY NOT TO GO TO IT SAVES THE EMPLOYEES A LOT OF MONEY IF THEY GO TO A FACILITY THROUGH KPP FREE IN THE SENSE THAT IT'S $0.

RIGHT. SO USUALLY THEY ARE CHOOSING THAT OPTION, AND WE ARE SEEING THAT. SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THE COST OF THE PLAN AND WHERE DOES ALL THE MONEY GO, THE NUMBER ONE PLACE IT GOES TO IS PHARMACEUTICAL COST.

THAT'S THE NUMBER ONE. AND THEN WITHIN THE MEDICAL COST, THE NUMBER ONE EXPENSE IS KPP-FREE, WHICH MEANS THAT THEY'RE USING IT. AND SO THAT'S REALLY GOOD. IT WASN'T KPP-FREE LAST YEAR. IT IS KPP-FREE NOW.

SO WHY WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT? DR. SANCHEZ, SOMETIMES WHAT WILL HAPPEN IS YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PROCEDURE OR SURGERY.

AND IT'S IMMEDIATE. I LIVE LIKE WITH MY OWN KID. THAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR TO WHERE HE COULDN'T WAIT A WEEK OR TWO TO HAVE HE HAD TO HAVE SURGERY QUICKLY SO WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO SET UP THE KPP3. SO I THINK THAT HAPPENS A LOT OF TIMES TOO SO THAT JUST BECAUSE THE TIME THAT IT TAKES TO SET THAT UP.

BUT FOR THINGS THAT I KNOW I HAVE TO HAVE THIS PROCEDURE, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT I DON'T HAVE TO HAVE IT TOMORROW. IT CAN WAIT A COUPLE WEEKS OR A MONTH OR SOMETHING THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE THOSE REAL OPPORTUNITIES TO GET THEM INTO A FREE OPTION YEAH WILLING TO GO YEAH YEAH DEFINITELY YEAH AND THE EDUCATION ON ON THE PLAN AND WHAT IT CAN OFFER YEAH THAT'S ANOTHER KEY POINT WE'RE ALSO KPP OR THE KEMPTON GROUP, WHICH KPP FREE IS THROUGH THEM. THIS YEAR, SOMETHING THAT THEY HAVE STARTED IS IF AN ORDER COMES THROUGH FOR AN MRI FOR A DIFFERENT FACILITY AND THE EMPLOYEE HAS NOT CALLED ABOUT KPP FREE, THEY WILL CALL THEM AND SAY, IF YOU GO THROUGH KPP FREE, THIS COULD SAVE YOU $500 NOT TO GET YOUR IMAGE AT THIS FACILITY. GET IT AT THIS FACILITY AND WE'LL FACILITATE THAT FOR YOU. SO THERE'S BEEN SOME OF THAT OUTREACH GOING ON AS WELL. SO, AND JUST CONTINUING TO EDUCATE ON KPP-FREE AND WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT CAN BENEFIT THEM. SO WHEN WE LOOK AT IT, WE SEE THAT WE'VE COME A LONG WAY. COSTS ARE GOING TO ALWAYS CONTINUE TO RISE. AND SO WE'RE ALWAYS GOING TO HAVE TO EVALUATE IT.

AND WE SEE THAT WHERE WE HAD AN OVER $2 MILLION SHORTFALL THE YEAR BEFORE. RIGHT NOW, WE'RE NOT ON TRACK TO DO THAT. WE HAVE MADE THE GAIN, THE CHANGES THAT WE MADE LAST YEAR, WE ARE SEEING THE FRUIT OF THAT. SO WHERE DO WE FALL? THIS IS ALL OF OUR SURROUNDING DISTRICTS AROUND US. AND THIS IS SORTED BY HOW MUCH EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION IS PAID IN TOWARD A PREMIUM FOR EACH EMPLOYEE THAT IS ON THE HEALTH PLAN FOR EACH MONTH. SO WE CAN SEE DEL VALLE AT THE TOP AT $566 A MONTH AND SAGIN AT $417 PER MONTH. THESE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT THE THAT THE DISTRICTS INCREASED THAT MONTHLY AMOUNT THAT THEY WERE PUTTING TOWARD THE MONTHLY PREMIUM FOR THE EMPLOYEES FOR THE BENEFIT. SO YOU COULD JUST KIND OF SEE HOW MUCH HOW MANY HOW MUCH INCREASE WAS DONE LAST YEAR. SO WE'RE COMPARING TRYING TO PLAN FOR 26-27 WITH 25-26 PREMIUM AMOUNTS JUST TO SEE WHAT'S IN THE MARKET AND WE CAN KIND OF SEE ACROSS SO THIS JUST

[02:00:02]

IT'S PAST EIGHT NOW. YEAH, EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE THE PLAN YEAR STARTS AND WE WOULD BE WHILE WE WERE REQUIRED TO STAY AWAY FROM TRS FOR FIVE YEARS WE WOULD BE REQUIRED TO STAY WITH TRS FOR FIVE YEARS IF THAT DECISION WAS MADE SO SO THIS IS WHERE THE DISTRICT FALLS WE ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT ARE ON THIS TYPE OF HEALTH HEALTH PLAN SO ALL THAT BEING SAID, IF AN EMPLOYEE WERE TO LEAVE ONE DISTRICT AND GO TO THE OTHER, THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE THE SAME HEALTH CARE PLAN ACROSS THE BOARD, BUT OURS IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT. AND WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? KPP-FREE, WHAT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT. WE HAVE THESE FULL-SERVICE, ZERO-COST PROCEDURES, IMAGING THAT CAN BE DONE THROUGH KPP-FREE. WE ALSO HAVE ZERO-COST ENDOCRINOLOGY THROUGH HEY HEALTHY. IT WAS PREVIOUSLY NAMED COMPLETE MEDICINE. AND IT IS ZERO COST, FREE DIABETES CARE, FREE THYROID, FREE PCOS, AND IT TRULY IS FREE. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY A COPAY. SO WHILE WE HAVE A DOCTOR VISIT COPAY AND A SPECIALIST COPAY, WHEN YOU GO TO HEY HEALTHY, AND ALL THE APPOINTMENTS ARE BY ZOOM ALSO, YOU DO NOT PAY A COPAY. SO IT TRULY IS FREE. DOES THE IRS OPERATE LIKE AN HMO? YES.

REALLY, WE'RE THE ONLY PPO TYPE. THERE IS AN OPTION. YOU CAN GET A PPO OPTION, BUT IT IS $800 A MONTH OR SOMETHING PREMIUM. THAT'S CRAZY. REALLY EXPENSIVE.

SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T DO THAT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE OTHER INSURANCES DO REQUIRE IS THAT YOU HAVE A PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN. SO YOU ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT TO YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY A PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN. YOU HAVE TO GO SEE THAT PRIMARY CARE BEFORE YOU CAN GO DO ANYTHING ELSE. IT HAS TO BE, AND ALSO THEY HAVE TO BE IN NETWORK. THEY HAVE TO BE ON THEIR LIST. THAT'S RIGHT.

YEP. WE ALSO DO NOT REQUIRE SPECIALISTS TO HAVE A PRIMARY CARE REFERRAL. SO IF YOU NEED TO GO TO A SPECIALIST, IF YOU KNOW YOU NEED TO GO TO A DERMATOLOGIST, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO YOUR PRIMARY CARE FIRST TO PAY THEIR COPAY OF $25 AND THEN GO TO YOUR SPECIALIST TO GO TO THE DOCTOR. YOU CAN JUST CALL YOUR SPECIALIST UP AND GO. YOU'RE STILL GOING TO PAY A SPECIALIST COPAY, BUT YOU'RE ALSO NOT HAVING TO TAKE THE TIME TO GO TO A PRIMARY CARE TO GET THAT REFERRAL. PPO AND TRS ALSO.

YOU CAN GO TO YOUR SPECIALIST IF YOU HAVE PPO. RIGHT, EXACTLY. WE ALSO HAVE A PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGER THAT WORKS FOR US, BOTH THE MEMBER AND THE DISTRICT. JUST LIKE I WAS EXPLAINING THAT KPP FREE WILL CALL AND THEY'LL SAY WE SAW THIS ORDER COME ACROSS FOR A MAMMOGRAM, YOU CAN DO IT FREE THROUGH KPP FREE, AND THEY OFFER THAT OPTION. OUR PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGER DOES THE SAME THING. I SEE THAT YOU'RE ON THIS SPECIALTY JUG. YOU'RE GETTING IT AT WALGREENS. IF YOU GET IT HERE, IT WILL COST YOU THIS MUCH. IF YOU GET THE GENERIC, IT WILL COST YOU THIS MUCH.

THEY HELP THEM DO THE BEST FOR THE EMPLOYEE. WE ALSO OFFER OUT-OF-NETWORK COVERAGE. SO MOST OF THE HEALTH PLANS, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS MEDICATION, THERE ARE CERTAIN LISTS WHERE THEY DON'T EVEN ALLOW IT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IT'S TOO EXPERIMENTAL, TOO EXPENSIVE.

DOES LYME CARE TAKE THAT INTO EFFECT, OR CAN YOU JUST GET ANY MEDICINE YOU WANT? NO, YOU CANNOT GET ANY MEDICINE THAT YOU WANT. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A DIAGNOSIS. WELL, SURE. AND SO THE SHORT ANSWER IS NO. THE LONG ANSWER IS BUT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

LIKE THERE'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE AN OPTION. SO THERE COULD BE A BRAND NAME THAT'S ON A COMMERCIAL THAT SOMEBODY SAW THAT THEY WANT, BUT. THEY WANT OZEMPIC. WE HAVE. THEY WANT OZEMPIC. CAN THEY GET IT? THEY CAN GET IT IF THEY HAVE THE DIAGNOSIS. YEAH, THAT'S

[02:05:03]

YEAH, THEY'LL COME BACK. OR THEY'RE NOT GOING TO PAY FOR ANYTHING. YEAH, THEY'LL SAY, LET'S TRY THIS ONE INSTEAD.

AND THAT'S WHAT OUR PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGER DOES FOR US.

IF THERE IS SOMETHING COMING THROUGH WHERE THERE IS A DIFFERENT. SAME FORMULA, DIFFERENT BRAND, A LITTLE BIT. THEN THEY'LL TRY TO WORK WITH IT. WILL THE EMPLOYEE NOT BE ABLE TO GET THEIR PRESCRIPTION? NO, THEY'LL BE ABLE TO GET IT.

BUT IN TWO MONTHS, WE MIGHT HAVE FIGURED OUT A WAY TO GET THE OTHER ONE. BECAUSE IT SAVED THE EMPLOYEE A LOT OF MONEY, TOO, IF THEY MAYBE CHANGE A DIFFERENT ROUTE. AND THE PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGER, THEY HAVE BEEN REALLY OUTSTANDING, AND THEY WORK.

THEY PROVIDE THE SAME CUSTOMER SERVICE TO THE EMPLOYEES THAT THEY DO TO US WITH THE DISTRICT.

THEY'RE REALLY HELPFUL TO THEM. WHEN THOSE SPECIALTY ITEMS DO COME UP. SO WITH THAT BEING SAID THE THE DISCUSSION REALLY HAS TO BE WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH LIONCARE? ARE WE GOING TO CONTINUE? IF WE DON'T ALL OF THESE ITEMS JUST IMMEDIATELY WILL GO AWAY AND THE COST WILL IMMEDIATELY RISE, RIGHT? HOWEVER WE DO HAVE TO LOOK AT ALL OF OUR OPTIONS BECAUSE $800,000 IS NOT SUSTAINABLE.

AND SO WE WANT TO LOOK AT IT.

SO WHEN WE LOOK AT IT, THE FIRST THING WE WANT TO LOOK AT IS THE PREMIUMS. WE MADE A BIG CHANGE IN OUR PREMIUMS LAST YEAR.

THESE ARE ALL OF THE DISTRICTS AGAIN. AND THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION HERE. I REALIZE IT'S A LOT OF NUMBERS.

BUT MYSELF AND MY TEAM, WE REALLY DID THE RESEARCH THROUGH THIS BECAUSE WE WANT TO MAKE THE BEST DECISION FOR OUR EMPLOYEES AND WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO POINT TO THE DECISIONS THAT WE'RE MAKING AND AND SEE WHAT OTHER DISTRICTS ARE DOING BECAUSE THIS IS THIS IS PART OF OUR COMPENSATION PLAN JUST LIKE WE COMPARE SALARIES THROUGH THE THROUGH THE PAY STUDY WE ARE TRYING TO DO AN IN-HOUSE COMPARISON OF HEALTH INSURANCE AND WHAT WHAT THE COSTS ARE TO EMPLOYEES BECAUSE WE KNOW IT'S PART OF THE BENEFIT PACKAGE SO THE AVERAGE EMPLOYEE ONLY MONTHLY PREMIUM THROUGHOUT THESE DISTRICTS IS $84 AGAIN IT'S NOT THE SAME IT'S APPLES TO ORANGES IN THE SENSE THAT THEIR PLANS ARE NOT THE SAME AS OURS YOU KNOW SO YES WE HAVE AN AVERAGE AND YES WE CAN COMPARE IT BUT THEY'RE STILL IT'S JUST NOT THE SAME AS FAR AS WE'RE NOT COMPARING ONE BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD TO ANOTHER BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD. WE'RE COMPARING THESE INSURANCE TO OUR VERY UNIQUE SELF-FUNDED PLAN. SO WHEN WE LOOK AT ACROSS AND WE'RE SEEING WHERE DO WE FALL, WE'RE $9 AWAY FROM BEING THE AVERAGE MONTHLY PREMIUM AMOUNT, AND THEN WE KIND OF MOVE ACROSS TO THE DIFFERENT, LIKE I SAID, MOST OF OUR EMPLOYEES ARE ON EMPLOYEE ONLY, AND THEN WE MOVE ACROSS TO THE DIFFERENT PLANS THAT OUR EMPLOYEES MIGHT BE ON. LAST YEAR WE MADE A BIG PLAN TO EMPLOYEE PREMIUMS ON THE EMPLOYEE COST SIDE WHERE WE DIDN'T MAKE A CHANGE WAS ON THE EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION SIDE. SO TWO YEARS AGO WE INCREASED THE EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION TO $427, WHICH AT THAT TIME WAS THE AVERAGE DISTRICT CONTRIBUTION AMOUNT I BELIEVE WE WERE AT 398 MAYBE AND WE INCREASED TO 427 IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY OR 399 SO IF WE WERE TO INCREASE TO THE AVERAGE OF 473 IT WILL COST THE DISTRICT 300 AND ALMOST $82,000 WITH THE CURRENT AMOUNT OF EMPLOYEES THAT ARE ON THE PLAN THAT'S $46 MORE PER MONTH THAT THE DISTRICT WOULD PAY TOWARDS EMPLOYEE PREMIUMS. THE AVERAGE EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTION FOR EMPLOYEE ONLY PLAN IS $84.

IF EMPLOYEES CONTRIBUTED $80, WHICH IS $5 MORE THAN THEY ARE NOW, THAT WOULD BRING $31,500 TO THE PLAN AND THEN IT GOES UP FROM THERE AT $85 A MONTH, 90, JUST TO GIVE SOME EXAMPLES. AS WE'RE TRYING TO CREATE WHAT I'M CALLING IN MY MIND $800,000. HOW DO WE GET TO $800,000 PIECE BY PIECE? SO WE CHANGED OUR

[02:10:02]

THERE MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT OF ROOM ON THE SPECIALIST SIDE BECAUSE THE AVERAGE IS $65 AND OUR CO-PAY IS $50. WE'RE GOING TO RUN THOSE NUMBERS AND SEE IF THAT'S EVEN SOMETHING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE ON. I'M NOT SEEING THAT IT PROBABLY WOULD. UNLESS WE HAD 10,000 VISITS TO SPECIALISTS, I DON'T THINK IT'S GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, AND SHOULD WE EVEN TOUCH THAT AREA.

SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN LOOK AT. IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE MADE A BIG CHANGE TO LAST YEAR. DEDUCTIBLES AND OUT-OF-POCKET MAX, WE CONTINUE TO BE BY FAR THE ABSOLUTE LOWEST ACROSS ALL OF THE DISTRICTS BY FAR. SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE WILL BRING NEXT MONTH.

JUST TO SHOW IF WE CHANGED IT TO $1,500 AND $2,500, WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE. AGAIN, IT MAY NOT REALLY BE AN AREA THAT'S GOING TO MAKE THAT MUCH GROWTH BECAUSE HOW MANY PEOPLE DO WE REALLY HAVE HITTING OUT-OF-POCKET MAX, AND IS IT WORTH INCREASING IT? YOU KNOW, WE JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT IT. WE'RE DEFINITELY DOING AN ANALYSIS ON IT. I WILL HAVE FURTHER DETAILS ON THAT NEXT MONTH AS FAR AS THE TYPE OF.

CHANGE. THIS IS SO DIFFERENT THAN WE ARE SO LOW AND SO FAR OFF. DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT? EVEN THE PREMIUM THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT, IT'S NOT EVEN, I MEAN IT'S LIKE STILL VERY REASONABLE YOU GO FROM 84 TO 85 OR 90, IT'S THE LOWEST PREMIUM. WILL THE PLAN ALLOW US TO LET PEOPLE SIGN UP FOR $1,000 DEDUCTIBLE AND $25 A MONTH? OR IF THEY WANT TO PAY $50 A MONTH, THEY CAN GET A $2,000 DEDUCTIBLE. LIKE, WILL THE PLAN ALLOW DIFFERENT DEDUCTIBLES FOR DIFFERENT PREMIUMS? BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE MAY BE WILLING, PEOPLE MAY WANT TO PAY $100 A MONTH JUST TO HAVE A $500 DEDUCTIBLE.

YEAH. I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW. A $500 PREMIUM? I'M JUST CURIOUS IF THE PLAN WILL ALLOW PEOPLE TO CHOOSE. THAT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT WE CAN, SO THIS IS, LIKE, WE OWN OUR PLAN, SO WE REALLY CAN DO WHATEVER WE WANT WITH IT, YOU KNOW. WE CAN RUN SOME NUMBERS AND KIND OF SEE. I CAN GET WITH BROWN AND BROWN AND SEE ABOUT IF WE WANT TO OFFER DIFFERENT OPTIONS LIKE THAT AND WHAT THE IMPACT THAT IT COULD POTENTIALLY MAKE BASED ON THE, I DON'T WANT TO SAY HEALTH BEHAVIORS, BUT BASED ON WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE PAST FEW YEARS AS FAR AS DEDUCTIBLES GO.

ON THE HISTORY.

ON THE HISTORY, THANK YOU.

THAT'S BETTER. SORRY, IT'S PAST 8 O'CLOCK. ALL RIGHT. I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS. MY QUESTIONS, THOUGH, CAN BE ANSWERED LATER. OKAY.

THIS MAY BE STUFF YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT OR RESEARCH.

OKAY. FIRST OF ALL, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHY WESTLAKE STOPPED, WHY THEY STOPPED DOING THEIR PLAN. I'M JUST THE TYPE OF PERSON, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHY PEOPLE START THINGS, WHY THEY STOP THEM. SO I'D LIKE TO, I'M CURIOUS TO KNOW WHY THEY STOPPED. I CAN REACH OUT TO THE CFO AND ASK HIM.

OKAY. AND THEN MY OTHER ONE WAS, CAN WE COMBINE WITH OTHER DISTRICTS? CAN WE GET CREATIVE AND SAY, HEY, BASTROP, YOU GUYS ARE DOING THIS, OR WHOEVER IS NOT ON TRS. YEAH, THAT'S THE THING.

IF THEY'RE ON TRS, THEY'RE LOCKED. YEAH, BUT LIKE PUGERVILLE IS NOT.

GEORGETOWN IS NOT. BOEHNER IS NOT. YOU KNOW, DO WE GET MORE IF WE JOIN WITH SOMEBODY? YOU KNOW, I'D LIKE TO KNOW THAT. CAN WE COMBINE? LIKE A CO-OP OR SOMETHING. DO WE HAVE MORE POWER THAT WAY? AND THEN, SO WE KEEP HEARING ABOUT LOSING MONEY AND THINGS LIKE THAT. SO IF WE DO LEAVE THIS AND WE GO BACK TO TRS, WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE, AND WE CAN GET A SAVINGS OUT OF THIS. SO BASICALLY, WILL WE HAVE MONEY TO DO OTHER THINGS? NO. OKAY.

THERE WON'T BE A SAVINGS BECAUSE THE PREMIUM AT TRS IS MUCH HIGHER. IT'S HIGHER. OKAY. WHY CAN'T WE JUST SWITCH IN THE TRS VERSUS OUR PLAN? AND THAT'S WHEN WE LEAVE OUR PLAN, OUR EMPLOYEES ARE GOING TO HAVE TO GO TO THE PREMIUM.

OKAY, LET'S JUST LOOK AT, LIKE, THIS IS WHAT WE WOULD BE PAYING ANYWAY, AND LET'S JUST APPLY IT TO LION CARE. WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE, AND DOES IT GET BETTER FOR US? SO I WAS JUST CURIOUS, YOU KNOW, IF THERE WAS A SAVINGS, IS THIS MONEY THAT WE CAN USE FOR ADDITIONAL SALARY INCREASES OR ADDITIONAL STAFF THAT WE, YOU KNOW, ON THIS WISH LIST THAT WE HAVE HERE AND STUFF LIKE THAT. THAT WAS JUST ME THINKING OUT LOUD. THEN MY OTHER ONE WAS JUST SO FOR THE NEXT MONTH WHEN WE DO THE BUDGET THING CAN WE GET

[02:15:01]

AT BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD, I NOTICED SEVERAL DISTRICTS, AND THEIR OPTIONS ARE LOWER TOO.

AND SOME OF THEM ARE. THE BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD PLAN AT GEORGETOWN IS REALLY HIGH.

MANOR, I NOTICED IT WAS LOW FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS, AND THEN IT STARTED TO GO UP PRETTY HIGH. THAT CAN HAPPEN WHERE THEY KIND OF COURT YOU TO GET YOU AND THEN PROBABLY THAT YEAH AND I KNOW A LOT OF PROVIDERS HAVE PULLED OUT OF BEING HMOS SO THEY'RE VERY LIMITED IF YOU'VE GOT AN HMO BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD HMO IT'S VERY LIMITED ON WHO YOUR PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER CAN BE YEAH EXACTLY AND YOU HAVE TO YOU HAVE TO GO TO THAT YEAH A LOT OF PROVIDERS. YES, AND WE DID GET THAT FEEDBACK FROM KPP FREE THAT THEY ARE MORE AND MORE HAVING SO MANY PROVIDERS REACH OUT TO THEM BECAUSE THEY'RE LEAVING. THEY DON'T WANT TO HEY HEALTHY IS AN EXAMPLE. THEY DO NOT ACCEPT ANY TYPE OF MAJOR HEALTH INSURANCE.

THEY ONLY ACCEPT, THEY'RE THROUGH KPP FREE BASICALLY.

THEY DON'T ONLY WORK WITH KEMPTON, BUT THAT IS THEIR BUSINESS MODEL. YEAH, SO.

GOOD. SO I FEEL WE HAVE TO BE AGGRESSIVE TO NEUTRALIZE THESE COSTS OR BALANCE THESE COSTS OUT THAT MEANS BALANCE ME MAYBE THAT MEANS WHATEVER BETWEEN THE STAFF AND US I DON'T THINK WE COULD CONTINUE HAVING THESE DEFICITS YEAR AFTER YEAR THE UNKNOWN ABSOLUTELY. NO, I DON'T DISAGREE WITH YOU AT ALL. IS THAT IMPROVING THIS PLAN TO THAT POINT? YEAH, OR MAYBE GOING BACK TO THE TRADITIONAL PLAN, BUT I THINK WE'VE GOT TO GET THESE COSTS UNDER CONTROL. YEAH. IT'S JUST IMPORTANT. MY ONLY CONCERN IS, IN FACT, WITH TRS, I WOULD LIKE TO POLL LOCAL DOCTORS WITHIN OUR AREA TO SEE IF THEY ACCEPT TRS BECAUSE SO MANY PROVIDERS HAVE PULLED OUT OF ACCEPTING THINGS. I JUST WOULDN'T WANT THE MAJORITY OF OUR STAFF TO GO TO TRS AND THEN THERE'S NO LOCAL PROVIDERS THAT EVEN ACCEPT IT.

I HAVE TRS, THEY'VE GOT A LOT OF LOCAL PROVIDERS. THEY DO? OKAY, SO THAT'S GOOD. I MEAN THAT'S A HUGE. THE RETIREMENT TRS IS BETTER THAN NOT THAN THE RETIREMENT TRS IS WAY BETTER, DIFFERENT THAN THAT. THE RETIREMENT IS DIFFERENT BECAUSE I MEAN I HAVE PPO. THAT WAS TRS? I JUST WOULD HATE, I WOULD RATHER US DO THAT RESEARCH IF WE'RE GOING TO GO TO TRS.

LIKE, IS THE CARE EVEN AVAILABLE HERE? ABSOLUTELY. IF WE WERE GOING TO MAKE ANY TYPE OF HUGE CHANGE LIKE THAT, CHANGE TO THE MARKET, AGAIN, WE CAN'T GO TO TRS THIS NEXT YEAR AT ALL.

SO I KNOW THEY MADE A BIG CHANGE ONE YEAR WHERE I HAD A FRIEND THAT WAS PREGNANT THAT SHE HAD TO CHANGE ALL OF HER OBGYN THINGS BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T ACCEPTING TRS ANYMORE AND IT JUST SHOULD HAVE STARTED ALL BACK OVER IN THE MIDDLE OF PREGNANCY BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T ACCEPTING IT ANYMORE. WOW. COULD YOU, FROM THE DAY WE STARTED THIS TO NOW, COULD YOU TELL US GO BACK AND FIND OUT EXACTLY HOW MUCH WE'VE LOST OR THE NEGATIVE WE'VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH SINCE THEN? ABSOLUTELY. I'M SURE YOU DON'T HAVE IT NOW BUT IN THE FUTURE PROVIDE THAT TO US. DEFINITELY. MOST DEFINITELY. AND YOU CAN SEE WE ALSO NEED TO SHOW WHAT THE RATES WOULD HAVE BEEN WITH ERS. BECAUSE IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAY YOU LOST, YOU HAVE TO COMPARE IT TO SOMETHING. YEAH, YOU HAVE TO MAKE A COMPARISON. WHAT WE WOULD HAVE SPENT. YEAH. ERS MAY BE THE SAME NUMBER. YEAH.

AND LET ME ALSO JUST REMIND YOU THAT LAST YEAR WHEN WE LOOKED AT THIS, I MEAN, WE SAW THAT OUR RATES WERE SO FAR BEHIND, LIKE THE TRS, NOT JUST TRS, BUT THE MARKET IN GENERAL. AND WHEN WE CREATED THIS, WHEN YOU LEAVE TRS, THEY PROVIDE YOU ZERO DATA ON YOUR GROUP OF EMPLOYEES. SO WE HAD NO IDEA CREATING THE PLAN WHAT TYPE OF,

[02:20:04]

THERE'S NO OPTION THERE SO NOW WE ACTUALLY HAVE SOME REAL DATA WE KNOW WHERE WHERE THE NEEDS ARE WE KNOW WHERE WE CAN SAY THEN WE'RE ABLE TO CHANGE OUR PLAN THE WAY THAT WE WANT TO MEET THE MARKET MEET THE NEED THAT IF THEY WERE TO GO TO A DIFFERENT DISTRICT HOW DO WE REMAIN COMPETITIVE AND STILL HAVE A BALANCED PLAN IN THE SENSE AND SO THE CHALLENGE WE'RE TRYING TO LIMIT OUR EXPENSES, RIGHT? SO IF WE GET TOO AGGRESSIVE AND WE TAKE OUT MONEY THAT WE COULD HAVE USED FOR A RAISE OR FOR OTHER POSITIONS, BUT WE DIDN'T NEED TO, WE'RE TRYING TO BALANCE THAT.

THAT'S PART OF THE BENEFIT OF KEEPING A HEALTHY FUND BALANCE, BECAUSE WE KNOW, I MEAN, WOULD WE HAVE OVER $5 MILLION ABOVE THREE MONTHS? I MEAN, LIKE, WE HAVE A HEALTHY FUND BALANCE, AND WE'RE STRATEGIC WITH THAT. YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT PLANNING TO USE THAT, BUT WE'RE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO BALANCE THAT. BECAUSE, SURE, WE CAN SAY, LET'S JUST RAISE EVERYTHING.

WE'LL PAY FOR IT. AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO OVERPAY FOR SOMETHING AND NOT GET POSITIONS AND BE ABLE TO GIVE A RAISE THAT WE WANT TO GIVE BECAUSE WE OVERPAID FOR OUR INSURANCE THAT WE DIDN'T NEED TO. SO THAT'S PART OF THE FINE LINE WE'RE TRYING TO BALANCE WITH THIS PROGRAM. ABSOLUTELY.

I HAD A QUESTION ON INSULIN.

WHAT IS THAT, ZERO, HEY HEALTHY? YEAH, IF YOU GO THROUGH HEY HEALTHY, WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY COMPLETE MEDICINE, YOU HAVE ZERO COST. AND THEN OUR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY WILL ALSO WORK TO TRY TO GET YOU COUPONS AND THINGS LIKE THAT. IF YOU'RE ON ONE OF THE HIGHER, LIKE THE HIGHER COST, WHICH DIABETES IS THE NUMBER ONE COST TO OUR PLAN. IT IS THE NUMBER ONE BIGGEST USE OF THE PLAN, YEAH, AS FAR AS MEDICALLY AND PHARMACEUTICALLY, THAT'S FOR SURE. SO IT'S HEY HEALTHY IS LIKE A PROGRAM RIGHT YES IT IS THROUGH SHE'S AN INNER THEY'RE A TEAM OF ENDOCRINOLOGISTS AND IF YOU HAVE DIABETES AND YOU GO THROUGH THEM ALL OF YOUR MATERIALS YOU'RE LIKE I SAID YOU DON'T PAY ANY CO-PAYS EITHER YOU SEE EVERYTHING BY ZOOM THEY'RE FREE IT'S FREE TO EMPLOYEES ALL RIGHT AND ALL DO ALL EMPLOYEES THAT HAVE NEED THIS SERVICE USE IT NOT EVERYONE UTILIZES HEY HEALTHY.

NOPE. AND THAT'S WHERE THEY ARE IN THE PAIN. THANK YOU. YOU'RE WELCOME. PHARMACEUTICAL IS AN AREA AS WE LOOK AT THIS THAT WE DO HAVE ROOM FOR A LITTLE BIT OF AN ADJUSTMENT. WE DIDN'T HAVE AN ADJUSTMENT LAST YEAR.

WE HAD JUST HAD A NEW PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFIT MANAGER AND WHEN WE RAN THIS WAS A NEW AREA THAT WE LOOKED AT AND WHEN WE RAN IT EVERY SINGLE DISTRICT APART FROM GEORGETOWN HAS A GENERIC BRAND COPAY. THE GEORGETOWN ONE WAS KIND OF INTERESTING BECAUSE THEIR PLAN IS BY FAR THE MOST EXPENSIVE IN ALL OTHER AREAS, BUT THEY DO PROVIDE A FREE GENERIC $0 COPAY JUST LIKE WE DO ON OUR GENERIC BRANDS, BUT IT IS AN AREA THAT WE ARE UNDER THE MARKET, SO IT WOULD SHOW, IT WOULD MAKE SENSE THAT WE WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT UNDERFUNDED, PART OF THE $800,000, BECAUSE WE'RE WAY UNDER THE MARKET, RIGHT? SO THIS IS AN AREA THAT WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT. SO WITH THESE FEW THINGS THAT WE'VE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE POSSIBLE PLAN CHANGE OPTIONS, DOESN'T MEAN THAT THIS IS WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DEFINITELY DO. THESE ARE JUST A FEW THINGS THAT I WANTED TO THROW OUT BASED ON MY CURRENT ANALYSIS THAT WE'VE DONE AS A TEAM AND THEN ALSO WE'LL BRING MORE THINGS, MORE IDEAS THAT BROWN AND BROWNER AND KPP FREE, I MEAN, I'M SORRY, THE KIDS ARE GOING TO HELP US WITH. IF WE WENT UP TO THE EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION BEING THE DISTRICT AVERAGE, WHICH I BELIEVE WAS $473 PER MONTH, IT WOULD PROVIDE PREMIUM AMOUNTS TO THE PLAN OF $382,000. OF COURSE, THAT WOULD BE A COST TO THE DISTRICT. IF THERE WAS A $10 PER MONTH PREMIUM INCREASE

[02:25:02]

SHE'S GOING TO BRING SOME DETAIL ON THAT SO WE CAN SEE. BECAUSE THAT'S THE OTHER THING. IT'S AN AREA WHERE WE KNOW THERE'S 16,000. THIS IS HUGE. IF WE ONLY HAVE 10 PEOPLE ON A SPECIALTY AND WE MAKE THE CO-PAY $250, WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE MUCH MOVEMENT IN THE PLAN BY DOING THAT. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? IT MIGHT BRING US LIKE $4,000.

BUT WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE MOVEMENT IN THE PLAN.

AND THEN ALSO WHEN YOU DO LIKE A GENERIC COPAY, LIKE THESE ARE FOR THESE 16,000 PRESCRIPTIONS, THESE ARE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE USING IT.

SO IF WE INCREASE THE PREMIUM, EVERYBODY GETS A PREMIUM INCREASE.

BUT IF WE INCREASE COPAYS, THEN THOSE WHO ARE USING IT ARE GOING TO BE PAYING FOR IT, RIGHT? SO THAT'S KIND OF SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT TOO. THOSE, THESE ARE, AGAIN, JUST IDEAS. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO DO THIS.

BUT IT WOULD BRING, JUST LIKE THAT WE GOT TO 600,000.

THE GOAL IS 800,000. SO I THINK THERE'S ROOM, WHILE WE'RE STILL IN TRS TIMEOUT, TO LOOK AT BALANCING THE PLAN STILL AND STILL BEING VERY COMPETITIVE TO THE REST OF THE PLANS THAT ARE OUT THERE. TAKE A $5 COPAY OR A $10 COPAY, OR IS IT ONLY FOR YOU? I THINK THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION, BUT I THINK THE HOPE IS THAT THEY WOULD, THEY SAVE SO MUCH MONEY BY GOING THROUGH KPP FREE THAT IF THEY DON'T, IF THEY KEEP IT ZERO COST, AND WHEN I SAY THEY, THE EMPLOYEE SAVES A LOT OF MONEY, BUT THE PLAN SAVES A LOT OF MONEY. I'M JUST GOING TO GET A $5 COPAY. WOULD THAT JUST SOME SORT OF, WE CAN HAVE, WE CAN LOOK AT HOW THEY'RE GOING TO DO IT. THEY'RE ALSO JUST CONSTANTLY, I HAVEN'T, OTHER THAN A FEW LITTLE THINGS, NEEDED TO USE IT MUCH, BUT THEY JUST CONTINUE TO SAY THAT THE NUMBER OF PROVIDERS IS JUST GROWING EXPONENTIALLY RIGHT NOW MORE THAN IT HAS IN THE PAST BECAUSE SO MANY PROVIDERS WANT TO BE A PART OF IT BECAUSE OF EVERYTHING. THE MARKET IS CHANGING. YEAH, SO THAT WOULD MEAN THAT WHILE SOME A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO THEY MIGHT BE LIKE, OH, I DON'T WANT TO USE KPP FREE. IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET INTO A MAMMOGRAM.

NOW IT MIGHT BE WAY FASTER BECAUSE A NUMBER OF PROVIDERS ARE JUST GROWING.

SO THE EASE OF USING IT IS INCREASING.

YEAH, OKAY. MOVING RIGHT ALONG TO THE TAX RATE. SO WE ALSO LOOK AT THE TAX RATE. WE HAVE TWO SIDES OF OUR TAX RATE, OUR M&O SIDE, OUR INS SIDE. WE REALLY DON'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF GIVE AS FAR AS WHAT OUR TAX RATE IS. WE HAVE A VERY, VERY PRELIMINARY COMPRESSED TAX RATE OF 57 CENTS, WHICH WOULD BE 2.79 CENT DECREASE PER $100 OF VALUE. AGAIN, EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE PRELIMINARY VALUES FROM THE COUNTY.

BUT WHEN I PUT THE PRELIMINARY, PRELIMINARY VALUES IN, THIS IS WHAT IS CALCULATED. TA SETS THAT COMPRESSION RATE. AND THEN, OF COURSE, OUR INS RATE STAYING THE SAME.

SO WE COULD HAVE A POTENTIAL.

TAX RATE OF 91 CENTS THAT IS WHAT I AM RUNNING ALL THE PROJECTIONS ON. OKAY PRELIMINARY VERY PRELIMINARY BUDGET SUMMARY SO WHAT I WANT TO SHOW HERE IS THAT THIS IS THE 6,900 STUDENT ENROLLMENT THAT WE TALKED ABOUT WHEN WE LOOK AT THE 26-27 PROPOSED BUDGET COLUMN. IT CURRENTLY HAS A DEFICIT OF $18,000, SO IT'S NEARLY BALANCED, RIGHT? IT ALREADY

[02:30:02]

THE PROJECTION OF WHAT I THINK WE'RE GOING TO SPEND VERSUS WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BUDGET IS DIFFERENT.

BUT THE BUDGET THAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY IN HERE RIGHT NOW.

THINKING WE'RE DEFINITELY NOT HAVING ANY WEIRD ANOMALIES HAPPEN. WE'RE GOING TO SPEND EVERY SINGLE PENNY IS THIS BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HOW WE'RE GOING TO START WITH OUR 26-27 BUDGET. OKAY, SO WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK WE'RE GOING TO SPIN THAT'S COMING. OKAY.

OKAY. YEAH, SO I DON'T MEAN TO CONFUSE YOU BUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT BUDGET IN THIS CASE. WE DEFINITELY START WITH A ZERO BASED BUDGET. WE ASSUME THAT WHAT'S IN THE BUDGET. WE'RE GOING TO SPEND IT NEXT YEAR AND THEN I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH AND BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING THAT MIGHT COME IN LESS THAN WE THOUGHT AND THAT THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN BUT I CAN'T ASSUME THAT THAT'S ALSO GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT YEAR YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN AND VICE VERSA WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THINGS THAT HAVE THAT COME UP THAT DON'T SO I START WITH THE FULL AS FAR AS THE BUDGETING FOR 26-27 GOES THEN WHEN I'M PROJECTING FUND BALANCE I'LL TALK TO YOU ABOUT WHERE THE PROJECTION IS ON THE EXPENDITURE SIDE. FOR 25 26. I DO NOT PROJECT THAT WE'RE GOING TO SPEND THE ENTIRE BUDGET THOUGH SO WHEN WE GO ACROSS MODEL ONE AS A REMINDER IS A 2% INCREASE FOR TEACHERS A THREE PERCENT INCREASE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND A THREE AND A HALF PERCENT INCREASE FOR THE HOURLY BOTH HOURLY TEAMS THE THE PARAPROFESSIONAL SIDE AND THE AUXILIARY SIDE OKAY AND SO THAT IF WE WERE TO PUT THAT IN WE WOULD BE AT A DEFICIT OF 1.4 MILLION WE GO NEXT TO MODEL 2 THAT AS A REMINDER IS A 2% INCREASE FOR TEACHERS 3% FOR ADMINISTRATION AND 4% FOR THE HOURLY STAFF BOTH THE PARAPROFESSIONAL SIDE AND THE AUXILIARY SIDE AND THAT'S BECAUSE THOSE WERE THE SCALES THAT WHERE WHEN WE'VE BEEN GIVING THE SEVEN AND EIGHT PERCENT RAISES ON THE TEACHER SCALE AND THEN WE GIVE A TWO OR THREE PERCENT RAISE ON THE IT JUST HASN'T KEPT UP AND SO IT'S IT'S BEHIND THAT'S WHY YOU SEE THE 90 PERCENT IN THOSE AREAS SO DOING THAT WOULD WOULD BRING US AT ABOUT A 1.45 MILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT AND THEN MODEL THREE WAS A 1% TEACHER RAISE, A 2% ADMIN RAISE, AND A 3% FOR HOURLY EMPLOYEES, WHICH WOULD GET US RIGHT UNDER A MILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT.

SO THAT'S KIND OF THE, LIKE I WAS TELLING YOU, THE VERY BASELINE STARTING BUDGET.

I GO THROUGH EVERY SINGLE LINE OF THE BUDGET, NOT JUST MYSELF, BUT EVERYBODY DOES. WE'RE DOING ZERO-BASED BUDGETING AND EVALUATING EVERYTHING THAT WE DO. AND SO WE ARE, IN KNOWING THAT, WE HAVE BALANCED BUDGET IDEAS THAT WE ARE COMING UP WITH TO TRY TO BALANCE THIS BUDGET, BOTH ON THE EXPENDITURE SIDE AND THE REVENUE SIDE. SO ONE OF THE IDEAS WOULD BE TO REDUCE THE POSITIONS THAT WERE ADDED DUE TO ESSER. SO WHEN ESSER, WHEN THE ESSER FUNDING

[02:35:01]

AND ONE OF THE AREAS WAS KINDER AIDES.

AND I SAY KINDER AIDES IN QUOTES ONLY BECAUSE THEY WERE NEEDED FOR KINDER DUE TO COVID-19. I DON'T KNOW SPECIFICALLY IF THEY'RE USING THEM FOR THAT NOW. REALLY, THEY'RE INSTRUCTIONAL AIDES.

BUT WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY IS PRIOR TO THE ESSER FUNDING, THE CAMPUSES HAD TWO TO THREE INSTRUCTIONAL AIDES, AND NOW THEY HAVE FROM THAT TWO MORE. WHEN THE ESSER FUNDS WENT AWAY A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, WE SLOWLY, THROUGH ATTRITION, NO LONGER HAD THOSE POSITIONS ANYMORE.

THIS IS THAT LAST GROUP OF POSITIONS THAT WE BROUGHT TO THE GENERAL FUND WHEN THE ESSER FUNDS WENT AWAY. SO THEY ARE, SO WHEN I SAY THEY, IT'S NOT, I MEAN THE POSITION. SO THE IDEA IS THROUGH ATTRITION ONLY THAT THESE POSITIONS THAT DID NOT EXIST PRIOR TO ESSER FUNDING, AND THEY DIDN'T EXIST IN THE GENERAL FUND PRIOR TO TWO YEARS AGO, BECAUSE WE HAD TO MOVE THEM TO THE GENERAL FUND, THAT THROUGH ATTRITION WITHIN THE INSTRUCTIONAL PARAPROFESSIONAL POSITIONS THAT THOSE WOULD BE ELIMINATED. SO WHEN I SAY THAT I DON'T MEAN A PERSON I MEAN A POSITION. SO IF IF THERE IS A CAMPUS THAT HAS TEN INSTRUCTIONAL AID POSITIONS AND THAT COULD BE ACROSS SPECIAL ED, RTI, INSTRUCTIONAL AND ONE OF THOSE POSITIONS RESIGNS FOR THE YEAR THEN WE'RE ABLE TO REDUCE THAT BACK ON THE ON ONE OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL AID SIDE I HOPE I EXPLAINED THAT CORRECTLY YEAH ALL OF THEM BEING GONE AND NO. CARVER WE'RE JUST SIGNING SO WHEN SO WHEN PEOPLE RESIGN WE WOULD MOVE THAT YOU KNOW I THINK THERE ARE HOW MANY OTHER 12? 12. THESE 12 PEOPLE INTO ONE OF THOSE OTHER POSITIONS INSTEAD OF POSTING AND HIRING A NEW PERSON. THAT'S A WAY TO MAKE A SUBSTANTIAL, I MEAN, $420,000. YEAH. THAT WOULDN'T ALL BE IN ONE TIME, THOUGH.

AND IT WOULDN'T ALL BE IN ONE YEAR. POTENTIALLY. I MEAN, WE HAVE A LOT OF TURNOVER THAT CATEGORY WE HAVE A LOT OF OF STAFF MEMBERS IN THAT CATEGORY TO WHERE IT'S IT'S POSSIBLE THAT IT COULD BE ONE YEAR YEAH AND AND IT MAY BE POSSIBLE THAT THE ONLY WHILE THE GOAL IS THAT WE DEFINITELY WILL NOT BE IT WOULDN'T BE BASED ON PERSON BASED ON POSITION YOU MAY GET MOVED THOUGH BECAUSE IF ONE CAMPUS HAS MORE RESIGNATIONS AND ONE CAMPUS HAS ZERO THERE'S GOING TO BE A LITTLE BIT OF MOVEMENT POTENTIALLY BUT MAYBE NOT AT ALL WE'RE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO SEE HOW HOW THE RESIGNATIONS GO SO THAT'S JUST AN IDEA THE OTHER IDEA IS TO BOUNCE THE TRS RETIREE SURCHARGES BACK TO THE EMPLOYEES SO THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT RETIREES SURCHARGES EXCUSE ME DISTRICTS ALWAYS PASSED TO EMPLOYEES AND I THINK IT WAS 2021 I THINK IT WAS 2021 THAT THE LEGISLATURE HAD MADE IT TO WHERE DISTRICTS COULD NO LONGER PASS THAT SURCHARGE BACK TO EMPLOYEES AND NOW IN THIS PAST SESSION THEY TURNED IT BACK SO A LOT OF DISTRICTS ARE GOING BACK BECAUSE IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE TO PAY SURCHARGES WE HAVE. IS THAT BASED ON HOW MUCH THEY MAKE OR YEARS OF SERVICE? YES, BOTH. BOTH? YES, BOTH. SO IT'S 16.5% OF WHAT THEY MAKE. SOMETHING WE NEED FEEDBACK ON THE BOARD, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GO BACK TO THE PREVIOUS SLIDE AND YOU SEE IF WE WANT TO GIVE ANY RAISE, I MEAN, YOU CAN SEE THE SMALLEST RAISE IS A MILLION DOLLARS IN THE WHOLE, THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO FIND CUTS AND COST SAVINGS.

WE'RE NOT GOING TO APPROVE ALL THOSE. I KNOW.

BUT YOU'RE RIGHT, THOUGH. I MEAN, THOSE ARE THE NEEDS.

STILL MORE. THOSE ARE THE NEEDS

[02:40:01]

YOU KNOW, WE'RE WORKING OFF THIS ASSUMPTION THAT WE WANT TO GIVE A RAISE, SO I'D LIKE MAYBE SOME CONFIRMATION.

OR IF THE BOARD FEELS LIKE, YOU KNOW, NO, WE DON'T WANT TO REDUCE POSITIONS, WE DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO FIND BUDGET-SAVING MEASURES, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING TO PRIORITIZE THAT OVER. GIVEN A RAISE, THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT TIME TO GIVE US THAT FEEDBACK SO THAT WE DON'T CONTINUE TO GO DOWN THAT PATH. SO I GUESS MY QUESTION ABOUT THE SURCHARGE, THAT WE CONSIDER THIS MAYBE A CRITICAL SPOT THAT WE WERE WILLING TO PAY THE SURCHARGE IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND IF WE, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTANDABLY, IF WE DECIDE, WELL, WE'RE NOT GOING TO PAY IT FOR YOU ANYMORE, HOW MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE LIKELY TO STAY ON AND JUST SAY, WELL, THE HELL WITH THIS? I'M GETTING OUT.

IT'S NOT WORTH THE EXTRA MONEY.

AND LOSING THAT POSITION IS.

DOES THAT HURT US? WE'VE EVALUATED EACH ONE OF THOSE, AND I HAVE THAT CONCERN, ESPECIALLY IN OUR SPECIAL ED DEPARTMENT WHERE WE HAVE FOLKS WHO ARE DOING EVALUATIONS AND THINGS. WE WOULD HAVE TO GO PAY A CONTRACTOR, AND THAT'S PROBABLY GOING TO COST MORE, AND IT PROBABLY WOULDN'T MAKE SENSE FOR US TO DO THAT. IT PROBABLY MAKES MORE SENSE TO CONTINUE PAYING THOSE.

BUT THERE ARE SOME THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT. AGAIN, EVERY POSITION IS IMPORTANT, BUT WE COULD PROBABLY FIND A REPLACEMENT FOR THEM. SO YOU WOULD JUST KIND OF EVALUATE IT ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS? OKAY.

IN MY OPINION, DIFFERENT ISDS CUTTING, LIKE THEIR BUDGET IS JUST TREMENDOUSLY TOO, YOU KNOW, A HUGE, HUGE DEFICIT.

AND THEY'RE NOT ABLE TO GIVE ANY RAISES OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. AND SO I THINK IF WE CAN DO LITTLE REDUCTIONS LIKE THIS, WHERE WE'RE JUST NOT REFILLING A POSITION OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AND WE'RE ABLE TO GIVE SOMEWHAT OF A RAISE, I THINK OUR RECRUITMENT AT THAT POINT BECOMES OUTSTANDING BECAUSE WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE IN THE POSITION THAT A LOT OF THESE DISTRICTS ARE. NOT GIVING A RAISE AND CUTTING A TON. IF WE CAN MAKE IT WORK, I WOULD LIKE TO. SEE IF WE CAN MAKE IT WORK. THANK YOU FOR THE FEEDBACK. YEAH, I AGREE WITH THAT. AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO LET OUR PUBLIC KNOW ALSO THAT WE ARE KEEPING OUR EYE ON THE NUMBERS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, AND WE'RE BEING VERY JUDICIOUS IN WHAT WE'RE SPENDING. BUT WE'RE ALSO OFFERING OUR EMPLOYEES A LOT. WE JUST PASSED A PROGRAM TONIGHT THAT'S GOING TO PROVIDE HOUSING. AND I THINK WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE LETTING PEOPLE KNOW THAT AS WELL. THAT'S A HUGE RECRUITING TOOL, I THINK. WE'RE TRYING TO BE INNOVATIVE WITH OUR IDEAS AND STILL GIVING BENEFITS TO PEOPLE. WE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO DO MUCH, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO DO SOMETHING. TRYING TO REWARD AND CONTINUE TO APPRECIATE AND VALUE EMPLOYEES SO YOU CAN JUGGLE IT. IF WE COULD GIVE A HUGE RAISE TO EVERYBODY, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. I THINK THEY ALL DESERVE IT, BUT LIKE WE SAID BEFORE, A BUDGET IS A BUDGET AND A DOLLAR IS A DOLLAR. WE JUST HAVE TO BE MINDFUL OF HOW WE SPEND IT AND IF WE CAN CUT SOME THINGS HERE AND THERE. BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE, LIKE, WHAT NEXT YEAR LOOKS LIKE OPENING A NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL.

NEXT, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THAT EXPENDITURE. TWO MILLION? YEAH, TWO MILLION DOLLARS. YEAH. NEXT YEAR, WE'RE PROJECTING $2 MILLION TO OPEN UP SEAWILLOW. WHEN WE'RE SITTING HERE NEXT YEAR, WE'RE GOING TO BE IN A LEGISLATIVE SESSION WONDERING IS THE LEGISLATURE GOING TO PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL FUNDING? ARE THEY GOING TO FUND THIS MASSIVE TEACHER RAISE THAT THEY PROVIDED LAST YEAR? WE'LL BE IN THOSE CONVERSATIONS. SO I DO THINK IT'S WISE FOR US TO CONSIDER BEING CONSERVATIVE AT THIS POINT, KNOWING THAT.

WE'RE GOING INTO A LEGISLATIVE SESSION. WE CAN'T GO BACKWARDS. CORRECT.

THE DECISION WE MADE THIS YEAR, WE CAN'T GO BACK AND GO BACKWARDS ON IT. SO I THINK BEING CONSERVATIVE THIS YEAR IS THE SMARTEST THING TO DO. WE'RE IN A GOOD SPOT BECAUSE COMPARED TO OTHER DISTRICTS THAT ARE REALLY CUTTING IN HUGE DEFICITS, WE HAVEN'T HAD TO DO THAT, AND WE'VE TRIED TO REWARD OUR STAFF AND PUT INCENTIVES AND ADDITIONAL RAISES, ET CETERA.

SO. I WISH WE COULD DO MODEL TWO. I THINK THE COMMUNITY WILL SEE THAT WE'RE BEING RESPONSIBLE VERSUS BEING IRRESPONSIBLE. THEY'LL SEE THAT. TO MS. PULLIAM'S POINT, WE CAN LEARN FROM SOME OF OUR NEIGHBORS OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVE RAISES THAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD. RIGHT.

YOU HAVE TO COME BACK, AND IT COSTS PEOPLE. THEIR POSITIONS AND THINGS AND I THINK THAT IS

[02:45:03]

YES, THEY ARE. NOT A LOT OF WORK, NOT A LOT OF WORK.

ANY OTHER THOUGHTS OR FEEDBACK FOR THE DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND COME BACK WITH MORE INFORMATION AT OUR NEXT MEETING. ARE YOU DOING YOUR REVENUE IDEA? THERE ARE A FEW YEAH. SORRY GO AHEAD.

NO THAT'S OKAY YOU'RE FINE.

THE IDEA IS THAT THE IDEAS WOULD CONTINUE TO COME IN THROUGH OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM AND THROUGH CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'RE HAVING. AND AS WE'RE GOING THROUGH THE BUDGET AND LOOKING LINE BY LINE AND REALLY EVALUATING EVERYTHING. SO THE IDEA IS THAT THEY WOULD GROW.

THERE'S BEEN A FEW REVENUE INCREASE IDEAS. WE KNOW THAT OUR REVENUE BUCKET, FORGIVE ME, OUR ABILITY TO BRING IN REVENUE IS NOT HUGE. WE'RE NOT GOING TO FIND $400,000. BUT THERE ARE AREAS WHERE WE CAN MAYBE INCREASE A LITTLE BIT HERE AND THERE AND GET THERE AND SO THESE ARE SOME IDEAS THAT HAVE COME UP LIKE INCREASING OUR FACILITY RENTALS INCREASING OUR SCOREBOARD ADS ON BOTH OUR FOOTBALL FIELD AND NOW OUR OUR NEW SCOREBOARD THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE IN THE GYM SO SELLING LAND THAT WE IS NOT RELATED TO FUTURE SCHOOL SITES SO THESE ARE ALL A FEW IDEAS AGAIN HOPEFULLY THOSE CAN ALSO MAYBE CONTINUE TO COME IN AS AS PEOPLE AS EMPLOYEES AND AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS IF ANYONE HAS IDEAS WHERE WE'RE OPEN TO THEM BECAUSE WE HAVE THE SAME GOALS AS YOU AS FAR AS WANTING TO BALANCE THE BUDGET WHILE PROVIDING TO OUR EMPLOYEES A RAISE.

OKAY, SO WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR FUND BALANCE, THIS IS LAST YEAR'S 24-25 FUND BALANCE, AND WE LOOKED AT IT A LITTLE BIT OVER THE YEAR. I THINK AT THE FEBRUARY BOARD MEETING, JUST SHOWING THAT OUR ENDING FUND BALANCE, AND THE REASON WHY I WANTED TO SHOW THIS IS BECAUSE OUR ENDING FUND BALANCE GOING INTO THIS FISCAL YEAR OF 25-26, OUR STARTING FUND BALANCE FOR THIS YEAR, EXCUSE ME, IS THE ENDING FUND BALANCE OF LAST YEAR. SO WHEN WE LOOK AT LAST YEAR, OUR ENDING FUND BALANCE WAS $26.8 MILLION, ALMOST $26.9 MILLION. WE HAVE SOME OF THAT AS COMMITTED FUND BALANCE FOR AN ENDING UNASSIGNED FUND BALANCE OF $23.6 MILLION, ALMOST $7 MILLION, WHICH IS 3.9 MONTHS IN OPERATING. THE OPTIMUM AMOUNT THAT WE WOULD WANT IN OUR FUND BALANCE IS THREE MONTHS OF OPERATING, WHICH IS $18.3 MILLION, AND ABOVE OPTIMUM IS $5.3 MILLION.

SO THAT'S WHERE OUR FUND BALANCE WAS AT THE END OF LAST YEAR. SO OUR BEGINNING STARTING OF THE 25-26 YEAR IS AT $23,679,000. SO WHEN WE TAKE OUR BEGINNING BALANCE WITH THE COMMITMENT OF $26.8 MILLION, WE PUT IN WHAT OUR NEW REVENUE PROJECTION IS AND OUR EXPENDITURE PROJECTION. SO WITHIN THIS EXPENDITURE PROJECTION, WE HAVE A MILLION DOLLARS OF COMMITTED FUND BALANCE THAT WE HAVE SPENT ON LAND FOR FUTURE SITE. AND THEN I AM ALSO PROJECTING IN HERE THE LOSS OF FUND, I'M SORRY, LION CARE, AS WELL AS THE SAVINGS ON THE EXPENDITURE SIDE, WHICH I THINK ARE PRETTY MUCH GOING TO EVEN OUT. I THINK WE'RE

[02:50:01]

AND IN A TYPICAL YEAR, WHAT IS THAT NUMBER THAT WE BUDGET BUT ACTUALLY DON'T SPEND? IT HAS BEEN ANYWHERE FROM $600,000. YOU KNOW WHAT? ON THE NEXT BOARD MEETING, I THINK IT'S AT THE NEXT BUDGET WORKSHOP I HAVE WHERE WE'VE DONE THE PAST 10 YEARS WHAT WE PUT INTO FUND BALANCE. LAST YEAR WE DIDN'T BECAUSE WE HAD LION CARE. BACK IN 2022, WE HAD OUR PROPERTY VALUE ASSIGNMENT.

BUT I CAN BRING LIKE A SEVEN, EIGHT YEAR SO YOU CAN SEE.

BUT IT CAN RANGE ANYWHERE FROM AS SMALL AS $200,000 TO AS I'VE SEEN IN THE PAST TO BE ABOUT $1.5 MILLION. AND IT REALLY CAN BE ANYWHERE FROM IT CAN BE VACANCIES. IT CAN BE SAVINGS FOR THINGS THAT WE BUDGETED FOR AND ENDED UP NOT DOING, WHETHER THAT BE THROUGH CONTRACTED SERVICES.

THERE'S JUST ALL KINDS OF AREAS THAT. WHEN I SAY THIS, THIS IS YOU KNOW, I GUESS GOING INTO MY NINTH TIME MAKING A BUDGET, AND WE HAVE THE SAME CONVERSATION EVERY YEAR, AND WE RARELY SPEND ALL OF THE BUDGET THAT WE PLAN. I THINK WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CUTS, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT CAN WE AFFORD TO HAVE A BALANCED BUDGET, OR I THINK A BETTER TERM IS A PROJECTED. BALANCED BUDGET AND THEN WE END UP PUTTING MONEY IN FUND BALANCE WHICH TO ME WHEN I THE THING THAT IT BOTHERS ME IS THAT THAT YEAR WHERE WE HAD OVER A MILLION DOLLARS YOU KNOW WE HAVE A YEAR WHAT WAS IT 800,000 THIS YEAR LIKE THAT THOSE ARE FUNDS THAT OUR KIDS DIDN'T GET THIS YEAR THAT WE BUDGETED BUDGETED FOR YOU KNOW AND THEN WHEN WE STRESS ABOUT NEXT YEAR LIKE AND EVERY YEAR WE HAVE THIS CONVERSATION PRETTY MUCH I JUST THINK IT'S SOMETHING FOR US TO CONSIDER AS WE DON'T WANT TO BE NEGLIGENT, WE DON'T WANT TO MAKE BAD DECISIONS, BUT I THINK IT'S JUST SOMETHING FOR US TO HAVE IN THE BACK OF OUR MIND ALSO THAT WE RARELY SPEND ALL THE MONEY THAT WE'RE BUDGETING FOR. AND AS THINGS GET TIGHTER AND TIGHTER, I JUST THINK WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THAT, NOT TO BE OVERLY RISKY, BUT ALSO NOT TO SHOW SELL OUR STAFF AND OUR KIDS SHORT AS WE WE MAKE PROJECTIONS AND TRY TO MAKE HARD DECISIONS ON A BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR.

WE'RE GONNA HAVE A MILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT BUT REALLY IN REALITY WE RARELY ACTUALLY HAVE THAT. YEAH BECAUSE THE YEAR GOES ON THE YEAR GOES ON WE'RE MASSAGING THINGS WE'RE MAKING DECISIONS YOU KNOW YOU HAVE POSITIONS OPEN UP AND BECOME VACANT LIKE A LOT OF DIFFERENT REASONS RIGHT.

BUT THAT IS OUR JOB AS WE WORK THROUGH THE YEARS TO MANAGE THAT BUDGET, NOT OVERSPEND, TO ASK QUESTIONS.

AND I JUST THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO HONOR THOSE PROJECTIONS BUT TO REALIZE THAT THEY'RE JUST PROJECTIONS. AND ALMOST EVERY TIME WE SELL OURSELVES SHORT ON THOSE PROJECTIONS. JUST LIKE ON THE REVENUE SIDE WHERE I ALWAYS TALK ABOUT HOW THE PROJECTION IS LIKE WE'RE IN A DARK ROOM AND THEN THE LIGHTS TURN ON AND WE ARE ABLE TO SEE WHERE WE PROJECTED ON THE REVENUE THE EXPENDITURE SIDE IS THE EXACT SAME WAY WE PROJECT THE NEEDS AND THEN THE NEEDS ACTUALLY HAPPEN IN A WAY THAT MAY NOT BE THE SAME RIGHT THIS YEAR AND LAST YEAR TOO AS WELL ANY KIND OF THINGS THAT WE DON'T HAVE ON ON THE EXPENDITURE SIDE WILL HELP OFFSET ANY KIND OF DEFICIT THAT LION CARE MIGHT HAVE. SO, HOWEVER, WE STILL HAVE SEVERAL MONTHS MORE IN THE BUDGET, AND WE MIGHT SPEND EVEN LESS THAN PROJECTED OR EVEN MORE. SO, AGAIN, IT'S JUST A PROJECTION THAT CONTINUES TO GO, BUT IT IS OVER MY 20 YEARS, DR. ESTRADA IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. I'VE, IN MORE CASES THAN NOT, SEEN THAT THE FUND, THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING THAT ISN'T SPENT. AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU PLAN FOR THE WORST, NOT THE WORST, BUT YOU PLAN FOR COULD BE

[02:55:03]

SO THEN SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE REQUEST, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO FUND THEM. THAT'S THE WAY I LOOK AT IT. OR THE RAISE.

OKAY, SO I KNOW WE'VE BEEN TALKING FOR SUCH A LONG TIME.

I'M SORRY. THIS IS ALWAYS A BIG ONE JUST BECAUSE IT HAS SO MUCH INFORMATION AND WE'RE LAYING THE FOUNDATION. WE WILL TAKE EVERYTHING THAT WE TALKED ABOUT THIS EVENING. WE WILL CONTINUE TO GO THROUGH THE BUDGET, COME UP WITH IDEAS, AND PRESENT THAT BACK TO YOU AT THE MAY 4TH SPECIAL CALLED BUDGET WORKSHOP. AND THEN WE'LL MEET ONE WEEK LATER FOR, WE'LL REVIEW OUR PUBLIC HEARING AND OUR PROPOSED TAX RATE. AND THEN WE'LL REVIEW THE PUBLIC HEARING DATE. SO REALLY WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT WE'RE JUST GOING TO REVIEW THE DATE THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING, WHICH IS AT THE JUNE 22ND BOARD MEETING WHERE WE ADOPT OUR BUDGET. MAY 11TH, THE GOAL IS TO ADOPT OUR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION PLAN AFTER THAT MAY 4TH BUDGET WORKSHOP. AND THEN ON JUNE 1ST WE'LL HAVE OUR FINAL BUDGET WORKSHOP FOR THE 26-27 BUDGET AND THEN WE'LL ADOPT OUR BUDGET ON JUNE 26TH I'M SORRY JUNE 22ND GOOD GRIEF SORRY ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS IF YOU THINK OF ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF THIS EVENING THAT WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE INCLUDE AT THE MAY 4TH OR IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS THAT THAT CAN CERTAINLY HAPPEN IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR BINDER SO YOU CAN GO THROUGH IT IN DETAIL PLEASE DO SO AND, AND HAVE IT. I KNOW IT'S AN I KNOW IT'S SOMETHING I KNOW IT'S FUN DATA. YEAH YEAH, I WOULD LIKE TO JUST FIND OUT THOSE NUMBERS OF PREFERRED AND NON PREFERRED DRUG. YES, THEY ARE WORKING ON ALL THAT FOR US TO GET SOME ANALYSIS OF THE USAGE SO THAT WE CAN SEE WHAT ARE SOME AREAS THAT WE CAN MAYBE TWEAK ON OUR PREMIUMS TO GET TO MARKET AND WHAT KIND OF DIFFERENCE THAT WOULD MAKE.

NOT JUST OUR PREMIUMS, I'M SORRY, OUR CO-PAYS ON OUR PHARMACEUTICAL. BECAUSE OUR PHARMACEUTICAL IS OUR

[Approve Staffing for the 2026-2027 School Year]

YOU WANT TO BRIEFLY SUMMARIZE THAT? YES SO ON THE FIFTH TAB IS JUST THE THE SUMMARY OF THOSE POSITIONS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT TONIGHT WHICH ARE THE SEAWILLOW MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, SEAWILLOW MIDDLE SCHOOL ADMIN ASSISTANT JUST FOR HALF THE YEAR NEXT YEAR AS WE PREPARE AND PLAN TO OPEN THAT SCHOOL IN THE FALL OF 27. ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS BOARD? IS THERE A MOTION? I MOVE THAT THE BOARD APPROVE THE POSITIONS AND STIPENDS AS PRESENTED 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR. SECOND. OKAY, WE HAVE A MOTION. WE HAVE A SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR,

[Approve Budget Amendments]

AYE. ANY OPPOSED? SAME SIGN.

PASSES 6-0. ITEM 3-H, APPROVE BUDGET AMENDMENTS.

THIS IS JUST A BUDGET AMENDMENT THAT WAS ATTACHED IN BOARD BOOK ABOUT. IT'S JUST A CROSS-FUNCTION TRANSFER THAT WE NEED TO DO. IT'S USUALLY IN CONSENT, BUT SINCE WE HAD A MEETING TODAY PRIOR TO THE 27TH MEETING, WE JUST WANTED TO GO AHEAD AND GET IT POSTED.

IT'S PRETTY MINOR IN THE FIRST ANYWAY. YEP. SO ANY QUESTIONS? NO. I MOVE TO APPROVE THE BUDGET AMENDMENTS AS PRESENTED. SECOND. WE HAVE A

[Approve HQIM (High-Quality Instructional Materials) Math Adoption ]

AYE. ANY OPPOSED, LIKE SIGNED. PASSES 6-0. ITEM 3I APPROVE HQIM, HIGH-QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, MAF ADOPTION.

DR. VOSKAS? GOOD EVENING, PRESIDENT WRIGHT, DR.

ESTRADA, AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. WE ARE BRINGING BACK THE HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL MATH MATERIALS FOR THE APPROVAL PROCESS THIS EVENING. OUR TEACHERS HAVE, OUR TEACHER COMMITTEE HAS COME TOGETHER TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK AND VOTING RESULTS. AND WE ARE, WE HAVE SELECTED THE SAVIS ENVISION MATH FOR KINDERGARTEN THROUGH FIFTH, SIXTH, SEVENTH, AND EIGHTH, ALGEBRA ONE,

[03:00:01]

FOR OUR SIXTH, SEVENTH, AND EIGHTH GRADE, AGAIN, OUR ALGEBRA I, OUR GEOMETRY, AND OUR ALGEBRA II STUDENTS FOR A TOTAL COST OF $497,012.

WHICH IS COVERED BY THE STATE, RIGHT? IT IS. WE WILL BE GETTING APPROXIMATELY ABOUT $500,000 IN IMRA FUNDS FOR THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS THIS YEAR. DO YOU ALL SEE A BENEFIT FROM HAVING, YOU KNOW, SAVIS FOR ENGLISH AND MATH? WE DO.

THE PROGRAM THE PUBLISHER PROGRAM FOR THE ENGLISH ELAR SIDE AND THE MATH SIDE IS VERY FAMILIAR FOR STUDENTS AND FOR TEACHERS SO THAT WAS ONE THING THAT THAT WAS A PLUS FOR A LOT OF OUR TEACHERS IS THAT IT WAS GOING TO LOOK VERY COMPARABLE AND THEY WERE ALREADY USED TO NAVIGATING THE SYSTEM OKAY SO THE Y'ALL HAVE MET THE COMMITTEE HAS MET THIS IS WHAT THEY CHOSE IN ANY OTHER QUESTIONS BOARD. I MOVE TO APPROVE SAVIS ON, MATH H. UIM CURRICULUM FOR GRADES K THROUGH 12, WHICH INCLUDE THOSE THAT YOU LISTED.

CAN YOU GO BACK? IT'S NOT IN OUR ACTUAL MOTION.

FOR GRADES K THROUGH 12, WHICH INCLUDE ALGEBRA 1, GEOMETRY, ALGEBRA 2. OKAY. WE HAVE A

[Consider and/or Approve the Purchase of a Futsal Court for Bluebonnet Elementary]

AYE. ANY OPPOSED? PASSES 6 TO 0. ITEM 3J, CONSIDER AND OR APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF A FUSCHIA COURT FOR BLUEBONNET ELEMENTARY. MS. WEISER? THIS IS A CONTINUATION FROM THE PLAYGROUNDS. WE JUST HAD TO WORK ON THE BEDS A LITTLE BIT, BUT THIS IS FOR BLUE BONNET.

IT WAS PART OF THEIR PACKAGE THAT WE NEEDED TO BRING BACK NOW THAT WE HAVE FINAL QUOTES. WHERE WILL IT GO EXACTLY? IT'LL GO BEHIND WHERE THE CURRENT LARGER PLAYGROUND IS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE SCHOOL. YES, SIR RIGHT THERE SO CURRENTLY ARE THE KIDS AT BLUEBONNET DO NOT HAVE A BASKETBALL COURT OR ANYTHING SO THIS WILL PROVIDE BASKETBALL AND SOCCER PLAY AREA FOR THEM IT'S ON THE OTHER SIDE KIND OF IN THE BACK OF THE BUILDING CURRENTLY THERE'S A, THE PAVED AREA, BUT THERE'S NOT CURRENTLY ANYWHERE FOR RECESS FOR THEM TO PLAY BASKETBALL. THIS WILL BE COVERED BY ACCESS BOND FUNDS. YES, SIR ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY, SO I'M MOVED THAT THE BOARD APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF THE COUNCIL COURT FOR BLUEBONNET ELEMENTARY AS

[Consider and/or Approve the Donation and Purchase of Athletic Scoreboards]

[03:05:01]

SO WE WILL NEED TO GO BACK TO THE BANK, AND WE'VE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT THAT AS WELL.

WE KIND OF ADDRESSED THE IMMEDIATE NEEDS. IF IT IS POSSIBLE, TANYA AND I DID TALK ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF MOVING SCOREBOARDS IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE THAT ONE IN THE SECOND GYM. YOU THINK THE ONE IN THE CURRENT COMPETITION GYM IS THAT THAT HAS BEEN DISCUSSED SO BUT WE WILL CROSS THAT BRIDGE YOU KNOW VERY SOON DOWN THE ROAD BUT RIGHT NOW THESE ARE THE MOST IMMEDIATE NEEDS AND WE NEEDED TO GET TO GET THESE PURCHASED THIS SPRING IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY WERE UP AND RUNNING FOR THE FOLLOWING SCHOOL YEAR. I DO HAVE IMAGES OF THE SCOREBOARDS ALTHOUGH I DO IT IS WORTH SAYING THAT THE, THE LION PRIDE UP AT THE TOP IS NOT HOW IT WILL BE WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS EXTENSIVELY THIS IS JUST A RENDERING BUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE GENERATED THE ADDITIONAL REVENUE THAT COULD POSSIBLY COME THAT WOULD BE A FULL DIGITAL SCOREBOARD WHERE WE COULD PARTNER WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES TO INCREASE OUR REVENUE IN THAT AS WELL. THE LIONS SCORED 125 POINTS. I WAS GOING TO SAY, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE BOYS BASKETBALL TEAM SCORE 125 POINTS. WAS THAT OVERBOARD IN ONE GAME? THAT MAY BE CUMULATIVE POINTS FOR THE YEAR. WE'VE GOT TO PUT THAT OUT IN THE UNIVERSE. IT'LL HAPPEN.

IT'LL BE A GREAT THING. YEAH, THEY'VE STILL GOT 10 MINUTES IN THE THIRD QUARTER. IT WILL BE A SCREEN. IT WILL BE A SCREEN. I WAS LOOKING AT IT AS, WE LET GONZALES SCORE 180? YEAH, EXACTLY. SO THAT WOULD THEN THIS WOULD ALL BE A SCREEN AGAIN. IT WAS VERY COOL.

AND AGAIN, VERY, VERY GENEROUS FROM FIRST LOCKHART BANK.

THEY'VE BEEN NOTHING BUT TREMENDOUS TO WORK WITH THROUGH THIS ENTIRE PROCESS AND THESE WOULD BE THE BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL FIELDS AS WELL.

THESE ARE MUCH MORE COMPARABLE TO WHAT THEY WOULD ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE. OBVIOUSLY, WHERE IT SAYS SPONSOR DOWN BELOW THAT WOULD SAY FIRST LOCKHART BANK. LOOKS GOOD. AND THEN JUST OUR BASIC JUST A JUST TO REPLACE THE ONE THAT'S CURRENTLY AT THE JUNIOR HIGH AS WELL BUT IT WOULD BE BRAND NEW AND FULLY FUNCTIONAL. AGAIN WHERE IT SAYS SPONSOR THAT WOULD BE FIRST LOCKHART BANK. THE OTHER QUESTION FOR, HEAR A MOTION? I MOVE THAT THE BOARD APPROVE THE DONATION OF FOR SCHOOL BOARDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $186,000. SECOND. OKAY. AGAIN, THANK YOU, FIRST LOCKHART NATIONAL BANK FOR THIS GENERAL DONATION. SO, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, RAISE YOUR HAND AND SAY AYE.

AYE. ANY OPPOSED, LIKE SIGNED. PASSES 6 TO 0.

AND MY BUCKET IS FULL, SO I THINK WE CAN ADJOURN THIS MEETING. IT IS 9:45. WOW, 9:45 AND THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED.

* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.