{
  "id": "2020-04-07_regular",
  "meeting_date": "2020-04-07",
  "meeting_type": "regular",
  "meeting_types": [
    "regular"
  ],
  "title": "Conroe ISD Board Meeting — April 7, 2020",
  "date_display": "April 7, 2020",
  "type_display": "Regular Meeting",
  "types_display": [
    "Regular Meeting"
  ],
  "item_count": 0,
  "has_agenda": false,
  "has_notes": true,
  "pdf_filename": null,
  "packet_url": null,
  "generated_at": "2026-06-18T19:45:20.672411Z",
  "highlights": "",
  "sections": [],
  "agenda_breakdown_md": "",
  "meeting_notes_md": "# Conroe ISD Board Meeting — 2020-04-07\n*Regular Meeting — Unofficial Notes*\n*Based on auto-generated transcript. Not an official record.*\n*Generated 2026-03-27 22:23 UTC*\n\n---\n\n# Unofficial Meeting Notes — Conroe ISD Board Workshop\n\n**Date:** April 7, 2020\n**Meeting Type:** Regular Workshop (Special Meeting)\n**Format:** Virtual via Zoom Video Conferencing (per Governor Abbott's temporary suspension of Texas Open Meetings Act provisions)\n**Called to Order:** 6:00 PM\n**Adjourned:** 7:30 PM\n\n> ⚠️ **These are unofficial notes** based on an auto-generated transcript of the meeting. They are not official minutes and may contain errors or omissions.\n\n---\n\n## Public Comment\n\nNo public comments were submitted via the district website forum. (Due to virtual format, comments were accepted only through the online public comment form.)\n\n---\n\n## Agenda Item 1: COVID-19 Response Update\n\n**Presented by:** Dr. Chris Hines (with input from Dr. Curtis Null and Darrin Rice)\n\n### District Priorities During COVID-19:\n1. Keeping staff and students safe / reducing spread of COVID-19\n2. Continuity of learning\n3. Providing nutrition and other supports to students\n4. Communicating with the learning community\n5. Continuity of business operations\n\n### Operational Timeline:\n- **Week of March 16–20:** District closed; limited operations for planning\n- **March 23:** Moved to limited operations (planning, technology distribution, material distribution); adjusted hours to minimize contact\n- **March 30 onward:** \"Essential operations\" mode — very few people in buildings, primarily for food preparation and essential functions\n\n### Key Operational Updates:\n\n#### Health Services\n- Health information phone line staffed by nurses (8 AM–3 PM)\n- Daily updates with Texas Dept. of State Health Services and CDC\n- Daily webinars with district nurses\n- Screening protocols established (temperature checks, questionnaires for workers)\n- Distributed protective equipment inventory\n- Shared resources (temporal thermometers) with local fire and EMS departments\n- Collaborated with Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management\n\n#### Meal Distribution\n- **10 distribution sites:** Austin Elementary, Caney Creek, Conroe High School, Knox Junior High, Grand Oaks, Hawk, Oak Ridge High School, College Park, The Woodlands, Washington Junior High\n- Two meals distributed on Tuesdays; three meals on Thursdays\n- As of the prior Thursday: **205,868 total meals distributed**\n- On April 7 alone: **over 32,000 meals** distributed\n- Meal distribution volumes have been gradually increasing\n\n**Board Discussion on Meal Funding (Scott Kidd):**\n- Dr. Kidd asked about potential donations for meal programs\n- Dr. Hines and Dr. Null clarified that distributed meals are **reimbursable** — no debt is accumulating for families\n- For community members wanting to donate, the district recommended the **Montgomery County Food Bank** as the most impactful donation destination\n- Food bank supports the Buddy Backpack program (weekend meals), Meals on Wheels for homeless students, and mobile pantries\n- **12 Communities in Schools sites** have sponsored mobile food pantries\n- Matthew's Birthday Wish continues delivering to 5 campuses\n\n#### Staff & Family Support\n- Community resource lists shared with counseling staff and families\n- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) reminders sent to staff\n- Counseling staff reaching out regularly to check on families\n- Spanish hotline operated by community outreach department\n- Coping resources and stress management guidance distributed\n\n#### Continuity of Learning (Curriculum & Instruction)\n- Curriculum narrowed to **1–2 essential standards** for the final nine weeks\n- Webpages developed for teacher and parent resources (live since March 20); updated weekly in English and Spanish\n- Support provided for bilingual/ESL, GT, special education, 504, and dyslexia students\n- Canvas (LMS) at **all-time high usage**\n- Resources contacted by districts from multiple states, including Hawaii\n\n**Fourth Nine Weeks Grading Policy Changes:**\n- Focus on key objectives necessary for next grade level success\n- Limited to **one graded assignment per week** (formative only)\n- No penalties for late work\n- **Grade for 4th nine weeks cannot be lower than 3rd nine weeks grade** (can only go up)\n- No major grades or final exams\n- Remote access limitations will not be a barrier — campuses delivering technology or paper packets\n\n#### Technology Support\n- **Over 4,000 Chromebooks** distributed to students\n- **300 Chromebooks with built-in internet** distributed\n- **500+ hotspots** deployed (in addition to previously existing ones)\n- Internet bandwidth increased from **6 gigs to 10 gigs**\n- Added internet redundancy for outage protection\n- Increased monitoring of network systems and servers\n- Cybersecurity awareness training for employees working from home\n- Single sign-on authentication capacity expanded\n- **138 students enrolled** remotely during closure\n- Office 365 available to all staff and students at home (district-wide license)\n- Office phones configured for remote forwarding\n\n#### Payroll (under Becky Davis)\n- Processed April 1 pay period; working on April 15\n- Processing manual checks for returned direct deposits\n- Stopped student loan deductions where applicable\n- Notifying staff of available relief programs\n- Handling W-2 requests, TRS reporting forms, absence/leave processing\n- Responding to numerous employee inquiries about pay\n\n#### Other Departments\n- **Finance:** Staffing projections, closing out cancelled travel/events, working on next year's budget\n- **Accounts Payable:** Continuing to pay bills\n- **Purchasing:** Assisting with hotspot/technology purchases, food delivery logistics\n- **Planning/Construction:** Monitoring ongoing and new projects\n- **HR:** Continuing recruitment, managing postings, resignations, retirements; ensuring part-time staff and long-term subs are paid; dealing with cancelled certification test complications; working on allocations and benefit information\n- **Custodial/Maintenance:** Opening sites for food prep, E-misting/cleaning feeding sites and offices, checking facilities 3 times/week, moving portables for upcoming construction, maintaining mechanical systems/water wells/wastewater plants, limited grounds maintenance\n\n#### Communications\n- District status updates via SchoolMessenger\n- Several **Facebook Live events** with Dr. Null (next one: April 13 at 6 PM)\n- Videos, book readings, life lessons series released\n- **Virtual choir video:** 30,000 views in 12 hours\n- Supporting rescheduling of events (job fair, car show, foundation breakfast, early childhood fair, groundbreaking)\n- Standardized campus email addresses created\n- All communications translated to Spanish\n- Facilitating Zoom conferencing for district operations\n- Processing mail and postage\n- Monitoring voicemail/email at all sites during business hours (8–3)\n\n#### Transportation Funding Discussion\n- **Board member question** about transportation savings\n- Dr. Null clarified: District is **not receiving transportation funding** during closure (per-mileage reimbursement)\n- Estimated **$3–4 million less** in transportation funding for the last quarter\n- Bus drivers still being paid standard hours — **no net savings realized**\n\n---\n\n## Agenda Item 2: Oak Ridge High School Master Plan Update\n\n**Presented by:** Mr. Easy Foster (with Dr. Null)\n\n### Background:\n- Oak Ridge HS is the district's **second oldest high school**; will become the oldest upon completion of Conroe HS renovations\n- Phase 1 of the November bond package was primarily **mechanical updates**\n- City of Shenandoah approached the district about a broader site reimagining\n\n### Proposed Concept:\n- **Reroute Oak Ridge School Road** around the campus instead of through it\n- Current road bisects the campus between Oak Ridge 9th grade and the main campus, creating safety and traffic issues\n- Potential to **connect the 9th grade campus to the main campus** (either via building across the road or a secured walkway)\n- Potential new intersection at **Johnson Road** that would create a direct connection from Oak Ridge HS through Hammond to Woodforest Stadium\n- Initial conversations with City of Shenandoah, county traffic engineer, and Precinct 4 Chief of Staff (physical meetings delayed due to COVID-19)\n- Early indications suggest the county and surrounding community would support the transition\n\n### Budget Impact:\n- Would use some current Phase 1 budget for the road project\n- Some Phase 1 items would shift to Phase 2\n- Would **not exceed overall budget** — just a reallocation\n\n### Board Discussion:\n- **John Moore** asked about acquiring full access rights to Oak Ridge School Road (similar to Wilson Road in Conroe). Foster noted conversations are ongoing; right-of-way is county-controlled; no reason to believe the county wouldn't allow the district to take it back.\n- **Ray Sanders** asked about property ownership in the northeast corner of the site. Foster confirmed that corner is **not currently district property** but stated purchase is not necessarily required — multiple options exist.\n- **Board member question** about athletic fields (baseball, softball, track, football) — Foster said it's too early to determine but many options would be explored.\n\n### Outcome:\n- **No vote requested** — workshop item for feedback only\n- Board expressed no objections to continued investigation\n- District will bring project information back for a formal vote in the future\n\n---\n\n## Agenda Item 3: 2020–2021 Preliminary Budget Overview\n\n**Presented by:** Darrin Rice, Chief Financial Officer (with Dr. Null)\n\n### Budget Objectives for 2020–2021:\n- Opening **Stockton Junior High School** (new)\n- Opening **12th grade at Grand Oaks High School**\n- Accommodating estimated **1,500 new students** (total enrollment: ~66,298)\n- Personnel allocation adjustments at elementary and intermediate levels\n- General pay increase (cost-of-living)\n- Addressing health insurance premium increases\n- Funding remaining House Bill 3 requirements (full-day pre-K, Reading Academies K–3, dyslexia, CCMR, special ed, CTE programs)\n\n### Fund Balance:\n- Ended 2019 with **$140 million** fund balance\n- Transferred $32 million (2019–2020): $12M to technology (2019 bond), $20M to capital maintenance fund\n- Unassigned fund balance (8/31/19): **$134.7 million** (24.5% of budget)\n- $24.8M over low-end target; $2.7M under high-end target\n- Anticipating fund balance to **grow by ~$10 million** this year from prior year savings\n\n### Tax Rate:\n- CISD is **second lowest tax rate** in the Greater Houston area\n- Current rate: **$1.23** — 15 cents below peer district average\n- 4 cents below the closest peer district (Forney ISD)\n\n### Tax Rate Compression (House Bill 3):\n- Maximum Compressed Rate (MCR) calculated at **90.35 cents** (assuming 5.5% property value growth)\n- With access to **one additional (5th) golden penny** allowed by the legislature:\n  - **Proposed M&O rate: 95.35 cents** (decrease of 1.65 cents)\n  - **Proposed I&S rate: 26 cents** (unchanged)\n  - **Proposed total tax rate: $1.2135** (decrease of 1.656 cents)\n\n### Revenue Projections:\n| Source | Amount |\n|--------|--------|\n| Tax revenue increase (5.5% levy growth) | +$12.11M |\n| State revenue increase (1,500 students + golden penny) | +$10.8M |\n| Investment income decrease (Fed rate cuts) | -$1.7M |\n| TRS in-kind (accounting entry) | +$3.5M |\n| **Total estimated available funding** | **+$24.71M** |\n\n### Proposed Salary Increases (Cost-of-Living):\n| Employee Group | Proposed Increase | Cost |\n|----------------|-------------------|------|\n| Teachers, librarians, nurses, counselors | 3% | $7.7M |\n| Administrative (education & business) | 2.5% | $1.9M |\n| Paraprofessionals (admin & instructional) | 3.5% | $950K |\n| Auxiliary (custodians, maintenance, etc.) | 3.5% | — |\n| Bus drivers | Flat $1/hour (~5% at midpoint) | — |\n| Auxiliary + transportation total | — | $1.5M |\n| Police | 5% + certification pay | — |\n\n**Total cost-of-living increases: ~$12.5 million**\n\n**Note:** The teacher hiring schedule (3% / $1,800 raise for returning teachers, new starting salary of **$57,000**) was previously approved at a board meeting two weeks prior. Dr. Null noted the board could still adjust this if needed since no one has been hired under the new schedule yet.\n\n#### Police Pay Discussion:\n- Chief and Captain Blakelock conducted a regional salary study\n- District was losing officers to other agencies due to base pay and lack of certification pay\n- Current vacancies in the police department are difficult to fill\n- Certification pay for master officers and years of service is a key retention tool\n\n### Personnel Allocations:\n- **225 new campus-level positions:** 125 teachers, 5 administrators, 16.5 professionals, 77.5 paraprofessionals — Cost: **$11.3M**\n- **72 new support positions** (primarily custodians, maintenance, transportation) — Cost: **$3.5M**\n- **Total: ~297 new positions at $14.85 million**\n\n### Expenditure Summary:\n| Category | Amount |\n|----------|--------|\n| Additional personnel for growth | $14.86M |\n| Cost-of-living increases | $12.5M |\n| Substitute pay increase | $300K |\n| Employee retention stipend (removed) | (savings) |\n| Pre-K transfer & buses | $9.2M |\n| TRS in-kind | $3.5M |\n| Other expenses (fuel, utilities, insurance, supplies) | $1.95M |\n| **Total expenditure increase** | **$23.69M** |\n\n### Projected Budget Summary:\n| Item | Amount |\n|------|--------|\n| Beginning revenue | $555.62M |\n| Total revenue increase | +$24.71M |\n| Estimated total revenue | **$580.33M** |\n| Estimated total expenditures | **$576.02M** |\n| **Potential available funds (surplus)** | **$4.31M** |\n\n### Property Values:\n- Estimated growth: **5.5%** (adds ~$2 billion, total: ~$40.2 billion)\n- Appraisal district confirms values trending around 5.5%\n- Under HB 3, property value growth above 2.5% flows to the state on M&O side\n- Lower interest rates are offsetting concerns about potential future property value slowdowns on the I&S (bond) side\n\n### Board Discussion on Budget:\n\n**Scott Kidd:** Asked about the golden penny — Dr. Null confirmed it generates approximately **$8 million** in revenue (state matches the penny). It will fund full-day pre-K (~$5.5M) and other HB 3 mandated programs. Vote will occur as part of **August budget adoption**.\n\n**John Hubert** raised two concerns:\n1. **Enrollment risk:** If enrollment were flat (zero growth), ~$10M in revenue would be lost, creating a ~$6M deficit. Dr. Null confirmed the $4.31M surplus plus natural attrition savings would provide a cushion.\n2. **Property value risk:** Concern about COVID-19 impact on future appraisal values. Dr. Null noted even in recessions, values have grown at least ~3.5% due to continued homebuilding. On M&O side, growth above 2.5% goes to the state regardless, so impact is minimal. On bond side, historically low interest rates provide protection.\n\n**President Williams:** Asked about voting requirements for the golden penny — Dr. Null clarified a **unanimous (100%) vote** is required.\n\n### Health Insurance Update:\n\n**Current Plan Performance:**\n- Total revenues: $28.6M; Total expenses: $29.1M — **~$500K deficit**\n- Five consecutive months in the red\n- Large claims months (June–August) still ahead\n\n**Market Trends:**\n- Medical inflation: 5–7%\n- CISD trending **8–10%** (above market) due to high-dollar claims penetrating stop-loss and high utilization\n- District had outperformed market for past 4 years (3–4% range)\n- Last year: employees received premium decreases via Kelsey program with increased benefits\n\n**Outlook:**\n- Plan design changes (tightening benefits) will be necessary\n- Working with United Healthcare on deductible adjustments and premium increases\n- **Plan design to be brought to April 21 board meeting**\n- Employee Benefits Committee meeting: **April 15** to review plan design changes and premiums\n\n**Ray Sanders** requested the district examine pharmacy/drug costs for potential savings (generic formulary, lower copays). Rice confirmed pharmacy is actually performing well but they will continue looking for savings opportunities across all areas.\n\n---\n\n## Upcoming Dates & Next Steps\n\n| Date | Event |\n|------|-------|\n| April 13 | Facebook Live Update #5 with Dr. Null (6 PM) |\n| April 15 | Employee Benefits Committee meeting |\n| April 21 | Next Board Meeting (virtual via Zoom) — health insurance plan design presentation; new principal appointments |\n| June 14 | Deadline for Board Trustee cybersecurity training (HB 3834) |\n| July 15 | District-Level Planning & Decision-Making Committee meeting |\n| July 21 | Formal budget presentation to Board |\n| July 25 | Certified property values received |\n| August 4 | First public hearing on budget |\n| August 18 | Second public hearing + Board adoption of budget and tax rate |\n\n---\n\n## Key Takeaways\n\n- **No votes were taken** — this was a workshop/information session only\n- District is in **strong financial position** with robust fund balance, conservative budgeting practices, and contingency cushions\n- **COVID-19 response** is extensive across all departments; over 205,000 meals distributed; 4,000+ Chromebooks deployed\n- **Oak Ridge HS master plan** concept to reroute school road received positive initial feedback; investigation will continue\n- **Proposed 2020–2021 budget** includes cost-of-living raises for all employee groups, 297 new positions, a **tax rate decrease of ~1.66 cents**, and a projected **$4.31M surplus**\n- **Health insurance premiums will increase** — plan design changes coming to April 21 meeting\n- Board expressed support for conservative approach to budgeting given economic uncertainty from COVID-19 and oil price declines\n- Next board meeting (April 21) will be the first virtual meeting requiring formal votes — procedures for roll call/visible voting still being finalized"
}