Spring Update with Superintendent Roher

Get the latest updates for Friendswood ISD’s spring semester with Superintendent Thad Roher! In this episode, we discuss potential weather closures, updates on the district’s Big 4 priorities, and insights from the Cell Phone Research Group. Learn about the role of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and the progress of the Strategic Plan refresh. Don’t miss key information to keep you informed and prepared for what’s ahead in FISD!

Transcript

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Speaker 1 It was right there. I know. You know. I know you. Your husband's U.T. guy. Yeah. And really, for me. My daughters and Maggie. But my son just. You know, you t die hard since Vince Young. Unknown Yes. He's just not a big fan. Of course. Goes to. Speaker 1 Texas. Speaker 3 You know, was it was just like it felt like such a good, close game. And then we were literally I mean, what a yard away from the end zone. And course, you know, just. Speaker 4 For those of you who didn't watch it, what was the score? Speaker 3 It ended up being, what, 28 to 14? Speaker 1 It doesn't matter. It was a scoop six for a double touchdown win. Yeah. Speaker 3 Gosh, it it was. Did you hear them say that, too? So Ewers used to be he used to play for Ohio State. That's where he started. And it was his former roommate who actually picked he he Yeah. Speaker 1 Scooped it and. Speaker 3 Scooped up it right then fumble. Yeah. He's a big old guy, but he was athletic and then it was just so we. Speaker 1 You know, and friends, we don't like to dwell on the past. We like to look forward to a bright future. Right? And so national championship, you guys got to pick Ohio State or Notre Dame. Speaker 3 I'm going to Ohio State. Speaker 4 Tulsa's smart, so I'm going. Speaker 3 To see. Speaker 1 You. Obviously, you've been really researching this stuff. Speaker 3 Everything is. Yes. What about. Speaker 1 You? Like, I was born in Ohio. I was born across the street from the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. So Ohio State, my dad, diehard Ohio State, my mom. And so, uh, yeah, I mean, actually rooting for you t against Ohio State. But we all care that we don't ever let my dad know that we're cheering for someone against Ohio State. Speaker 1 So, yeah, Ohio state big time. I think their home stay. Speaker 3 Local and you would hope that the person you lose to. Yeah goes on to win it all that you don't lose to the loser. Yeah yeah Notre Dame has kind of surprised people I do too. I like coach. I really like him and I think it's so interesting. I mean, obviously we've we've had that actually here in Friendswood, just at the high school level, but this trend in the NFL and in college football of younger and younger head coaches, I kind of dig it like, I think it's cool. Speaker 1 It's good. Speaker 3 I didn't even know. Speaker 1 About it last night. I mean, let's not be too hard on old guys. Speaker 3 I mean, there's a balance, right? Like, there's there's great things that come with experience, but also with new, fresh ideas. Speaker 1 I went through the airport this last weekend, and the guy who looks at your license. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 1 I actually looked at my license. I don't remember how long ago the picture was taken. And he looked at me and he goes a lot more frost on the beard and the hair. Oh, my God. This time I. Speaker 4 Can't believe you actually said that. Speaker 1 But he said it looks distinguished. So he saved himself. Speaker 3 Distinguished gentleman. Yeah. Wow. Speaker 1 Well, what he was just saying is my look older than this picture. Speaker 3 But is terrible. I know. Showing he's like a chameleon. He looks at my husband, he looks so different throughout time. And so we've always said that we're like, man, you see me stop you, because this photo looks nothing like me. Speaker 1 Right? Right. Speaker 3 But with that, he's. Does he have his beard? Yeah, he's had no beard. He's had he mostly he's had a beard. His hair has been much longer, a little bit shorter, gain a few elbows, you know, just different different little things there. So he's exactly playing with that though. Welcome to season four, episode nine of Friendswood Isd's the podcast with Kelsey. Speaker 4 Goals and Sophia Armenta, we're. Speaker 3 Glad you're joining us today as we dive into all things feisty share updates, stories and insights from around our fabulous district. Whether you're a student, parent, teacher or community member, we're so glad that you're tuning in today, we're joined by Superintendent Thad J. Unknown Rower Sound effects. Oh, yeah. Especially for the man, the mythology. Speaker 3 All right. And we're just going to get into it. We do this every year, beginning of the semester for fall and for spring. Just kind of an update of what's what do we need to know? So you have had something every year since you're you started as superintendent and this year is no different. Right? So we're looking at potential weather closures next week. Speaker 3 There's predicted forecasted, possible freeze snow. So that's kind of a big deal. And I'm like I know a lot of people would love to know as early as possible, but there's a lot that goes into these types of decisions. So let's let's talk through that a little bit. Speaker 1 Sure. So every yesterday, everywhere I went, they were like, we're going to school on Tuesday. And kids were telling me I have actually an appointment with Lindsay Foley's daughter to talk about school closures. She's an elementary student. So, yeah, everyone's looking for it. But, you know, school closures, it really three things we take into account. So first is region four, which is just picture kind of Beltway eight. Speaker 1 Every school district inside and outside that touches Beltway eight down to the coast are members of Region four. So we we always start with something like this with the weather call. So Sunday is when it is Sunday three. Speaker 3 Yep. Speaker 1 So we get on and we hear from Jeff Lindner who people are familiar with from going through hurricanes and he gives us kind of a play by play and we really have different weather stratus spheres even in region for, you know, the Gulf Coast, the the the Gulf tempers, temperatures down in our end. So, you know, you really have the tar balls as psi fairs are up there. Speaker 1 Then we come down into the middle, you know, the parrot lands, the Kleins, the different ones, and then down into Galveston County. So we hit that. We hear from them, we listen, superintendents chime in. And then after that, we do an immediate Galveston County. So just Galveston County gets on to Zoom. What are we here? What do we know? Speaker 1 And discuss that. Then we National Weather Service, the city. So JT's gone today. I don't remember what time it is, but he's gone this afternoon. He'll hear from them, talk with the Office of Emergency Management about what's going on in the area. And then we then our team, our team starts processing what's going on. And so through those three things, that's where you gain the data points to make the decision. Speaker 1 One of the most important data points in this, though, is we have we have a spreadsheet of the number of staff that live outside of the district. So we have plenty of people in Houston live in up in Houston area, people who live over the Beltway bridge in Pasadena. Uh, you know, we have a lot of people who travel in. Speaker 1 And so, yeah, you know, a lot of times you look at the weather and or you look at the weather outside your window and you say, Man, we could have had, you know, possibly had school today. You got to make the guess ahead of time because those people have to travel in and bus drivers start driving in at sometimes, you know, before four in the morning, right. Speaker 1 To begin to get on their routes and do that. So that travel and safety for those people is key. And then surrounding school districts are very important because we all crossover on employees and kids. Speaker 3 Yep. Speaker 1 And if we go to school and other places close down, then our employees, what are they going to do with their kids? They don't come. Then we have sub subs. Won't come on us on a snow day. So it's a big it's a web, you know, of, of how it looks and what goes down. But we try to get the message out as soon as we can, but it's and we try to coordinate so someone doesn't close down and it picks up the momentum of like, why aren't we closed down? Speaker 1 We try to coordinate that the best we can. And so sometimes trying now it just seems more and more in the in the good old days, we used to wake up in the morning and drive the roads and then, you know, do a call tree and we shut school down. But, but now we've just really kind of the, the demands of, of community and time is as early as we can get it. Speaker 3 Yes. And we totally understand, you know, we have a lot of working parents and you've you're trying to plan for that as well. But I do want emphasize like there's so much that goes into it and we do the best we can. And once we do know, we will push out that message via email, text, social media website. Speaker 3 There's there's no way for you to miss it. Speaker 1 So, I mean, with this one specific specifically, you know, again, we'll we'll start on Sunday, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll make the call. We don't know. We don't go to school Monday. So Monday is a holiday for everyone, so we'll be shut down. But there'll be plenty, I'm certain, work to do that it's going to be do and Kelsey, you and I will be. Speaker 1 Yes. Talking with each other on Monday for sure. So we'll we'll get it out as soon as we can. Speaker 4 And it seems like there's almost a Texas Gulf Coast weather trend, because I notice that we are almost a year to the day. A last year. Yeah. Just about the same time. Speaker 1 After this holiday. Speaker 3 We shut down. Yeah, we were actually going back and looking. I was talking to Sophia because this will be potentially her first time going through a scenario like this with weather. And so we were talking about what this looks like. And in our department and we actually found the messages that we crafted last year and it was for January 16. Speaker 3 So it was the same day we were looking at them yesterday. Yeah, yeah. But no, we've we've said it's, it's that it's, it's her superintendency. There's always something. So if you want to blame someone. Speaker 4 Feel for bringing bad weather or what's happening in a layoff. Speaker 3 You know people will probably love it if we know what. Speaker 1 This is going to do. Some I hope it is snow. I hope these kids get a chance to go play in the snow, make a snowman. That would be really cool. Speaker 3 It would be super cool Slush. Speaker 1 Man or whatever. Speaker 4 Man or snowman. Speaker 3 But it's okay. Yeah, We'll still cherish those memories, right? So, yeah. So yeah, I just wanted to give you all a little update on that. We will definitely be communicating, be monitoring throughout the weekend and we'll let you all know as soon as we as soon as we make a decision. Monday night we had a board meeting and at that board meeting there was a presentation where our board was updated on our big four initiatives for the year and we talked about that a little bit when you came on in the fall. Speaker 3 Those four initiatives are ADA, which is average daily attendance, authentic learning, PBIS and shared ownership. Do you want to give kind of an overview of what that looks like? Speaker 1 Yeah, let me just hit each of those briefly. And again, just to kind of review why these four there are so many of the things that we're working on. It doesn't mean the dashboard has less dials on it. It's just these dials. We felt like we're difference makers. ADA in two ways. One is, and most importantly is just, you know, kind of coming back from the COVID idea of absences and how important it is to be in front of our great staff and great teachers to get for maximum learning time and learning opportunities. Speaker 1 How learning has changed so much that the time in school, the face to face time, is so much more important now than it was maybe ten years, ten or whatever, years ago. So and then the funding part of that is significant too. But but I mean, funding aside, our main focus is on just we want to see our kids in school and teachers for them. Speaker 1 I'd even say it's a retention is when you have full classes, man, you want to be there. When you're always catching up with a number of students. It's hard. Speaker 3 Right? Right. Yeah. Those connections are huge and just like a celebration, we were. So we have different committees for each one of these big four pieces. And I'm Sophie, and I actually sit on the ADA committee and there was a celebration at our meeting on Tuesday that every campus saw at least a 1 to 2% increase in average daily attendance for the fall semester. Speaker 3 So that is I mean, that's awesome. Awesome. And that's a testament to, I think, just parents being a little more informed, too, of what chronic absenteeism is and the work of our staff to really emphasize like how important it is like that we we want your kids here. We love on your kids and. Speaker 4 We don't want anyone left behind. Speaker 3 Right. And it's more than just like the it's more than just the curriculum that they're missing. It's the social emotional aspects of being in school. It's the employability of those students one day, Like you can't just miss work all the time, right? Like there's there's definitely soft skills that are built whenever you show up. Speaker 1 Awesome. Yep. That's exactly right. So I'm really we're really proud of the our community and our kids and our parents for committing to that and jumping in and doing it. So we're just in it. Spring, you know, we start hitting some flu time here. Kelsey, you've had the flu already, so you know what that's like. We start hitting some of that and and that's not what we're talking about or are talking about, uh, you know, scheduling. Speaker 1 Yeah, maybe vacations or things at different times to be able to take advantage of being here. If you're, if, if you hit those dates, obviously, man, that's just part of it, you. Speaker 4 Know, and even just showing up for first period and staying throughout the day because there are some important things that I think a lot of people can miss out on if they're even just a couple hours late. Speaker 1 You know, elementary, The morning meeting is a very first thing. Yeah. And then they jump right into a lot, you know, phonics. And I mean, some of that key, key things if you're a student is that first 30, you know, 50 minutes of the day and we we really want you there for sure. You know, secondly, uh, authentic learning and you can give it all kinds of titles, authentic learning, personalized learning, profound learning opportunities. Speaker 1 And we got a really cool team that's working on that. Each of these has a team that meets once a month and and steps out into different action steps. And we've been taking a lot of surveys through this and celebrations and and asking ourselves questions of if we know how kids learn best and and teachers know how we teach best. Speaker 1 What do we do with that information to get even more traction in that? And we'll talk about our strategic plan kind of refresh here in a minute. But that's really that work. And the big four is is really driving into that in a lot of ways and, you know, a lot of celebrations now with new spaces at the high school, specifically. Speaker 1 KLEIN And and we're going to talk about Citizen Advisory Committee here first to look at those things in other places as well. Just the growth of that, to not be pockets, but just to be pervasive, You know, so that's a big a big celebration. PBIS, the but I'll just generalize that's, you know, behavior. Yeah. And and more so just tier one behavior in the classroom. Speaker 1 So how can we support each other? Each each campus has a team that works on that and that that gathers for that campus itself. Really what what that means. So, for example, let's take a win song. When songs PBIS team sits together and says what behaviors are we? What's hindering learning on our campuses or on our playgrounds or in our cafeterias? Speaker 1 They identify that. And then, for example, when we came back from break, I went over there and watched teacher present on coding specific things into the into the computer to help our assistant principals, our administrative team, be able to gather better, better data to know, hey, when song we need to do this because it might be different than Bayles, it might be different than client, right? Speaker 1 How can we support teachers in that? And then that steps up into Tier two and Tier three, which is the more, you know, behaviors that we then need to look outside of the classroom. And Kimberly Davis leads this team. She's our our district behavioral specialist. She's a BBA behavior. It's her expertise is the main reason. Yeah, she's awesome. Speaker 1 And so she comes in to be able to coach into classrooms, set up trainings, do different pieces. So that teams are really working on a continuum of where are we and where, what's the what's the levels that show the most gain for students and for teachers? Where do we see ourselves? What can we do to It's a one through three scale. Speaker 1 So they're they're going through all of that together and sharing ideas of of what it looks like. A lot of celebrations in there of just different steps. Uh, one example is as we came back from break, you know, typically you start the beginning of the year and that's when you do all the process and procedures. We come back from break again and, you know, a focus on each campus on let's let's review that. Speaker 1 You know what does it mean to walk in a line? What does it mean to, you know, at the high school? What does it mean to be respectful? What is I know the junior high talked on talked about respect with each other to that. Was there one piece of the puzzle? Yeah. They talked about the middle piece of the puzzle. Speaker 3 So there was a cute video shown at the board meeting actually on Monday that Cline students had put together for PBIS in. Speaker 1 The lunchroom. Speaker 3 How to behave in the lunchroom. And it was near rated and I believe created by the kiddos. Right. Like, it's awesome. Speaker 1 It's also probably a bad word. It's just like what? Probably more what the expectations are. And it's just as learners and growing and and you know for us goal seven, you know the social emotional side how do they do that? Speaker 4 And I think a lot of people may think some things are common sense, but everyone grows up in different environments and learns different ways of living. So I think the kids have kind of a refresher of what the schools expectations are. Speaker 3 Well, and just like I think we've had this push right as a district towards creating standards across the board that maybe weren't in place at one point. But I mean, we've talked about this like all of the research really supports the idea of standards, and PBS is a part of that, of just standardizing the language that we're using so that if a kid goes from Westwood to Bells, then to the junior high to the high school, yeah, they're they're receiving the same types of verbiage and expectations, which is which is huge. Speaker 1 I know. I know. One of the celebrations for that team was the I think it was like 85% or something they did of teachers who have a behavioral plan in place in their classroom, which before that everyone had a plan that they articulate, but more of a systemic way of doing that so that when you're going from class to class, going from campus to campus, those expectations, it's so much easier when you're like, these were the expectations. Speaker 1 Why aren't you meeting the expectations? Let's that's where we're that's where we're headed to to share that in a system systematic way. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 1 Then the last one just is shared ownership. And really that's, that's one that is probably the biggest impetus for like we got This is more than a one year big four for sure. But just sharing the ownership of our, our special needs students and it's not that there ever was in time here that we don't own those kids together, that I don't think that's what it is. Speaker 1 It's more of the systems in place to be able to to help give our staff, our administrative team. Me frankly. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 1 More skills and intention on how we share that ownership, how we support our our student, our special needs students with teachers. It's a paradigm shift. It's been it's messy. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 1 But we're getting there. And so that's been a big focal point for us that I'm sure will continue. Speaker 3 And I think, you know, that's important. I'm glad you kind of started on that. But all of these things, none of it really is new. It's just the intentionality behind the focus being placed on it that we're in, the. Speaker 1 Systems that we're giving. So for us, Kelsey, when we're in Cabinet, we talk about these for every Cabinet meeting, Warren Deal, our district leadership team with all the principals, all the directors with this is what we talk about. Yes, in areas in here. So yeah, that's, that's where we're, that's where our focus. So we'll if someone wants to hear about it, they can they could go back and look at some of those presentations in the from the board minutes. Speaker 1 Yep. And we will also at the end of the year that will be, you know, where are we, what's the data points for each one of these. Speaker 3 Yes. And all that get shared if you should receive the border for it unless you've like opted out of just district communication that's non-emergency. But we do house all of the border ports on our website, too, if you're interested in looking at that more. So again, speaking of the board meeting, one of the things that was part of kind of a mini learning session, a little bit was presenting on cell phone the cell phone research group that was started. Speaker 3 That may be brand new to everyone listening. Can you can you talk through that? Speaker 1 Sure. Sure. At the beginning of this year, as we went through goals for this coming year, one of the specific pieces for our board of trustees was came. Well, let me start here. One of the specifics came out of a a book study together by our board, myself, a number of us here at admin, our principals on the book Anxious Generation. Speaker 1 Yeah, and I would recommend it very highly. It's not an education book. It references that in there, but I can tell you for you, Kelsey, you're about to be a parent here in the next month. This is our last podcast. We'll get to talk with you. So but for you as a parent, for me, as a grandparent, I was, you know, profoundly impacted by this in terms of we all know the cell phone pieces. Speaker 1 The research is in there. But more how does it affect development? And that was the light bulb for me. Yeah, of take my grandson, Miles, my oldest grandchild, Peter Luke Thomas, about to be three. How his development of his brain is affected by not only cell phone, not not cell phones, social media. Speaker 3 Right. Speaker 1 So it's not it's not the cell phone, it's not the technology. It's what's on it, the social media and then the the play side of that, the development and learning to play and the creativity in that and the conflict in that and the risk in that. Those are specific things that are in there. So we read that together. Speaker 1 And from that research, the board charged our team with review of this year of a bell to Bell policy. So meaning no, no, no social media use from bell to bell cell phone use from bell to bell and you know in Friendswood and really in any change and we've been working through this as a team to the why behind that. Speaker 1 And the ownership of that is critical if you just put a policy into place in Friendswood, it's not going to go right. It's not going to gain any traction. You have to do the learning behind it. And that's what the report was, is Kim Cole, who's our assistant superintendent of secondary teaching and learning. She's leading a team that, uh, first of all, did some research on a lot of different pieces. Speaker 1 So we heard the update of that. You could look at that presentation and see that the yonder pouch is the calling schools that had it. What do our comparison groups have and will launch actually this week or excuse me, next week, maybe not Tuesday night, I don't know. But we'll launch this team, research group that has parents, students, administrators in it to answer all the other questions of, you know, if we did this, what what surveys of like we really focused on enforcement of this. Speaker 3 Right. Speaker 1 Our current policy which is they need to be away during classroom time. How's that working And then what this might look like going forward into the fall of next year. So as we approve student Code of Conduct handbooks, the right now the goal is a march board meeting information item on here's where we are and the questions that everyone has that I even have of like the safety side. Speaker 1 The students now receive a lot of medical information on their own phones about themselves. You got watches, you got your phones, you got glasses, you got everything that has technology. Like how does that all fit together? How to how to parents get messages to kids now, now you just text, right? Hey, you forgot your book report, you know, and there's some of that development side of like that that's a part of that. Speaker 1 So all those questions they're dealing with and trying to see what's best and then we'll share that. And you might want to talk a little bit about our hopes in a learning community, not just the school, but our community and moving forward in some of this to what you're taking on. You and Sophia both are really taken on from the communication side. Speaker 3 Yeah. So we we actually met with one of the subgroups of that. It was the our counselors. And they had done all of this research presented to this research. And some of it was was pretty jolting. Just on we want to emphasize to you this is personal use technology. This is not educational technology. We definitely are firm believers in. Speaker 3 So utilizing those tools and resources because they're such a huge part of the workforce. But personal use is what the focus is. And so we started a campaign. This is our second week of things going out, but it's really to inform parents on just some of the data of this personal technology use, aware. Speaker 4 Of a lot of the facts that they had found either I mean, just one of the ones that we really recently where social media can damage mental health, where like if you're getting these notifications, whether it be from just, you know, influencers with the perfect hair and perfect bag or just natural disasters across the world, you know. Speaker 3 Cyber bullying and bullying. Speaker 4 All these kinds of things can happen during class. And those notifications, which I think were could possibly be up to over 1000 per day and then. Speaker 3 24, 2400 was actually what some get is like the one we released on Wednesday. And and we'll have at least one tweet going going out some of that data and then eventually get up to like about two a week when we get closer to that April board meeting. But it really the goal is to keep our our community, our parents specifically informed so that we can really create the partnership that's that's super important to us is building a partnership between district and home because we're even we even have tips on things they can do at home with their kids alternatives. Speaker 3 And and you spoke on the book. I do remember a couple of years ago we did a parent power session called Screen Agers, and they did an experiment with mice and exposure to just two screens. Yeah. And the the damage done from that just on their brains, especially when they're so young and they're developing. But yeah, it's, it's super important that we we stay connected. Speaker 3 We partner with parents that you mentioned safety and one thing I would love to mention, just because we come from the communication aspect, so God forbid in a crisis situation, you know that's been one argument people have asked about is, so how do I get a hold of my student? Well, we've actually been to conferences where we've heard from the public information officers for, say, you've already for Santa Fe, and they have said actually the cell phone usage and I don't remember which one it was. Speaker 3 They had to shut off the main Wi-Fi because they could not communicate internally about the situation with the police officers because of the excessive use of cell phones. So it actually created a greater safety issue. Yeah. And so they had established a separate wi fi to be able to use in an emergency situation. So maybe some of the thoughts that you might originally have, there would be some surprising data to actually not support to support that. Speaker 3 But I found that fascinating ever since of just because I probably would have had the same question. But no matter what in any any kind of situation, you're going to be informed by the district. We're sending something out every 15 minutes at least. Yeah, So that's anyway, that's important to note. Speaker 1 And let me let me just bounce off that too, because this is going to be an opportunity that maybe some who are listening or we'd ask even that you'd share. You know, you talked about instructional technology. Yes, I was opposed to this. And we've been working with a group that's that's really been targeted. And Ms.. Ambo, our deputy superintendents, really been working with this group on on exactly that. Speaker 1 And you know there won't be technology provides such a rich opportunity for our kids and specific areas not not dead time like let's waste time and do you know our policy is during inside recess you don't use technology. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 1 So we put the stuff away. That's our policy. If that's if we have people going against that, that's a teacher issue just like any other teacher. Go visit with your teacher, principal, whatever. But we have specific guidelines that I think probably are unmatched in a lot of ways to other people on that. And that's found on our website pretty easy to find what our cell phone beliefs are or what our technology beliefs are, but it gives us such great data when we talk about personalized learning that there won't be technology free schools in Friendswood won't be one of them. Speaker 1 And it's this probably a bad analogy, but you take the toll those Beltway tollway technology right now allows us to just drive around that tollway fast, efficiently do what we need to do to keep driving safely. If we took the technology out and we had to go back to tollbooths again, where you threw the coins and the big baskets and said, you know, this technology is not something and it would it would be really hard for those organizations to effectively do it. Speaker 1 And this morning, there are kids that are on a brief amount of time in technology at the elementary level that are giving real time data to that teacher on how are we going to group our kids today or Tuesday for what learning they need to they need to do to learn to read better, to learn to decode better. Speaker 1 So that's really important. Secondly, I would love to invite Ms.. Ambo and other members of our staff and I are going to do a community book study on anxious generation. And so we're kind of gearing that up for the spring and hope to have one a month and it's not going to be come advise us on what we need to do. Speaker 1 We're just part of the team here in Friendswood of a parent community partnership of man. We could we could change the world in our 14 square miles. And what we do that would change the kids that come out from a school standpoint and from a parent standpoint, parenting standpoint for that developmental side of of our kids to to allow them to be have more grit, have more communication skills, develop properly, all of those things. Speaker 1 And so I would just invite and it's wide open. Anyone can come we're going to sit in a circle. We won't have PowerPoint presentations of of this will be we'll jump in a little bit but will be, you know, a parent led group of what can we do as a community to rally around the elements of this to help our community as a whole, our children develop in a way that benefits them? Speaker 3 Absolutely. Speaker 1 So be looking for that. Speaker 3 Yeah. And I and I loved. Before we move to the next thing, you all talked about it on Monday during our cabinet meeting and you were saying you're really not coming as the superintendent of fire. So you're coming just as a as a partner. Speaker 1 Exactly. Speaker 3 You're coming as a parent or grandparent, you know, And so it's very much like equal ground. Yeah. You're just trying to have conversations. Speaker 1 And I'll be able to you know, there will be some questions and we'll be able to share some of the things we're doing in in the inside the school for that 8 to 4 timeframe or 8 to 3 time frame to help with this. And we've talked a little bit about it in this segment, but more as a, you know, my you know, 2011 I think is when smartphones came out, you know, so I was in the early as a parent, I was in there. Speaker 1 I didn't know what I was doing. Speaker 3 Right. Speaker 1 I mean, if I could go back, I could have done way, way better way, way better job. And it's evolved. And I feel like the group of parents now are the ones in it, have so much hope just for them of saying, hey, wait a second here, you know, something's not right, you know, and we could change that. Speaker 1 And I really feel like the mistakes that I made as a parent and and now learning and as a grandparent has changed even my actions, you know, or as you and I talk about you raising a little one, changing what we what we talk about, you know, and our our principal, you know, we're all in on on this idea together. Speaker 1 So, yes, just sitting there alongside Lauren has two boys. Yep. She has a junior high student who will be going to high school before she can blink her eye. An elementary student. She's it right now. So she's sitting there as a parent trying to trying to learn alongside everybody else. And it's been beneficial for us to talk about it and read about it. Speaker 1 And so we just want to sit alongside our folks and and do that. Speaker 3 Absolutely. And speaking of partnerships, we are partnering with the community in our citizens Advisory Committee. That's a big deal coming up. Right. So let's deal let's talk about what is for people who don't know what is a citizens advisory committee. We also call it a CAC, a cat. And what role has it played in Friends? What I see. Speaker 1 So my first year as a superintendent was the 20 1718 school year and we hadn't had a long range facility plan for quite a while. 13 years, I think since to the last bond at that time. And so we really wanted to know as a team here where our facilities were, what the hopes and dreams were, and also what the needs were of. Speaker 1 You know, we're celebrating our 85 years and we have campuses that started at that time that we've built on to. They're not all 85 years old, obviously, but we committed at that time to every five years looking at where we were with our facilities and that first group drove out the 2020 bond. And it's been five years. It's hard to believe. Speaker 1 I know it's crazy hard to believe that it's been five years, but we're getting ready to kick off basically a advisory committee that's made up of a majority of our citizens, students, teachers, administrators, board member, board members will be there to be part to listen. But to take the 2020 plan that has much more than what we actually did review that, go back and review the needs that have come or have come around since that time and do our, you know, catch up. Speaker 1 But also, you know, our belief of construction can lead to better instruction and what that might look like at our campuses as. Speaker 3 We walk through clean, walk through the high school, and you'll see the shining example of that. I mean, it's it's incredible, right? Speaker 1 And so, you know, we I was really we met yesterday with we have a new architect firm that will be part of this. We OC architects, we met with them yesterday. We set up five meetings that will begin at the end of this month and then go into February, March or April with the hopes of if something comes out of this in terms of this is where our focal points are, will come out in May and will be we'll be reviewing that old plan, reviewing demographic studies, reviewing what was done, what wasn't done, looking at our older campuses, Westwood Oldest campus right now and evaluating, you know, our priority one needs for that campus. Speaker 1 So what would we need to do to make Westwood last another ten years and then weigh that against a rebuild, for example, of a Westwood Bales campus, our two older campuses, in the light of, you know, construction leading to more profound instruction, what might that look like? The ag barn was the last the when we drew the line, the ag barn was the next thing on the top of the list. Speaker 1 We need to review review that the other pieces that are part of of that our athletic facilities our other campuses needs so really interested in outdoor spaces that are accessible and that that mirror some of what we've what we've done already in other places. So I'm really excited. We have a lot to talk about those will kick off and we'll, you know, as a team update our community on where we're going. Speaker 1 Absolutely. What we're talking about. I can see videos as part of that. I can see just different reports. You know, we'll be sharing that with different, different members of our community. So, yeah, I'm excited to kick that off. And we have date set from yesterday. We still have some finalization to do on that. We Okay, we'll start with you know every director and campus of okay it's been five years guys what where are we where do we sit today. Speaker 1 Um so then that drives to, you know, financially where are we. What is a what is a you know, of no tax rate increase. So if we just stay, you know, kind of right where we are, what would that look like? What does, uh, you know, $0.04 on every hundred dollars of value. What is $0.07 look like? So what are, what's the appetite for the willingness for our community? Speaker 1 I'm I'm a taxpayer. So what what I'm willing to put in to provide for our kids with knowing friends with friends. What I see is the driver of our economy here in Friendswood biggest employer. The reason people move here is for the safety that our city provides and also the schools. Speaker 3 So and I'll just say we have such a supportive community as far as our as far as our school system. I mean, it's part of our foundation, literally as a as a community faith, family and education. And that has shown and we are so grateful to to our stakeholders for passing the 2020 bond, for allowing us to be able to create these incredible spaces. Speaker 3 Like you've emphasized many times, these are your spaces and these are community spaces. So we we want you to be a part of this process. That's why we have the the CAC and it really just again, maybe for for people who don't know, it might be important to share. So the CAC brings forth recommendations. The board actually has to call for a bond and then the community has to pass the bond. Speaker 3 Right. So there's definitely some steps there. Speaker 1 But so in and to that point, the opportunities for that vote are in November or in May. Those are the two times where you can bring that decision forward to your community. So this group is working on if if if they come out with something would be in November, you know, second Tuesday in November with early voting, kind of same concept that we've we have every year idea of that. Speaker 4 And I know we're pretty transparent about the process as it goes along. And so if anybody doesn't know, you can find a lot of the information as we go forward or for the past bond that we did on our website as well. Speaker 3 On our website, we definitely keep documentation of like everything, all the presentations. And then the last line which you mentioned we would likely do for this is almost like video tours of some of the some of the needs. And then once, once a bond is actually called for legally we're very limited on on what we can do or say. Speaker 3 But leading up to that, we try to make everyone as informed as possible. So you will you will be informed for sure throughout process. There's no doubt about that. Right. Another big another big thing, kind of our last big thing to hit on our strategic plan refresh right. Let's talk about it. Speaker 1 So it's good timing, but it's also hard because capacity wise, that's big work that's going to be happening at the same time. So just, you know, when we started both of these before, it's just so happens we're hitting hitting them at the same time and just kind of where we are is, you know, our strategic plan, which which you can be fine, which is our North Star or aspiration, our seven goals, specifically 13 beliefs are student outcomes. Speaker 1 Um, it's time to relook at those. Again, you know, we develop those with a very large committee which really change the trajectory from their verge, their voices. Um, not nece, not, not ours, right? We didn't sit around a table with eight people and say, Hey, this is where we should go. It was really that voice that charged us with, uh, with what we're experiencing now. Speaker 1 And I think it's, I think it is the right direction for us. It's a moral obligation for us for those seven goals. Uh, we still have work to do in each one of them. And I, and I can see this refresh of just looking at those 713 in our students and saying maybe how do we narrow those? How do we focus those more in actions to to have more action in the student in the classroom for experiences, for those listening, for their for their children and for our community. Speaker 1 So it is a February-March process. It's a a large group, again, same kind of ideas as Citizens Advisory Committee, all public, uh, represented. Um, and then, you know, what we've learned from our last strategic plan, and you know this from our, our talks in our district leadership team meeting is then rolling it out and the responsibility of it on each, each campus administrator, assistant principal principals, a community as a whole and refreshing that for a three year period. Speaker 1 So this all this will again go to the board for them to approve. They'll be a part of they'll be part creating this. There's members of the board on this team and then we'll be presenting it to the board. Uh, kind of in the same time frame is as a citizens advisory Committee recommendations in terms of like changes or new priorities. Speaker 1 I again, I would just say kind of I think more of a narrowing and having walk through the experience itself already, Uh, the, the importance of this now is very clear to us as an organization. And so the intention of before we create a strategic plan, redefine success, what does that mean? Well, that's what drove out all the opportunities that we have now across our our six campuses that kids are getting to experience. Speaker 1 It was driven out of that. Without that, we still would have been defining success as college bound. That's that's where we were. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 1 So defining that or are focusing more of our actions on that then than where we were because of what we've learned. Um, you know, goal five for us just talks about our facilities, are our budgets focusing on those specific things. So the, the bond and the construction was driven out of goal five for us and it will I see it go you know that a goal along those same directions being the same thing and that really drives our expenditures or drives our things. Speaker 1 We talk about what we do on our board agendas, um, drives all of those things. So in terms of changes of direction, I don't see a change of direction. I just see a refinement that more than anything. Speaker 3 Yeah. And I mean, any, any successful company has a mission, has a strategic plan and so we're, we are operating under the same kind of guise of this is needed as far as just providing that direction, something we can point back to in all the decisions that we make. This is why we're making those decisions. Speaker 1 I think we'll look at our call to action in our call to action has is unique in that it has two to pieces that guide all our actions through authentic relationships and authentic experiences. That's how we believe change happens is through the relationships and then through experience and what want to do is just touch the passion of every kid and the direction they want to go. Speaker 1 We have something for them. We have a pathway that will pursue for them. Speaker 3 Um, so. Speaker 4 It can look like many different things. Speaker 3 On a precisely Well, we are approaching about an hour here and so I think we're going to just go over a few upcoming dates for everyone to kind of note. So first Monday, like you like to mentioned, is MLK holiday. So our student staff are off that day can kind of be on the lookout for some of the weather communication that will be coming out regarding at least Tuesday next week on February 14th and 17th. Speaker 3 We have professional learning days. Those are student holidays. So you'll get a if your student has a little special Valentine, they'll get to celebrate that that day outside of school. Mustang's senior citizens meeting, which is one of our favorite days. Every semester is scheduled March 14th, 9 a.m.. So we invite our grandparents or just our community seniors to come out, hear about all the great things that are happening in the district, get a T-shirt, get an A. Speaker 4 We have a lot of new Mustang senior citizens as well. Speaker 3 So let me tell you, the amount of applications that have come in for that gold card. I it's unbelievable. There's so many. And I mean, they're such a huge part of the fabric of this community. And so this has been a great way to build relationships with those. Speaker 1 And just a little teaser for that, for those who've listened this long. It's a road trip. Yes. We're going on the road March 14th, 9 a.m. We're going to go up and see the culinary space, take advantage of the skills of those kids and to have some some good food with them and then go down and check out our engineering space, which, you know, thanks to Mike Foreman and Adam Ring and the Education Foundation and those who've done some of these legacy grants, we got more tools. Speaker 1 We have a lathe, we plasma cutters, we make our own parts will fire some rockets and some robots. We yeah, you don't if you're a mustang senior, you do not want to miss this one and don't want to miss this one. And you get to ride on a yellow school bus. Speaker 3 Which is a classic, right? Speaker 1 You do not want to do that, right? Sophia, you love the ride on the school bus, don't you? Speaker 4 Love it? And I only get to do it first day of school, so. Speaker 3 Yeah, right. Oh, my gosh. Speaker 4 I'm looking forward to meeting the new Mustangs. Senior citizens. Speaker 1 We. Speaker 3 We have a lot of reoccurring familiar faces at each meeting, but we always have a few new ones, too. So a percent so fun. And yet. Speaker 1 14th 9 a.m.. Speaker 3 Don't miss that. We will be we will be pushing that out and again, various avenues. But if you have filled out an application for gold card, you are on our email list and you will definitely be receiving an email. So be on the lookout for that spring break scheduled for March 17th through 21st and then last. Kind of. Speaker 3 One of our things that we've really loved also came out of our strategic plan, right? Goal one is the day of service is scheduled for April 18th. It is a professional learning day for staff and students have this day off, so it is totally optional to participate. But we have found that because of the hearts of our I mean, we saw that just just recently with supporting Walt Disney Elementary and Alvin SD. Speaker 3 We have such a giving, such a generous community, and this day is a reflection of that for our staff, for our parents, for our kids to just go out and serve. Yeah. So that's that's another big thing to look forward to. Deal. Speaker 1 Yeah, big deal. Day of service and a couple of things with that is, you know, there's maybe you're a member of a church or organization that you have a project. We got people looking for projects to do groups you know oftentimes while the baseball team or volleyball team take on a project or a campus or central office. So if you have if you have something and you want to share, you know, you could email Kelsey or Sophia and. Speaker 3 We'll connection love. Speaker 4 This or also spotlight maybe some of the opportunities for that day. Speaker 3 Yes, we can definitely. I mean, usually the more so than trying to get volunteers, it's trying to figure out what they can do, like identifying need. So if there is a need, if you have a neighbor who you know, needs help knowing their grass, I mean, it can be as simple as that. But yes, definitely reach out. We can there's certainly ways we can connect you to a group. Speaker 3 So with that, that's kind of a look at our spring semester. Speaker 1 And I know you just put new school calendar out. Yeah. Speaker 3 For people who are big deal who. Speaker 1 Are interested in what's next year's schedule going to look like. Speaker 4 Yeah, everyone can plan their work and they find work. Speaker 1 And they find. Speaker 3 That. Yeah. So if you go to our web site my office I you com go to explore as I see academic calendar and there is a link there's a big button at the top that will say approved 2526 academic calendar you can download it there. We've also created a graphic we've pushed out on social media and it will be in our newsletter that go out on Sunday that just kind of makes a kind of a clean look for vacation planning. Speaker 3 So the days that our students are going to have off, if you're already trying to plan vacations for the 25, 26 school year. So yeah, you can find it. You can find in our board report, you can find it our newsletter, you can find it on our website, you can find it on social media. Speaker 4 There's lots of places to. Speaker 3 See, places to find that calendar because we know what a big deal that is. Yeah. And we're excited to to kind of look ahead to that year. Speaker 1 Yeah. A lot of student success is coming up this spring too. I am going to leave this afternoon to head north to Dallas to cheer on our are you all cheer team to get ready to go try for another state championship. They won the year before they were second last year and so I got great hopes for standing on Saturday morning and seeing our team on the podium somewhere, hopefully in that first position. Speaker 1 But they do an outstanding job. You know, our basketball teams are doing great things. Wrestling. I put state wrestling on my calendar yesterday. I'm sure we'll have some state wrestlers. State swim is coming up. We have a swimmer that's broken every records, Kayla Blank in her. Speaker 3 Home state, I believe in the United. Speaker 1 States. So she better be rooting for them. I'm sure. Yeah. So, yeah, a lot of student successes come up musical. Speaker 3 It's coming up, musicals coming up. Speaker 4 That happens. So it's going to be very popular. Speaker 1 It'll be flying on the new stage. Speaker 3 It's going to be I mean, another teaser in there that's amazing, this amazing facility. We also heard we had five choir students. Speaker 1 All state, all state. Speaker 3 And we just received a list. We have 31 students. 31? Speaker 1 That's right. That's the longest list I've ever seen. Speaker 3 In. Speaker 1 All my years here. Speaker 3 For national recognition. So, yeah, Hispanic, African American. And this year they did have like first time, first generation recognition. So cool. Yeah. We'll be honoring lots of kids in February at the board meeting, even some some Westwood super breeders. Right. We're excited. Yes. We always have lots of things to to celebrate here for sure. It's just the fact it's trying to get them all in. Speaker 1 I know. Speaker 4 Yeah. Speaker 3 I know. It's a good problem to have it. Speaker 1 Problem to have. Speaker 3 Well, thank you. Speaker 1 Yes. Speaker 3 Coming on. Yeah. Speaker 1 Good, good. Speaker 4 Good evening, everyone. On to spring update. Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, that's right. Speaker 3 That's right. And we'll keep you we'll keep you posted for sure. Yeah. Our next week in without a look like but any questions regarding anything we talked about it's open line of communication Always go to email or we have a lets chat feature on our website that will direct you to the right person. So. Speaker 1 And that's anything. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 1 Even stuff we haven't talked about today. Please, please go to your campus principal or if not, go there and we can get can get you what you need. Speaker 3 Absolutely. Wolf, thank you so much for your time. And ladies, have a great semester. All right.