DISD School Board Agenda

Denison ISD Board of Trustees President Bob Rhoden called to order the Meeting of the Denison ISD Board of Trustees on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. In the Denison ISD in the Bruce T. Hibbett Board Room at the Denison ISD Administration Building in Denison, Texas. Let the record show up a quorum of board members was present. This meeting has been duly called and notice of this meeting has been posted in accordance with Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas government code Chapter 551 The Board began the meeting with Board member Linda Flemming 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 presented by Izzie Haddock from Mayes 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 Eric Hunt: “I'm trying not to talk about powerlifting, but we did have a great banquet last night. The first ever powerlifting team banquet and it was a great event. Lots of young people honored. We had several academic all-state winners. Six that were elite academic all-state. The program is doing really well and very exciting things are coming. I also want to say that we appreciate Dr. Kirkbride product sneaking in and saying hello. He had a great reason to be there. But still, it's good. It's always good to see your leaders at events. That makes people notice. People notice when your leadership appears and they’re active and involved and I love seeing them. Thank you.”   

Board vice-president Becky Russell: “I’m going to kind of piggyback off of my buddy here, but the Texas Scholars lunch that we went to, that was exciting. And then, right after that, with the teachers and the announcing of the teachers of the year and that's always fun to see. And then prom. Ohh, my goodness. Lots of pretty dresses and lots of pretty girls. We have a granddaughter that's a senior so we got to see all of that and go down to the Depot for the pictures and have fun. Just the end of year celebrating the kids and it's lots of things. And the meetings too. Yes, the town halls. We had a pretty good turnout for the last one. It's exciting.” 

Board member Amber Pilcher: “I'm just going to encourage everybody as we finish off the school year. I know it's busy with celebrations and honoring students and state testing and all that fun stuff, but I just love this time of year because I get to see all the accomplishments that we worked so hard for all school year. So, kudos to everybody who's behind everybody.”   

Board member David Hawley: “The last 27 years have been phenomenal working with various board members and superintendents and the things that we do here on the board. Sometimes, people don't understand, but I like it whenever they come to me and say something and if I'm not up on it, I'll tell them, give me your name and phone number and I'll find out and call you back. It's just wonderful, the great people that we have that are continuing on.” 

Board member Linda Flemming: “So, Becky stole my thunder. The luncheon, the picnic, prom. These were very nice events, as always.” 

Board president Bob Rhoden: “Some of you were here earlier for the reception that we had for Judge Hawley to thank him for his service to the Board. And, of course, next month we will honor him officially at the May school board meeting for his 27 years of service. We are going to miss you, but we're excited for you for the opportunity to take on whatever you do next. We certainly appreciate all the service that you've given so far. There's an envelope here with your name on it, so I'm going to pass it to you. If it has cash in it, unfortunately you have to give that back.”   

Following the Board comment portion of the meeting, the agenda opened the floor for public comments. There were no public comments and the Board meeting proceeded to the Superintendent comments.  

Denison ISD Superintendent Dr. David Kirkbride: “Just very briefly, once again, David (Hawley), thank you for your years of service. And, this will be the last time that you'll sit in that seat in this boardroom as a board member. We enjoyed seeing your family tonight. Very special time. I just want to remind the board about our town hall meetings. We've already had three town hall meetings of the scheduled six. We have three more to go. We kind of took a little break from them this week and we'll pick back up next week. We've got one Monday at Scott Middle School, Thursday at B.McDaniel and then the following Tuesday at Terrell Elementary. That will wrap up all six of those town halls and I've enjoyed doing that. Although it gets a little taxing on everybody just to be there and go through all of that, I enjoy those opportunities and appreciate the board members that have been able to show up and also our committee members.” 

Following the Board comments, the Board shared some staff recognitions. 

RHODEN: “First off, I wanted to recognize his staff and admin staff. Who? When we go to town hall meetings, when we go to other things where they have to stay late, I am always appreciative of the fact that he has so many admin staff that don't get paid extra to do those things and they show up anyway to support the district, to be there in case there are questions that need to be answered. They are there to show support for the district and what we're doing. And, it's not lost on me as a trustee. I don't think it's lost on the rest of the board either that you don't you don't have to stay for those sorts of things. And, that going above and beyond like that really says a lot about the caliber of the admin team that we have, It really makes us proud of our district. And so, to all of you, I want to say thank you for the extra hours that you put in those times when you show up and you absolutely don't necessarily have to be there, but you are there because that's the way you're geared. The other thank you I wanted to give tonight was to our crew in Food Service. We met a few weeks ago to talk about David’s reception tonight and decided that we'd like to do this instead of having a meal before the meeting. So, we called over to food service, got Lauren on the line, and she said absolutely we can put that together. And ladies, it couldn't have been more beautiful. I think you did a fantastic job, and it was exactly what I was hoping for. I don't know, but I'm sure the rest of the Board feels the same way, that it was exactly what we needed. And, every month you ladies out-do yourselves to take care of us as Board members and we appreciate that. But, tonight I especially want to thank you for having such a nice set up and such a beautiful reception for Mr. Hawley and his family because it certainly was appreciated by me.”   

Following the Board recognitions, the meeting proceeded as scheduled. 

ACTION ITEMS

• Routine Business - Consent Agenda 
• Approval of Board minutes for the March 2025 (11.A.1) 
• Approve Expenditures for February 2024 (11.A.2) 
• Approval of the February 2024 investment report (11.A.3) 
• Approval of the February 2024 financial reports (11.A.4) 
• Approval of the February 2024 tax reports (11.A.5) 

REGULAR BUSINESS 

• June 6, 2025  
• June 27, 2025  
• July 2-3, 2025  
• July 18, 2025  
• October 10, 2025  
• November 26, 2025  
• December 22-23, 2025  
• December 31, 2025 

INFORMATION ITEMS

• Allison Foster – Houston Teacher (effective 5/23/25)  
• Emily Barnett – Lamar Principal (effective 6/13/25)  
• Krystal Vincent – B. McDaniel Teacher (effective 5/23/25)  
• Abbigail Mitchell – Lamar Teacher (effective 5/23/25)  
• Kayla Kreger – Elementary Music (effective 5/23/25)  
• Allyson Birdsong – Hyde Park Special Education Teacher (effective 5/23/25)  
• Lauren Lynn – Lamar Teacher (effective 5/23/25)  
• Sonja Jones – Terrell Teacher (effective 5/23/25)  
• Rebecca Hix – Terrell Teacher (effective 5/23/25)  
• Austin Thompson – B. McDaniel Teacher (effective 5/23/25)  
• Anna Petty – Terrell Teacher (effective 5/23/25)  
• April Rawlins-B. McDaniel Teacher (effective 5/23/25) 

• Kaitlyn Genzer- Terrell Elementary Teacher  
• Erin Neumann – Terrell Elementary Assistant Speech Language Pathologist  
• Kaitlyn Richard – Terrell Elementary Teacher  
• Kelsey Payne – Scott Middle School Science Teacher  
• Courtney Wise – Scott Middle School History Teacher  
• Melissa Hearn – Administration –Diagnostician  
• Kyle Duffer –Special Education Teacher  
• Cassandra Edwards – Special Education Teacher  
• Randy Mitchell – Special Education Teacher  
• Regina Robinson – Elementary Teacher  
• Lindsey Aldridge – Elementary Teacher  
• Hannah Yost – Elementary Teacher  
• Kimberly Thomison – Elementary Teacher  
• April Snodgrass - B. McDaniel ELA/SS Teacher 

EXECUTIVE/CLOSED SESSION ITEMS: 

• Pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.072, discussions regarding deployment and implementation of security personnel or devices. 
• Pursuant to Section 551.074, Texas Government Code, to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of public officer or employee: or to hear a complaint or charge against an office or employee. 
• Pursuant to Sections 551.071 and 551.074, Texas Government Code, discussions and consultation with District legal counsel regarding legal and procedural matters concerning personnel matter 
• Pursuant to Section 551.074 Texas Government Code, considering duties and responsibilities of Board Members