May 24, 2021 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:  At this time, the newly elected board members will be sworn in by Ms. Sha Penny and will assume duties of their office.

Description:  The president should call for nominations for the office of president for the 2021-2022 school  year.  After a president has been duly elected by the Board, he or she should assume the chair and  call for nominations for the following offices:

Vice-President of the Board
Secretary of the Board

These officers should be duly elected by the Board of Trustees and will assume the duties of these offices at that time.

Description:  A consent agenda is an item listed on the regular agenda that groups routine
items under one agenda heading.  This allows the Board to take a unified
motion and action on all routine items listed under the consent agenda instead
of taking separate votes on each item.

Recommendation:
It is recommended the Board of Trustees approve this consent agenda for the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees for Monday, May 24, 2021.

Description:  At regular meetings, the Board shall allot up to thirty (30) minutes to hear persons who desire to make comments to the Board.  Persons who wish to participate in this portion of the meeting shall sign up from 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., indicating the topics about which they wish to speak.
 
Public participation is limited to the designated open forum portion of a meeting.  At all other times during Board meetings, the audience shall not enter into discussion or debate on matters being considered by the Board.  No presentation shall exceed two (2) minutes.  If the total number of speakers seeking to address the Board at a meeting is excessive, the per-speaker time limit may be reduced.

Specific factual information or recitation of existing policy may be furnished in response to inquiries, but the Board may not deliberate, discuss, or make any decision on any subject not on the agenda.

Recommendation:
Presentations  which include negative comments/complaints regarding personnel should be heard in Executive Session as provided by Texas Government Code Section 551.074.  This will insure the protection of the rights and responsibilities of all persons involved.

Description: 

Mrs. Hawkins will present a summary of where our values are and what may be in store for the future.  This is a discussion item only.

Description: 

Action Item:  Replacing Steve Holmes on the High School Activity, and any other accounts that require his signature,  with the new principal, Trey Rose.

Recommendation:

It is recommended the Board approve deleting Steve Holmes and adding Trey Rose as a signer on the following account:  

High School Activity Fund-5154***

It is also recommended that he be authorized to charge on any school issued retail cards previously held by Mr. Holmes.

Description: 

Due to our tenured staff, we are having a steady increase of employees with accumulated state leave.  Our policy does not restrict the concurrent use of discretionary leave BUT leaves it up to the supervisor to consider the effect of the employee’s absence on the educational program or District’s operations, as well as the availability of substitutes.

Since a teacher can rarely be absent for many days without the students being impacted, the teachers were often retiring with a large balance of days in discretionary leave (state). An option would be to pay for the accumulated days at a rate defined each year compensation plan.  We are recommending the certified sub pay rate ($70) up to 40 days.  So the maximum payout would be $2,800. 

Recommendation:  Adopt the policy to pay for Accumulated Leave Upon Retirement.  (see attached policy recommendation)

Description: 

Our policy states that any single item over $25,000 must be approved in advance by the Board before a transaction can take place.  Statute allows up to $50,000 so most schools go with this maximum threshold. 

 There is an option now to "self-certify" which will allow our Micro-Purchase Threshold to increase from $10,000 to $49,999 which simplifies the purchasing process since items over the micro-purchase limit require more quotes.  In order to complete this self-certification process, the district must have chosen to use the $50,000 maximum allowable budgeted purchase without board approval.  

Our district would still honor the full transparency commitment with the Superintendent notifying the board of such emergency purchases via email or other means but the purchase could be made without the formal vote.  The purchase would be discussed at the next Board meeting as well.

 

Recommendation:

Increase the Superintendent’s authority to make budgeted purchases of goods and services from $25,000 to $50,000 allowing us to submit a self-certification to TEA increasing the micro-purchase threshold from $25,000 to $49,999.

Description: 

Texas Schools Health Benefits Program (TSHBP) is a regional program to provide a healthcare benefit alternative to Texas School Districts.  The insurance provided by TRS will still remain an option; this plan is just an opportunity to increase the choices available to our employees.   This year, 129 school districts were a member of this interlocal agreement.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the board approve joining Texas Schools Health Benefits Program for the 2021—2022 school year. 

Description: 

The rent house at the Middle School has deteriorated beyond the point of repairing without spending more than the home would be worth in rental value.  The repairs needed also cause safety concerns.

Mrs. Upchurch was given a quote of $4,500 to demolish and the building, remove the debris, and clean up the lot.

 

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the Middle School Rental home be demolished for a price of $4,500.  

Description:  We feel to best serve the students of the QCISD district is to have face to face instruction.  It is imperative that we have in person interaction with our students for excellence to be achieved.

Recommendation:
It is recommended that we start the 2021-2022 school year as an in-person district.  Remote instruction will not be an option unless of an emergency closure of all campuses occurs.

Description:  In order to apply for the ESSER III grant, we must have health and safety manuals board approved.

Description:  In order to apply for the ESSERR III grant, we must have the Reopening plan for QCISD board approved.

Description: 

Although $20,000 was budgeted for tennis court repairs in the original budget for this year,  the repairs were not started due to more pressing projects.  The money was moved to other areas within Function 51 that were deemed more urgent at the time.  In order to have the court ready for next spring, the repairs need to be done this summer. Mrs. Upchurch will have a new estimate of the cost for repair.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the tennis court be repaired and the corresponding budget amendment be approved for the necessary dollar amount to be added in Function 51.