Cleveland ISD Board Meeting — November 18, 2019 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting Type: Regular Source: Minutes (PDF) Extracted: 2026-03-02 16:15 ============================================================ 000093 CLEVELAND INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING (Regular Meeting) November 18, 2019 The Board of Trustees of the Cleveland Independent School District was called to order for a regular meeting with the following members present: Chris Wood, President Amanda Brooks Kelly Jenkel-Axton, Secretary Willie Carter Ronnie Lewis Aaron Montesnieto Christina Purkerson was absent. The meeting was called to order at 6:01 PM by Chris Wood, President; the invocation was given by Ronnie Lewis and the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and Texas flags was led by Kelly Jenkel- Axton. There were no comments from the public during Open Forum. REPORTS: Mr. Chris Trotter, Superintendent: 1. Student enrollment and attendance rate data was provided. Student enrollment is 7,600 and the current attendance rate is 94%. 2. Thanksgiving holidays are November 25-29, 2019 for students and staff. 3. The December board meeting is Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 PM. 4. Douglass Learning Academy graduation is December 19, 2019 at 6:00 PM at the Cleveland Civic Center. 5. Christmas holidays are December 23, 2019 – January 3, 2020 for students and staff. 6. Staff development day on Monday, January 6, 2020. This is a holiday for students. 7. Will Clayton (Claycomb Associates Architects) was ill and therefore, unable to attend the meeting to present a construction update. 8. Informational Items:  A presentation regarding the benefits of moving to a seven (7) period day was given by Brandon Perry, Director of Secondary Schools. 9. No questions were asked by the Board to central office administrators, campus principals or department supervisors during the Question and Answer session. A motion was made by Ronnie Lewis and seconded by Willie Carter to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the bills and payroll as presented. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. A motion was made by Aaron Montesnieto and seconded by Willie Carter to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of October 21, 2019 as corrected. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. The minutes were revised to reflect that Aaron Montesnieto made the initial motion and Amanda Brooks seconded the motion to approve the Proposal for Additional Positions (for the Director of Secondary Schools). At 6:52 PM, a motion was made by Willie Carter and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto for the Board to convene in executive session. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. The Board convened in executive session at 6:54 PM pursuant to Texas Government Code, Subchapter D, Sections 551.071 and 551.074. A. Texas Government Code 551.074: Consider Superintendent recommendations regarding personnel. 1. Consideration and possible approval of Proposal for Additional Positions. The Board reconvened in open session at 7:09 PM to take possible action on items considered in executive session. A motion was made by Ronnie Lewis and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto to approve the Superintendent’s recommended Proposal for Additional Positions as presented (copy filed separately). The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. 000094 BOARD MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019, CONT’ A motion was made by Ronnie Lewis and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto to award contracts for the following Requests for Qualifications/Proposals as presented. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. Request for Qualifications/Proposals Contract Awarded To: RFQ 20-01 – Civil Engineering Teague Nall & Perkins, Inc. Terracon Consultants, Inc., Raba Kistner, RFQ 20-02 – Geotechnical Engineering Inc., and Alpha Testing, Inc. Specialized Assessment & Consulting, The RFP 20-02 – Special Education Contracted Services Stepping Stones Group, Therapia Staffing, Insights to Behavior, and STARS A motion was made by Aaron Montesnieto and seconded by Willie Carter to approve the following district requisitions above $50,000 as per CH (Local) policy. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0.  Requisition Number 026085 in the amount of $71,109.00 for the purchase of additional textbooks (ELA/ELAR Textbook Adoptions) from Harcourt Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. These additional textbooks are for student use at the elementary campuses.  Requisition Number 026345 in the amount of $61,950.33 for the purchase of additional subscriptions (Read 180 Student Subscriptions) from Harcourt Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. These additional subscriptions are for student use at Cleveland Middle School. A motion was made by Ronnie Lewis and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto to approve the resolution canvassing the returns and declaring the results of the bond election held on November 5, 2019 (copy filed separately). The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. FOR AGAINST Early Votes 387 381 Election Day Votes 407 398 TOTAL 794 779 Following a presentation by Mr. Jeff Robert of Hilltop Securities, a motion was made by Ronnie Lewis and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve all matters incident and related to the issuance and sale of “Cleveland Independent School District Unlimited Tax Refunding Bonds, Series 2019”, including the adoption of an order authorizing the issuance of such bonds, establishing parameters for the sale and issuance of such bonds and delegating certain matters to authorized officials of the District. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. A motion was made by Willie Carter and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto to approve the 2018-2019 Annual Report on Cooperative Fees Paid by Cleveland ISD for the 2018-2019 school year as presented (copy filed separately). The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. A Waiver of Penalties and Interest by Governing Body of a Taxing Unit under the Texas Property Tax Code, Section 33.011 was presented for consideration for the account noted below. Following discussion, a motion was made by Ronnie Lewis and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto to approve waiver of base and penalties only, not the interest. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. Account # 142897 Governing body: Cleveland I.S.D. Following discussion, a motion was made by Willie Carter and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto to nominate Bernest Mitchell, Sr. to serve on the Liberty County Appraisal Review Board (ARB). The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. Mr. Ricky Axton was initially nominated for this position at the October 21, 2019 regular board meeting; however, Mr. Axton decided to withdraw his name from consideration. A motion was made by Ronnie Lewis and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto to approve the resolution to cast the district’s 727 votes in support of Bobby Coats to serve on the Liberty County Central Appraisal District’s Board of Directors. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. A motion was made by Willie Carter and seconded by Ronnie Lewis to approve the resolution to cast the district’s one (1) vote in support of Barry Blanton to serve on the Montgomery Central Appraisal District’s Board of Directors. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. 000095 BOARD MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019, CONT’ A motion was made by Ronnie Lewis and seconded by Amanda Brooks to approve the resolution to cast the district’s 265 votes in support of Susan Bailes to serve on the San Jacinto County Appraisal District’s Board of Directors. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. A brief recess was called at 7:45 PM by Chris Wood, President. The Board convened in executive session at 8:16 PM pursuant to Texas Government Code, Subchapter D, Sections 551.071 and 551.074. A. Texas Government Code 551.074: Consider Superintendent recommendations regarding employment and contract status of classroom teachers and other non-administrative professional personnel. 1. Employment recommendations and resignations of professional and non-professional staff. 2. Consider proposed termination of probationary contract of Lauren Johnston. The Board reconvened in open session at 10:24 PM to take possible action on items considered in executive session. A motion was made by Amanda Brooks and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the proposed termination of the probationary contract of Lauren Johnston effective immediately due to job abandonment. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. (Motion attached to minutes.) (Copy filed separately.) A motion was made by Ronnie Lewis and seconded by Aaron Montesnieto to support the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the following professional and para-professional personnel recommendations and resignations for the 2019-2020 school year. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0. 2019-2020 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL Lisa Edwards Probationary Rebecca Ellington Probationary Collin Nicholas Probationary Kyriakoula Mella Probationary 2019-2020 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TRANSFERS Joann Diaz Transfer from LPAC Interventionist at Northside to RtI Bil Interventionist at Northside Carlos Moron Anaya Transfer from Spanish Teacher at Cleveland High School to RtI Bilingual Reading Teacher at Southside Carole Henderson Transfer from Bus Driver to Bus Monitor Sonya Johnson Transfer from Bus Driver to Routing Manager 2019-2020 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PARA-PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL Christina Crosby Effective November 6, 2019 Concepcion De Los Rios Effective October 28, 2019 Jose Delgado Effective October 31, 2019 Alexandra Everhart Effective November 4, 2019 Cedric Harbin Effective November 5, 2019 Natali Hernandez Effective October 28, 2019 Mirian Jimenez Effective November 4, 2019 Alex Johnson Effective November 4, 2019 Trena Jordan Effective October 31, 2019 Maria Lock Effective November 4, 2019 Deyanira Palacios Effective November 4, 2019 Cynthia Ramirez Effective November 7, 2019 Laketra Searles Effective November 7, 2019 Savannah Stoneberger Effective October 28, 2019 Tanya White Effective November 11, 2019 000096 BOARD MEETING, NOVEMBER 18, 2019, CONT’ RESIGNATIONS/TERMINATIONS: Melissa Dominguez Effective October 21, 2019 (No Show) Lauren Johnston Effective November 18, 2019 (Termination) Amanda LaBorde Effective December 31, 2019 (Release of Contract) Haydee Hernandez Mateo Effective October 22, 2019 America Reyes Effective November 15, 2019 Teresa Reyes Effective November 4, 2019 Luis Sanchez Effective