COLLEGE STATION INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD WORKSHOP

October 18, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.

Administration Conference Room

A. CALL TO ORDER

President Valerie Jochen called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. and declared a quorum was present with six members present.

B. DECLARATION OF QUORUM

In attendance were President Valerie Jochen, Vice President Paul Dorsett, Secretary Jeff Harris, Trustees Randall Pitcock, Carol Barrett, and Kimberly McAdams. Trustee Garland Watson arrived at 5:08 p.m.

C. WORKSHOP SESSION

C-1. Consideration, discussion and possible action related to board communications with campuses

Superintendent Eddie Coulson recognized Director for Communication Chuck Glenewinkel. The next school site to be visited is Forest Ridge Elementary on November 8, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. Vice President Paul Dorsett will represent the Board.

C-2. Consideration, discussion and possible action regarding possible litigation related to school finance

Superintendent Eddie Coulson reported that there has been one lawsuit filed so far against the State of Texas regarding the school finance system and there are two more lawsuits anticipated. The board discussed the merits of the lawsuits and whether or not the district should join one of them.

The Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition was the first to file and is suing on the grounds that the funding system is not equitable because some districts receive more money per student than others.

A separate suit is expected to be filed by Thompson & Horton, LLP and it claims the current funding system does not meet the standards of the Texas Constitution in three ways. 1) With increases enrollment and more stringent standards being placed on districts, the funding from the state is inadequate; 2) the current taxing system is a de facto statewide property tax, since most school districts do not have “meaningful discretion” over their own taxes; and 3) the current per-student funding system is arbitrary and can not be explained – therefore, it is not efficient or suitable according to the Texas Constitution.

It is also expected that the Texas School Coalition will file a suit similar to the Thompson & Horton suit, claiming the current funding for Texas school districts is inadequate and includes a statewide property tax.

C-3. Consideration, discussion and possible action related to the TASA/TASB Conference

Brief discussion regarding the TASA/TASB conference occurred.

C-4. Consideration, discussion and possible action related to maintaining district unity while moving to two comprehensive high schools

President Valerie Jochen led a brief discussion related to highlighting the “good” things that CSISD is doing. Discussion occurred related to being intentional about stressing the fact that all of the schools in CSISD make up the district and retain CSISD common core values.

C-5. Consideration, discussion and possible action related to the City of College Station and CSISD partnership regarding Kids Klub

Superintendent Eddie Coulson reported that the partnership with the City of College Station related to Kids Klub should remain the same.

C-6. Consideration, discussion and possible action related to the high school student transfer process

Superintendent Coulson recognized Deputy Superintendent Greg McIntyre who gave a presentation about transfer guidelines regarding the district’s move to two comprehensive high schools in 2012-2013. Information pertaining to this topic can be found at www.csisd.org.

President Jochen recessed the workshop at 6:45 p.m., planning to resume the workshop at the conclusion of the regular board meeting.

President Jochen called the workshop back into order and resumed the meeting at 7:40 p.m.

C-7. Consideration, discussion and possible action related to End of Course Exams policies and procedures

C-8. Consideration, discussion and possible action related to the 2012-2013 Calendar

Superintendent Coulson recognized Deputy Superintendent Clark Ealy who presented the Board with four calendar options for the 2012-2013 school year and outlined the process for selecting next year’s school calendar. The Districtwide Educational Improvement Council (DEIC) will get feedback from the community prior to its November meeting in order to develop options on which the community will provide more feedback via the website from mid-November to early January. The feedback will be used to develop a recommendation of a 2012-2013 calendar. The Board is expected to consider the school calendar during the January 2012 board meeting.

D. ADJOURNMENT

Without objection, President Jochen adjourned the workshop at 8:22 p.m.

VALERIE JOCHEN JEFF HARRIS

PRESIDENT SECRETARY