The Brownfield ISD Board of Trustees had a regularly scheduled meeting Monday night Sept. 18, 2023, although the agenda looked lengthy, the meeting did not take that long. After President Geoff Cooper called the meeting to order, and the invocation and pledges, the Board went into the agenda. First, the Board held a public hearing to consider developing a new district of innovation plan, since BISD’s is up for renewal. During the 84th Session of the Texas Legislature, House Bill 1842 was enacted to in part amend Chapter 12 of the Texas Education Code (TEC) to create “Districts of Innovations”. ISDs became eligible for designation if certain performance requirements were met and the district followed certain procedures for adoption as outlined in the statute. The designation provides the district will be exempt from certain sections of the TEC that inhibit the goals of the district as outlined in the locally adopted Innovation Plan. In the statute, the term of the designation as a district of innovation may not exceed 5 years.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) encourages all districts to consult with their legal counsel regarding the effect of any exemption(s) claimed. The TEA does not have the authority to approve a district’s innovation plan. However, TEA retains the authority to engage in investigative, intervention, and enforcement activities if the district is not in compliance with legal requirements for which an exemption cannot be claimed. There were no comments during the public hearing and no public comments on the agenda as well.
The Board moved on to the Superintendent Report. BISD Superintendent Chris Smith began with recognitions. First was the Student of the Month, which is Blake Green and she is a student at Colonial Heights. Employees of the Month who were recognized are Diana Vidales of Colonial Heights, Callie Lynn of Oak Grove, Christian Pilgrim (who was unable to be present) & Amanda Gonzales of Brownfield Middle School, and Jeremy Graue from Brownfield High School.
Next Smith would have Athletic Director/Head Football Coach Taheric Brantley to give an update on the athletics dept. Brantley told the Board that the JV Football squad was able to get a win last week. Brantley also talked about the Tennis team winning, how the volleyball team is getting better each week, and that the cross country team is doing well, especially Kanyon Cantrell for his 1st place finish in Littlefield and Kate Hess for her 3rd place finish in Littlefield.
The enrollment was next on Smith’s reports. He reported that the school district as a whole is up 20 students. The high school is up 25 students compared to last school year, middle school is down by three students, Oak Grove 2nd grade to 5th grade is up by nine students, Oak Grove kindergarten to 1st grade is down by one, Colonial Heights is up by five students and BEC is down buy one student. As of Sept. 18, 2023, there is a total of 1,670 students district-wide. 476 in high school, 357 at middle school, 669 total at Oak Grove, 140 at Colonial Heights, and 28 at BEC. Something to note is that Friday, October 27, 2023, is the snapshot date for enrollment for every public school in Texas. The enrollment number given is used to determine how much the school will receive in finance and also UIL re-alignments that will come out the first week of February 2024.
The Board moved on to the financials. CFO Paul Coronado showed the Board that 87% of the revenue had come in for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. (Sept. 1, 2022 – Aug. 31, 2023) 115% of the total revenue is local. State and federal revenue is only 78%. Smith said he had been asked about the state and federal revenue not coming in by Board member Tim Swaringen. He said, “That was a good question, as far as collections you still see some that haven’t been collected and the year has ended (Fiscal year)… technically it has ended, but what we’ll get is a “settle-up” statement and that usually comes in at the end of September or early October.” Also according to Coronado, the fund balance ending on Aug. 31, 2023, is $9.983,343.00.
The Board went to the next agenda item, which was to consider adopting a resolution for the development of a District of Innovation Plan (DOI). Brownfield ISD has established a need for the development of a new District of Innovation Plan in order to better prepare for issues affecting or could potentially affect the district. According to BISD, “A new evaluation of options for Districts of Innovation that would benefit the students, staff, and community of Brownfield ISD is important for us to continue our innovative approaches to addressing district challenges.” The Board moved to adopt the resolution for the new DOI. The Board then went on to the requirement of establishing a DOI development committee. This committee will work to develop a DOI plan that will be presented to the District Executive Committee for approval and then to the board for final approval. The Board approved the DOI Committee which is:
- Hayley Ontiveros
- Melinda Hammons
- Robert Urrutia
- Joni Ellis
- Dan Boyd
- Lara Cantrell
- Ashley Venable
- Rachel Wheeler
- Nancy Moore
- Kelsey Lamprecht
- Fabian Flores
- Leah Blakeney
- Rebekah Swaringen
- Mallorie Brantley
The Board then needed to approve nonbusiness days for the district calendar. Under a new Texas law, Brownfield ISD must designate nonbusiness days for the purpose of Texas Public Information Act requests. This will allow those who request information to know exactly what business days the district is open. This will help those who request to not have to wait until a break is over. For example, the old law allowed requests at any time or day, however, when “Christmas” break comes around, the school district does not have to answer that request until it’s the next business day that is on record or the district calendar. The Board approved the nonbusiness days which will be placed on the BISD website.
Next, the Board would approve the plumbing bid package for the construction of the new administration building. BISD is working to start construction on the new administration building and has already completed the abatement of the building. The only company to bid on the plumbing work is Rescue Plumbing LLC out of Brownfield and it is for $524,581.31. Because Rescue Plumbing LLC is owned by Cody Churwell who is a BISD Board member, Smith followed up by saying, “Just so the public knows… this is Cody Churchwell’s company and he is a board member and he has signed all the appropriate conflicts of interest and will not be voting obviously and was not privy to any bids that were open.” The Board moved to accept the plumbing bid for $524,581.31.
The next agenda item was for the Board to approve Terry County’s Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent Reid Lovorn and Texas A&M AgriLife Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent Anne Millican to be “adjunct professors” for BISD. There is no compensation of any kind for Lovorn and Millican from BISD. Also, the Board approved that any 4-H activity that keeps a BISD student out of class will now be an excused absence and will rec I’ve the funding from the state.
On the final agenda item, the Board approved a new professional hire. BISD has been in the process of creating it’s own police force, however in order to do so it must meet certain requirements. Also the 88th Texas Legislation now requires an armed person at each campus in each district. The BISD administration and Board of Trustees have opened up a new position called “Director of School Safety”. The Board approved one of the current Brownfield Police Dept. Lieutenants and former Interim Brownfield Police Chief Rene Siller as the Director of School Safety. When Siller receives his necessary credentials, then BISD will have its own police dept.
The meeting was adjourned. Present were Tim Swaringen, Cat Gonzales, Geoff Cooper, and Matt Valdonado. Absent from the meeting was Cody Churchwell, and Randy Anthony.
