DENISON ISD BOARD NEWS

Denison Independent School District

1201 S. Rusk Avenue, Denison, TX 75020

August 20, 2024

 

Published for DISD employees in the week following school board meetings.

 

NOTE: Attachments for agenda items can be viewed by visiting the Board of Trustees agenda site at  Board Book - Denison ISD Meetings

 

Denison ISD Board of Trustees President Bob Rhoden called to order the Meeting of the Denison ISD Board of Trustees on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. In the Bruce T. Hibbitt, Jr. Board Room of the Administration Building, located at 1201 S. Rusk in Denison, Texas. The Board began the meeting with Board President Bob Rhoden presenting the role of the Board of Trustees. “Board meetings are a public meeting of the Board of Trustees, not a meeting of the public. Day-to-day operations of the school district is the function of the Superintendent, but he or she must do so within the framework of policies and priorities adopted by the Board of Trustees.” The meeting continued with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Audrey Price from Lamar Elementary followed by the invocation by Denison ISD assistant superintendent Dr. Andru Gilbert. The vision statement of the DISD Board of Trustees, who work diligently to serve and meet the educational needs of more than 4,500 Denison ISD students, states “The Denison Independent School district will inspire, enable and encourage all students to learn, grow and succeed in a global society.”    

 

During the Board comments portion of the meeting, trustees stated… 

 

Board member David Hawley: “I was amazed with the construction and everything that is coming along now. You can actually see things going on. And not just a few truck loads of dirt thrown around. I think that when this is all over, we're going to be a very beautiful district.” 

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Board member Linda Flemming: “It was nice to see again the support of the community and our convocation and that our prayer for the school. Because we can't do it by ourselves. Can't do it alone.” 

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Board secretary Shelle Cassell: “I want to give a big shout out to all of the students, the sponsors, the teachers, everybody associated with extracurricular activities because they're out there in the heat right now. They're kind of what makes the schools fun on a lot of different levels. I think school participation in any kind of activity like that makes stronger students and a more engaged student. So, hats off to them.” 

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Board member Eric Hunt: “I just wanna take my hat off to the leadership team, to the faculty, to the teachers, to the principals, to even the parents, for coming up with strategic plans to deal with our construction and our growth and being able to function and start a school year in the midst of major construction on campuses and big changes going on. So, my heart goes out to you because it takes a heck of a lot of effort to get all that done.” 

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Board member Amber Pilcher: “Well, I have two kiddos that just started school this last week and I'm just excited to see all the excitement in the air at both of their campuses. And I just appreciate all the work that staff and support staff and teachers are putting into just making this a great year. All of my kids' teachers have been very communicative with me and we’ve already gotten Dojo notifications.” 

Board vice-president Becky Russell: “I just want to say thank you to Dr. Gilbert and the people from Admin and those that jumped in and helped with all the moving. It was heartwarming to see the leadership push boxes, carts, and carry books. And I think it meant a lot to the teachers. What makes us strong leaders is when we don't mind rolling up our sleeves and walking beside someone in need. I just want to say thank you to all.” 

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Board president Bob Rhoden: “It's all back to school it’s always so much fun. I'm looking forward to this groundbreaking that we’re going to talk about that in a few minutes. Kelly's here tonight from our committee. Some construction folks here involved in that are here as well. My goodness... to break ground on a new school. It's been a few years since we did that! It's exciting to see a new campus coming and I'm looking forward to that and some other things that you'll hear about.” 

 

Following the public comment portion of the meeting, the agenda resumed with superintendent comments. 

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Denison ISD Superintendent Dr. David Kirkbride: “We're off to a great start. Second week of school. from an enrollment perspective, as of today we have enrolled 4994 students, six students shy of 5000. That is 110 more students from the last day of school this past school year. So, they're coming. We know they are, and we're preparing for that every single day. But it's been a good start. I want to thank Mr. Barnett. To the point earlier that Becky made, she and Dr. Anderson at Terrell really had to be flexible and patient and they had to lead their staff through not having their buildings ready for meet the teacher night, which is a huge thing. But anyway, we appreciate you and your patience through all of that. In front of you are a couple of items. You have your new district passes. One is for football only, which says that on the back of that yellow card I believe. The other is for everything else. Hang on to those two cards. Those get passed out and if you misplace them, I'll do my best to give you another one. But tuck those away. Those are good for two years. And the other ones that you had, you could discard them. We have a little ball game going on next Friday night. We'll be hosting the Sherman ISD administration for dinner and we're going to do that at the North End of the press box. We were contemplating bringing that inside the press box. We just couldn't make that work, too many moving pieces. So, it's going to be warm, but hopefully we'll get a little break in the weather. But that'll be at the North End like we did a couple of years ago. You'll be getting a formal invitation to that. That's next Friday night for the Battle of the Ax. You should have already received your parking passes and your season ticket packets. If you haven't, see me. But I believe everybody's gotten theirs. You don't have a press box pass per se, but your name is on the list. So, each board member plus one. If you choose to sit in the press box, you can do that for all our home games. You don't have to. You can sit out in the open, which is where I prefer to be. Although, the food is up there and it is cool. As Bob mentioned, the groundbreaking is scheduled for the new B. McDaniel campus. You have a invitation there in front of you. I sent you an e-mail earlier. This is exciting and we're fired up for this event. Pogue Construction has been working with Brian Eaves and myself, and I believe Corgan to some extent. They're going to have a nice event out there. That's September 10th at 11:00am. Next, I appreciate Dr. Gilbert mentioning the Deering family in his prayer tonight. Please keep that family in your prayers. That loss was sudden, unexpected and tragic. On much different note, going back to Jamie Vollmer's keynote presentation, I bet I could ask you what those five S’s are and you could tell me. One of the S’s was share... share our story. The more good things that people know about us, the better they feel about us. So, I'm going to share a feel-good story tonight. It was already referenced about administrators moving teachers classrooms. Well, this week, we have had to move three sections of teachers and classes from Houston. One of the classes moved across town to Hyde Park, one moved to Terrell, and a preschool class will be moved Friday. Shonda Cannon and her “A Team” and Dr. Gilbert have been out there in this 105-degree heat helping those folks move those classrooms. It is much appreciated. Thank you so much for your leadership in doing that. Those are necessary moves that really helped us out a lot. So, Shonda, thank you. Dr. Gilbert, thank you very much.” 

 

After the Superintendent’s comments, the meeting proceeded as scheduled. 

 

ACTION ITEMS                        

• Routine Business - Consent Agenda 

• Approval of Board minutes for the July 2024 (12.A.1) 

• Approve Expenditures for July 2024 (12.A.2) 

• Approval of the July 2024 investment report (12.A.3) 

• Approval of the July 2024 financial reports (12.A.4) 

• Approval of the July 2024 tax reports (12.A.5) 

 

 

REGULAR BUSINESS           

Agenda Item #: 12.B.1.  

Subject: Public Hearing for the 2024-25 Budget and Proposed Tax Rate 

The hearing is to allow public input on the 2024-25 Budget and Proposed Tax Rate. All legal postings and notice of the hearing have been made in accordance with the law. 

 

Agenda Item #: 12.B.2.  

Subject: Consider Adopting the 2024-25 Budget 

The Board of Trustees are required to approve and adopt the General, Debt Service, and Food Service budgets by August 31, 2024. The Board of Trustees approved the 2024-2025 budgets as presented. 

SEE ATTACHED 

 

Agenda Item #: 12.B.3.  

Subject: Consider approval of the resolution setting the 2024 tax rate 

Legislation requires the school district to adopt its tax rate in two components: one rate for maintenance and operation and a separate rate for interest and sinking or debt services. The Denison Independent School District has met all legal requirements and is in full compliance with the truth-in-taxation laws regarding the adoption of the 2024 tax rate. The recommended total tax rate is $1.1602, which is a $0.0023 decrease in the total tax rate. The Board of Trustees approved the resolution setting the 2024 tax rate. 

SEE ATTACHED 

 

Agenda Item #: 12.B.4.  

Subject: Consider approval of the 2023-24 Budget Amendments 

Budget amendments are recommended to realign budgeted amounts to meet projected actual revenues and expenditures. The attachment details the recommended budget amendments. 

General Fund:  

Add: 

$60,000 to Function 13 

$45,000 to Function 33 

$90,000 to Function 36 

$70,000 to Function 52 

$20,000 to Function 53 

Reduce: 

Function 11 by $145,000 

Function 41 by $40,000 

Function 99 by $90,000 

Food Service:  

Add:

$100,000 to Local Revenue 

$50,000 to Federal Revenue 

$470,000 to function 35 

 

The board approved the budget amendments as presented. 

SEE ATTACHED  

 

Agenda Item #: 12.C 

Subject: Consider a resolution designating Grayson County Texas 4-H organization as eligible for extracurricular status for student activities 

Attached is a request from Dr. Tamra McGaughy, Grayson County Extension Agent, requesting that the 4-H organization be designated as an extracurricular activity. The designation would provide attendance exemptions for students involved in 4-H approved activities. Also attached is an Adjunct Faculty Agreement for compliance with Section 3 of the Student Attendance Handbook as provided by the State Board of Education. The Denison ISD Board of Trustees approved the resolution supporting the 4-H organization as an eligible extracurricular activity. 

SEE ATTACHED  

 

Agenda Item #: 12.D 

Subject: Consider Resolution to nominate directors to be placed on the ballot, 

Grayson County Appraisal District 

The Board approved the Resolution nominating the board of directors. 

SEE ATTACHED  

 

 

 

INFORMATION ITEMS          

Agenda Item #: 13.A 

Subject: Personnel Report 

The following resignations were accepted: 

• Amy Hastings – Terrell Elementary 

• Stephanie Messick – B. McDaniel Reading/SS Teacher 

The following employees have been hired for the 2024-2025 school year: 

• Sheri Bledsoe – Terrell Elementary Teacher 

• Rochelle Compaore – Scott Middle School Science Teacher 

• Jonathan Custer – Denison High School Math Teacher 

• Areil Denton-B. McDaniel 5th Grade SS/Reading Teacher 

• Matthew Garner – Denison High School Metal Trades Teacher 

• Yalonda Ivers – Denison High School Counselor 

• Mitchell Morrow – B. McDaniel Science Teacher 

• Pat Patterson-B. McDaniel 5th Grade ELA Teacher 

• Jeffery Storie – Scott Middle School Science Teacher / Coach 

• Walker Wharton – Denison High School Ag Teacher 

 

Construction Update 

 

Review Long Range Facilities Planning Committee program 

 

Following the handling of all business, the April Denison ISD Board of Trustees meeting was adjourned.