[00:00:03]
[Call to Order]
WE CAN GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.MY NAME IS ALLISON ALTER, AND WE ARE AT CITY HALL FOR THE JOINT, UM, SUBCOMMITTEE OF A ISD AND THE COUNTY AND THE CITY.
[I. Public Comment]
WITH PUBLIC COMMENT, AND WE HAVE ONE SPEAKER, UM, FELICITY MAXWELL, WHO'S HERE TO SPEAK ABOUT ITEM SIX.WELCOME, UH, GOOD MORNING COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND ESTEEMED GUESTS.
I'M A TRAVIS COUNTY RESIDENT LIVING IN AUSTIN, CITY OF AUSTIN, DISTRICT FIVE, AND A PROUD A ISD PARENT.
I'M DELIGHTED TO BE HERE TODAY TO SPEAK WITH YOU ALL AS YOU COME TOGETHER TO ADDRESS THE CRITICAL ISSUES FACING OUR COMMUNITY.
AND OF COURSE, THE MOST CHALLENGING ISSUE FACING AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY RIGHT NOW IS THE FINANCIAL WELLBEING OF OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS, SPECIFICALLY AUSTIN, A ISD.
AS YOU HEARD IN THE PRO, OR AS YOU WILL HEAR IN THE PRESENTATION REGARDING AUSTIN ISD PROPOSAL.
OUR SCHOOLS ARE FACING TREMENDOUS FINANCIAL HARDSHIP WHILE SUPPORT AND PASSAGE OF PROP A IN NOVEMBER WILL HELP TO ADDRESS PART OF THAT PROBLEM.
WE KNOW THAT BECAUSE OF POLITICS AND INACTION AT THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE, SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE WIDER BUDGET SHORTFALLS THAT CANNOT BE ALLEVIATED THROUGH SIMPLE TAX INCREASES TO HELP WORK THROUGH THESE COMPLEX ISSUES.
AUSTIN, ISD HAS CREATED AN AD HOC BUDGET COMMITTEE BRINGING TOGETHER PARENTS, TEACHERS, STAFF, ADMINISTRATION, AND COMMUNITY LEADERS TO CAREFULLY EXAMINE HOW AUSTIN ISD BUDGET, HOW THE AUSTIN ISD BUDGET, HOW, HOW THE US BISD BUDGET WORKS, AND WHERE IF POSSIBLE REDUCTIONS CAN BE MADE.
I'M PROUD TO BE A MEMBER OF THIS COMMITTEE AND APPRECIATE THE HARD WORK AND DEDICATION OF EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS, BUT I HAVE SOME BAD NEWS.
THE CUTS NEEDED TO KEEP OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT WANTING OUR EXTREME AND THE OPTIONS AS TO WHERE TO MAKE THOSE CUTS ARE LIMITED.
SPECIFICALLY, WE HAVE HEARD THAT MAKING CUTS TO CLASSROOM LEARNING, SUPPORT, STAFFING, AND CRITICAL SUPPORT, STUDENT SUPPORT SHOULD BE A LAST RESORT AS A PARENT OF TWO A ISD STUDENTS.
IN AUSTIN, WE VALUE STRONG PUBLIC EDUCATION, AND THAT INCLUDES THINGS LIKE WELL STOCKED SCHOOL, LIBRARIES WITH PROFESSIONAL LIBRARIANS, ONSITE NURSES AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS FOR OUR CAMPUSES AND EDUCATIONAL SUPE SPECIALISTS WHO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL LEARNING SUPPORTS.
I KNOW YOU AS ELECTED OFFICIALS, SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEES, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, COUNCIL AND COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES.
YOU SHARE THESE AUSTIN VALUES AND WANT TO SEE OUR K THROUGH 12 POPULATION THRIVE, WHICH MEANS WE NEED YOUR HELP.
WE KNOW THAT A ISD CITY OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY HAVE A STRONG PARTNERSHIP IN THIS TIME OF GREAT NEED.
WE ARE ASKING OUR CITY AND COUNTY FRIENDS TO DO MORE, TO DO AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL SUPPORTS ACROSS A VARIETY OF PROGRAMS AND AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE APPRECIATE COUNCIL MEMBER VELAZQUEZ AND HIS ONGOING CHAMPION OF THE PARENT SUPPORT SPECIALISTS AND THE CRITICAL ROLE THEY PLAY IN OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITIES.
LIKEWISE, WE'RE EXCITED TO SEE TRAVIS COUNTY'S EXPANDED EFFORTS AROUND CHILDCARE AND THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES.
IT OPENS UP FOR OUR ZERO TO THREE FAMILIES, BUT I'M ASKING, I'M HERE TO ASK YOU ALL TO DO EVEN MORE TO TAKE ON ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES WHERE POSSIBLE AND, AND PARTICULARLY WHERE A ISD HAS BEEN ON THE FRONT LINE OF OUR SHARED COMMUNITIES.
WE ARE ASKING FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR OUR N NURSING AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ON CAMPUS WHO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL FRONTLINE CARE TO STUDENTS AND FAMILIES FOR OUR NEW TO AUSTIN IMMIGRANT FAMILIES, WHO OFTEN TURN TO THE DISTRICT TO HELP THEM NAVIGATE A MYRIAD OF CITY AND COUNTY LOGISTICS AS THEY SETTLE INTO OUR COMMUNITIES WITH THEIR SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN.
THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTNERSHIP ARE MANY, AND WE HOPE TO HAVE SOON HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE LIST FINANCIAL OPPORTUNITIES TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL AS OUR COUNTY AND CITY REPRESENTATIVES.
IN THE MEANTIME, I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH THE WISE WORDS FROM OUR SUPERINTENDENT RA STRONGER SCHOOLS, MAKE FOR A STRONGER AUSTIN.
UM, WERE THERE ANY OTHER SPEAKERS? JUST THE ONE.
[II. Approval of Minutes]
UM, SO WE WILL NOW MOVE TO ITEM NUMBER TWO, APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE JUNE 10TH MEETING.DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES? SO MOVED.
MOVED BY COMMISSIONER TAVIL, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN AL ALTER.
IF THERE ARE NO OBJECTIONS, WE WILL APPROVE THE MINUTES.
[III. Introduction to the Austin City Manager]
NEXT ITEM, I AM PLEASED TO INTRODUCE YOU TO OUR NEW CITY MANAGER, TC BROAD.NEXT, STARTED WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN MAY OF THIS YEAR, BRINGING MORE THAN 30 YEARS OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE WITH HIM.
HE SERVED AS AN ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER IN BOTH POMPANO BEACH, FLORIDA AND SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS WAS THE CITY MANAGER OF TACOMA, WASHINGTON FOR FIVE YEARS, AND MOST RECENTLY THE CITY MANAGER OF DALLAS, TEXAS FOR SEVEN YEARS.
HE'S HERE TODAY TO INTRODUCE HIMSELF TO THIS COMMITTEE AND ALLOW US THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET TO KNOW HIM.
UM, WE'RE VERY LUCKY HERE AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO HAVE MR. BROAD BE OUR OUR NEW CITY MANAGER.
AND I WILL NOW TURN IT OVER TO CITY MANAGER PRODUCTS.
THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN ALTER, AND GOOD MORNING.
I THINK TO EVERYONE HERE, I JUST APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE A PART OF AND SIT AND LISTEN, UH, FOR
[00:05:01]
A FEW MINUTES, UH, TO THE DIALOGUE AND THE ISSUES I THINK THAT CROSS ALL OF OUR JURISDICTIONS, UH, AND OUR ORGANIZATIONS.AND I THINK PARTNERSHIPS LIKE THIS AND THIS, UH, SUBCOMMITTEE, UH, I THINK ARE IMPORTANT, UH, TO ENSURING THAT NOT JUST THE ELECTED OFFICIALS, UH, THAT ARE REPRESENTED TODAY, BUT ALSO THE STAFF THAT SUPPORT THEM ARE WORKING ACROSS ORGANIZATIONS TO DO THINGS, UH, FOR AND THE BENEFIT OF THE FOLK, UH, THAT WE JOINTLY SERVE.
AND SO, AGAIN, I'M JUST, UH, GLAD TO BE THE CITY MANAGER HERE, LOOKING FORWARD TO CONTINUE, UH, LEARNING AND PARTNERSHIP, UH, WITH NOT JUST THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, UH, BUT ALSO THE COUNTY AS WELL AS CONTINUE, UH, TO WORK WITH OUR CITY COUNCIL TO SUPPORT ALL THE EFFORTS THAT CROSS OUR JURISDICTION.
SO THANK YOU AND THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME THIS MORNING.
CITY MANAGER, WHY DON'T, UM, WE HAVE THE MEMBERS OF OUR COMMITTEE WHO ARE NOT ON THE CITY COUNCIL, UH, JUST TAKE A MINUTE TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES AND IF YOU WANNA SAY ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR TO CITY MANAGER, FEEL FREE TO DO THAT.
HELLO, NICE TO MEET YOU AGAIN.
I, WE MET VERY BRIEFLY WHEN YOU FIRST CAME ON BOARD, BUT I'M ARTIE SINGH.
I'M THE, I'M THE BOARD PRESIDENT FOR AUSTIN, ISD.
AND I REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING WORKING WITH YOU AND YOUR TEAM, UH, AS WE CONTINUE TO MAKE AUSTIN AN AMAZING PLACE FOR OUR KIDS AND FOR OUR FAMILIES.
UM, SO WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO NEXT? OH, SURE.
I AM A ISD DISTRICT TWO TRUSTEE.
I TOO LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU, EVEN THOUGH THIS IS MY LAST TERM.
I'M GONNA TURN OFF THE, HI, MY NAME IS NOLITA LUGO.
I AM, UH, THE PLACE EIGHT, UH, AT ONE OF THE OTHER, AT LARGE TRUSTEES WITH AUSTIN ISD.
I'M ALSO IN MY FINAL TERM, UM, BUT, UH, THANKFULLY STILL FIND WAYS TO BE ENGAGED.
SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO ALL THE GREAT WORK THAT THIS SUBCOMMITTEE WILL CONTINUE TO DO, AND OF COURSE, THE COLLABORATION.
AND I JUST WANTED TO APPRECIATE THE, UM, PUBLIC COMMENT FROM EARLIER.
I AM, UM, THE COUNTY COMMISSIONER OF, UH, PRECINCT ONE, WHICH IS THE NORTHEASTERN QUADRANT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, WHICH AS, AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW, HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN UNDERSERVED.
SO I LOOK FORWARD TO, UM, TO WORKING WITH YOU.
UH, WE ARE, UH, PROUD OF THE WORK THAT YOU'VE DONE AND ARE LOOKING FORWARD, UH, TO THE WORK THAT WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO AS A COMMUNITY.
SO, UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR, UH, FOR YOUR COMMITMENT TO THE AREA, AND IF WE CAN BE HELPFUL IN ANY WAY, UH, OUR DOORS WILL ALWAYS BE OPEN TO YOU.
AND THEN, UM, OUR NON-CITY STAFF WHO SUPPORT OUR COMMITTEE, IF YOU WANNA INTRODUCE YOURSELVES AS WELL, THAT'D BE GREAT.
UH, HELLO CITY MANAGER,
I'M THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE OVER HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
UH, WE, WE MET BEFORE
WOULD THAT BE YOU? AUSTIN ISD.
AND THEN, UM, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, WE HAVE, UH, COMMISSIONER BRIDGED SAY, DID YOU WANNA JUST SAY ANYTHING TO, TO CITY MANAGER BROAD NEXT BEFORE WE MOVE ON? YEAH, NICE TO RE-MEET YOU.
I WAS AT THE MEET AND GREET IN THE, THAT ONE, THE CHAMBERS.
I THINK YOU NEED TO PUSH IT ON BRIDGET, TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER PRECINCT TOO.
UM, YOU'RE WELCOME TO JOIN US FOR HOWEVER LONG YOU'RE, YOU'RE ABLE AND GRAB A, GRAB AN EXTRA LUNCH ON YOUR, ON YOUR WAY OUT.
UH, WE APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE.
UM, THIS JOINT SUBCOMMITTEE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US, UM, AS MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL, THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT, AND THE TRUSTEES, UM, TO COME TOGETHER TO LEARN ABOUT WHAT EACH OTHER'S DOING TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
UM, THE WORK WITH THE CHILDCARE INITIATIVE COMES OUT OF, UM, WORK THAT WE'VE DONE, UM, IN THIS SUBCOMMITTEE IN THE PAST.
THEY'VE DONE SOME WORK, UM, ON HOUSING.
WE'RE LOOKING ALSO AT SOME MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.
UM, AND, AND JUST GENERALLY BEING ABLE TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER AS WE GO INTO THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION AND TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE AWARENESS WHEN THERE ARE CHALLENGES SUCH AS WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT TODAY, UM, THAT I-S-D-A-I-D IS FACING, UM, WITH RESPECT TO THE STATE.
SO WE HAVE A PLACE, UM, TO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
SO, UM, IF THERE ARE NO FURTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR THE CITY MANAGER OR COLLEAGUES, DID ANY
[00:10:01]
OF YOU WANNA ADD ANYTHING? JUST SUPER BRIEF, IF I MAY, SINCE I IMAGINE, I KNOW THE CITY MANAGER'S BUSY.DUNNO IF YOU'LL BE HERE FOR ITEM NUMBER SIX, THE BUDGET FOR A ISD, BUT, UH, JUST KIND OF ECHOING THE COMMENTS THAT WERE MADE, UH, BY THE SPEAKER.
YOU KNOW, I THINK WE ARE, I KNOW WE AS A COMMUNITY ARE FACING A REAL CHALLENGE WITH THE LARGEST SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THIS AREA.
EVEN IF PROP A DOES GO FORWARD, THERE WILL STILL BE SHORTFALLS AND, AND REALLY HARD DECISIONS THAT WILL HAVE TO BE MADE.
AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE AS A CITY ARE OFTEN, UM, WE GET ASKED TO DO A LOT OF THINGS THAT AREN'T NECESSARILY IN, IN THE CITY PORTFOLIO, BUT, UH, THAT IS NOT UNIQUE TO US.
I KNOW THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE ALSO ASKED TO BE PUBLIC HEALTH PROVIDERS ASKED TO, UH, STEP INTO A LOT OF ROLES AFTER SCHOOL AND, AND EVEN BE EMERGENCY SHELTERS THAT, UM, I THINK WE CAN, AS A CITY POTENTIALLY BETTER WORK WITH THE DISTRICT AND IDENTIFY AREAS WHERE WE MIGHT, UH, CO WORK WORK BETTER TOGETHER AND, AND POTENTIALLY CO-FUND THINGS OR JUST, UM, BE ABLE TO EXPLORE OVER THE NEXT, I THINK YEAR OR SO, HOW WE MIGHT TAKE THAT RELATIONSHIP ONE STEP FURTHER AND REALLY WORK WITH THE DISTRICT TO IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES, WHETHER IT'S FROM A TAXING SCHEME OR WHATNOT, TO REALLY MAKE IT SO THAT WE ARE SUPPORTING EACH OTHER AND, AND ULTIMATELY SUPPORTING THE KIDS.
I'M LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE TWO KIDS IN A ID AS WELL.
SO THIS IS NEAR AND DEAR, AND I KNOW THAT KIDS ARE A BIG PRIORITY OF YOURS.
AND, AND SO JUST, UM, WANNA HIGHLIGHT THAT BEFORE WE CONTINUE ON AND, AND I THINK IT'S GONNA BE A LONG TERM DISCUSSION, BUT, UM, THE ISD NEEDS OUR HELP A LITTLE BIT RIGHT NOW, SO WE WANNA BE HERE.
UH, JUST TO SPEAK TO THAT FOR A MOMENT, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THE CITY AND THE COUNTY, UH, HAVE BEEN DOING THINGS, UH, HISTORICALLY, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE FUND PROGRAMS LIKE, UH, HAVING COUNSELORS, UH, IN NOT ONLY COUNSELORS IN THE SCHOOLS, BUT OUTREACH SPECIALISTS AS WELL.
UH, WE HAVE A SUPER MAJORITY OVER AT THE, AT THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE.
UH, THEY ARE HOLDING OUR TEACHERS HOSTAGE, UH, FOR A VOUCHERS BILL, WHICH IS ILL-CONCEIVED.
UH, FIRST ONE WAS PUT TOGETHER IN 1957 RIGHT AFTER BROWN VERSUS THE BOARD.
DOESN'T SURPRISE ME THAT THIS LEGISLATURE HAS COME WITH THE SAME THING.
UH, WE NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT FOCUSING ON AND PREPARING FOR AN EDGE, EDGEWOOD VERSUS KIRBY LAWSUIT.
THAT'S, UH, EVEN IN A HOSTILE, UH, IN A HOSTILE, UH, JUDICIAL ENVIRONMENT.
WE NEED TO LAY OUT WHAT OUR ISSUES ARE BECAUSE THERE'S NO WAY WE'LL BE ABLE TO PIECEMEAL WHAT OUR KIDS NEED.
AND WE NEED TO, AND WE NEED TO, UH, TO WRAP OUR, OUR RESOURCES AROUND HOW WE TAKE A, A LEGISLATURE THAT DOES NOT ADEQUATELY FUND PUBLIC EDUCATION TO COURT, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY NEED.
I WAS ACTUALLY JUST GONNA SAY THE SAME THING THAT, UM, WE, WE DO NEED TO REALLY THINK ABOUT, UM, COLLECTIVELY FINDING AN APPROPRIATE MECHANISM FOR TAKING, UM, THE STATE TO COURT.
AUSTIN IS SENDING OVER $800 MILLION TO THE STATE TO FUND SCHOOLS ELSEWHERE.
EVEN, YOU KNOW, IF PROP A, UM, PASSES, THERE WILL BE A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF IT THAT IS JUST GOING BACK TO THE STATE.
UM, AND THAT'S NOT MEETING THE NEEDS IN OUR, IT'S, IT'S UNACCEPTABLE.
AND I THINK THAT, UM, IT, IT IS HIGH TIME THAT WE THINK ABOUT A LEGAL STRATEGY, UM, THAT DOES INVOLVE THE COURTS TO ADDRESS, UM, THE NEEDS.
AND, AND THAT MAY HAVE TO HAPPEN, UM, YOU KNOW, THROUGH SOME CONCERTED, SOME CONCERTED EFFORT BECAUSE IT'S JUST SIMPLY UNACCEPTABLE.
SO I, I AM ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH AS YOU PRESENCING, AND WE WILL ALSO BE TALKING ABOUT THE BUDGET LATER.
UM, I SO APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT THAT OUR COLLEAGUES HAVE SHARED FOR OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT.
AND, UM, I JUST WANTED TO PROPOSE FOR US TO THINK ABOUT MAYBE FORMING A LITTLE COMMITTEE, UM, WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM ALL THREE ENTITIES TO REALLY DEEP DIVE INTO THE BUDGET AND REALLY EXPLORE WAYS THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO THINK LONG TERM, LIKE OVER THE NEXT ONE TO FIVE TO 10 YEARS ABOUT HOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO BETTER, UM, SUPPORT EACH OTHER FINANCIALLY IF THERE'S INTERESTING.
UM, I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA, BUT LET'S TAKE UP WHEN WE GET TO THE BUDGET ITEMS SO THAT WE ARE, UM, ON TRACK WITH THE, WITH THE AGENDA.
SO, UM, WITH THAT, IF THERE ARE NO MORE COMMENTS, UM, WE WILL MOVE
[IV. Childcare discussion]
[00:15:01]
TO THE CHILDCARE DISCUSSION, WHICH WILL LIKELY BE BRIEF.UM, WE RECEIVED A WRITTEN REPORT FROM THE COUNTY, UM, ABOUT THE TAX RATE ELECTION AND PROPOSITION A, THE TRAVIS COUNTY CARES INITIATIVE.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF EITHER COMMISSIONER WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK BRIEFLY, UM, TO PROPOSITION A AND THEN I'LL SHARE SOME UPDATES FROM THE CITY ON OTHER INITIATIVES BEING STUCK UP.
AND I MEAN, BRIEFLY, LIKE WE GAVE YOU BRIEF FIVE MINUTES.
THAT'S WHY I, THAT'S, THAT'S WHY I, SO, UM, WELL, UM, I'LL SAY THAT, UH, THE, UH, COMMISSIONER'S COURT, UH, HAS PLACED ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT.
UM, THE, UH, THE ITEM, UH, WHICH IF IT PASSES, WILL, UH, WILL ADD TWO AND A HALF CENTS, UH, TO THE, UH, TAX RATE TO PROVIDE, UH, NOT ONLY ZERO THROUGH THREE, UM, THROUGH AGE THREE CHILDCARE, BUT CHILDCARE, UH, THROUGH, UH, K THROUGH 12.
BECAUSE WE THINK THAT PARTICULARLY WITH FAMILIES WHO ARE SUFFERING, UH, WITH POVERTY, SUFFERING IN POVERTY, IT'S IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE NOT ONLY, UH, APPROPRIATE LEARNING CARE, BUT ADEQUATE JOB PREPARATION AS WELL.
UH, SO, UH, WE HAVE PUT THE MATERIALS TOGETHER TO EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY ABOUT WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO, AND, UH, WE STAND READY TO DISCUSS THOSE ITEMS AND WORK WITH, UH, WORK WITH THIS TEAM, UH, AS MUCH AND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
MADAM CHAIR, THAT WAS THE PRES PRESBYTERIAN VERSION.
UM, MADAM CHAIR, I ALSO JUST WANNA, UM, CHIME IN.
UM, WHILE THE, THE COUNTY HAS PUT THE ITEM ON THE BALLOT, I THINK IT'S REALLY CRITICAL TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE ENORMOUS WORK OF, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, UM, UH, LIBBY DOGGETT AND ALSO KATHY HOR, UM, FROM UNITED WAY, THEY AND A GROUP OF OTHERS HAVE DONE THE BULK OF THE WORK TO PREPARE THIS BALLOT ITEM FOR THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.
UM, I THINK IT WILL BE A TRANSFORMATIVE INVESTMENT, UM, THAT WILL, UH, PROFOUNDLY IMPROVE THE FUTURE COURSE OF, OF LIFE FOR THOUSANDS OF, OF CHILDREN.
SO I THINK THIS IS A, A HUGE STEP WE'RE TAKING.
UM, AND I'M, I'M ENTHUSIASTICALLY IN SUPPORTIVE, BUT I REALLY WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THE ENORMOUS WORK THAT YOU DID AND BROUGHT IT TO US.
THIS IS, UM, SOMETHING THAT WE'RE REALLY SEEING IN THE COMMUNITY IS SOMETHING THAT'S NEEDED.
UM, BUT I, YOU KNOW, I DO WANNA JUST HARKEN US BACK TO BACK IN COD, UM, WHEN WE WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DEAL WITH A CHILDCARE SYSTEM THAT WAS IMPLODING.
YOU KNOW, THIS COMMITTEE CREATED A CHILDCARE SUBCOMMITTEE AND WE HAD THE CONVERSATIONS THAT EACH OF US IN OUR OWN LANES, BUT WORKING TOGETHER, UM, AND THE CITY PUT IN $11 MILLION OF, OF COVID RELIEF MONEY.
UM, AND THE COUNTY PUT A CHUNK OF MONEY AND THE WORK THAT CAME OUT OF THOSE INVESTMENTS AND THOSE CONVERSATIONS IS WHAT IS UNDERLYING, UM, THIS INITIATIVE.
AND SO I THINK IT'S A REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW WE, THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE HAVE IN THIS SPACE CAN LEAD TO BIG CHANGES THAT REALLY BETTER ADDRESS OUR NEEDS.
AND I THINK THERE'LL BE A SUBSEQUENT, UM, ASSUMING PASSAGE OF PROP A.
THERE WILL BE A SUBSEQUENT SET OF CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HOW WE LEVERAGE ALL OF OUR RESOURCES TOGETHER WITH THE RESOURCES FROM PROP A, WHETHER IT'S SPACE OR, OR OPPORTUNITIES, UM, YOU KNOW, TO HOST CHILDCARE CENTERS, ET CETERA, WHERE WE CAN HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
AND SO I WON'T BE ON THIS COMMITTEE COME JANUARY WHEN THAT CONVERSATION WILL HAPPEN.
SO, UM, I HOPE THAT THAT, YOU KNOW, IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO MAKE, UM, THIS BE A PART OF HERE.
UM, WE WANTED TO ALSO UPDATE YOU ON SOME THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING AT THE CITY, UM, TO, TO HELP SUPPORT OUR CHILDCARE, UM, UM, BUSINESSES.
UM, SO AS YOU ALL KNOW, EARLIER THIS YEAR, THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY PROVIDED A HUNDRED PERCENT PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENT TO QUALIFYING CHILDCARE CENTERS FOLLOWING ADOPTION OF PROPOSITION TWO.
UH, WE'VE HAD AT LEAST 23 CENTERS QUALIFY.
UH, WE HAVE THREE MORE WHO ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING QUALIFIED AND THREE THAT WERE NOT, UM, ABLE TO MEET THE, THE, UM, THE BAR FOR THAT.
UM, SO THOSE 23 CENTERS, AT MINIMUM ARE GONNA BE, UM, RECEIVING SOME SIGNIFICANT TAX PROPERTY RELIEF FOR THEM.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE SAW RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING WAS THAT THE ENABLING STATE LEGISLATION DID NOT ALLOW MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES TO PROVIDE THIS TYPE OF PROPERTY TAX RELIEF TO HOME-BASED PROVIDERS.
UM, WHICH IS A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE CHILDCARE PROVIDERS IN, IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, SO THAT, TO THAT END, I DIRECTED THE CITY MANAGER.
WHEN WE ADOPTED, WHEN WE, WE PROVIDED DIRECTION FOR PROP TWO, WE ASKED THE CITY MANAGER TO CRAFT A PROGRAM THAT WOULD PROVIDE TAX RELIEF TO HOME-BASED PROVIDERS AS THEY TYPICALLY PROVIDE THAT CRITICAL SUPPORT IN OUR COMMUNITY.
THE CITY, I WANT YOU TO KNOW, AS A PARTICIPANT IN A GRANT CALLED HOMEGROWN, WHICH
[00:20:01]
IS MEANT TO SUPPORT HOME-BASED PROVIDERS.UM, THAT DESIGN FOR THAT GRANT WAS COMPLETED IN FISCAL YEAR 24 BY AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
AND AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH RECEIVED $25,000 IN GRANT AWARDS.
THE FISCAL YEAR 25 BUDGET THAT WE JUST APPROVED IN AUGUST CONCLUDES $150,000 TO THIS END, $75,000 IN GRANT FUNDS, AND 75,000 IN CITY FUNDING TO IMPLEMENT, UM, THE GRANT PROGRAM.
UM, THIS IS A PROGRAM THAT'S GONNA ALLOW HOME-BASED PROVIDERS TO PROVIDE, TO APPLY FOR PROPERTY TAX RELIEF.
UM, AND IF TRAVIS COUNTY IS INTERESTED IN IMPLEMENTING SOMETHING SIMILAR, WE CAN PUT YOU IN TOUCH WITH OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, UM, WITH DIRECTOR HOLT ROBB AND CYNTHIA GAMMET TO, TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THOSE DETAILS.
UM, ONCE THAT GRANT, UM, CONCLUDES WE INTEND TO POPULATE THAT FUND WITH REVENUE WE RECEIVED, UM, WE RECEIVED THROUGH OUR ECONOMIC INCENTIVE PROGRAM, WE ARE ESTABLISHING THE CITY'S BUSINESS EXPANSION PROGRAM GUIDELINES.
AND THAT IS GONNA GIVE HIGH PRIORITY, UM, CONSIDERATION FOR BENEFITS THAT OUR COMMUNITY BENEFITS SUCH AS CHILDCARE.
UM, AND SO ALL OF THE REVENUE, 10% OF THAT NEW ELIGIBLE PROPERTY TAX REVENUE THAT'S GONNA COME THROUGH THAT PROGRAM IS GONNA BE DEDICATED TOWARDS A CHILDCARE ASSISTANCE RESERVE.
AND THAT IS GONNA BE UTILIZED FOR THESE HOME-BASED CHILDCARE PROPERTY TAX RELIEF AT MINIMUM.
THERE MAY BE MORE FUNDING FOR THAT.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE ESTABLISHED A NEW PLACE-BASED ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM, UM, THAT WE INTEND TO OFFER PROPERTY TAX BASEMENTS TO OTHER HIGH QUALITY CHILDCARE PROVIDERS THAT DON'T MEET THE STATE'S ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA, BUT DO PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY CHILDCARE.
UM, AND THERE'S THE VARIOUS QUALIFICATIONS FOR THAT.
UM, WE'VE ALSO BEEN LOOKING AT THE FEES THAT OUR CHILDCARE CENTERS ARE FACING.
UM, SO TO THAT END, THE COUNCIL ALSO PROVED MY PROPOSAL TO WAIVE STREET IMPACT FEES, UH, FOR CHILDCARE CENTERS.
UH, WE KNOW THE MARGINS FOR THESE BUSINESSES ARE SLIM, BUT THEIR IMPACT IS HUGE.
UM, AND SO THAT STREET IMPACT FEE IS NO LONGER GONNA BE A BURDEN FOR THOSE, UM, THAT MONEY WILL BE SAVED AND THOSE PROVIDERS WILL BE ABLE TO STRENGTHEN THEIR PROGRAMS AND EXPAND THEIR BUSINESSES.
AND LASTLY, UM, WE HAVE PROGRAMS FOR OUR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES.
AND I WANNA RECOGNIZE, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER OF ALASKA'S WORK, UM, DURING THE LAST BUDGET, UM, WHERE HE PROVIDED DIRECTION THAT THE CITY EXPAND ELIGIBILITY AND INCREASED CONTRIBUTIONS FOR OUR CHILDCARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR CITY EMPLOYEES, THAT CHANGE HAS LED TO A 30% INCREASE IN PROGRAM PARTICIPATION.
UM, WE'D LOVE TO SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, A ISD AND TRAVIS COUNTY CONSIDER SOMETHING SIMILAR IF THEY'RE ABLE TO, TO CHANGE THEIR ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.
WE FOUND THAT THAT MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE.
SO I APPRECIATE THE CHANCE TO HIGHLIGHT THESE THINGS.
I DON'T KNOW, COUNCIL MEMBER VELASQUEZ, IF YOU WANNA ADD ANYTHING OR COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER, CAN THE DETAILS OF THAT BE SHARED WITH US WITH THE COMMITTEE? SURE.
UM, STEPHANIE, CAN YOU MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THAT INFORMATION? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
WOULD YOU ALSO LIKE THE INFORMATION ON THE, UM, HOME-BASED PROVIDERS AS WELL? UH, YES, ACTUALLY, BUT WE DID PASS THE, UM, WE DID PASS THE PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENT AS WELL.
BUT YEAH, ANY OF THE ACCOMMODATIONS YOU'VE MADE BEYOND THAT? YEAH, SO THE, THE CHALLENGE IS THAT THE PROP TWO TAX ABATEMENT DOESN'T APPLY TO HOME-BASED PROVIDERS BECAUSE THEY DON'T MEET THE ELIGIBILITIES.
AND SO WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A DIFFERENT WAY TO MEET, TO MEET THEIR NEEDS, UM, 'CAUSE THEY'RE OPERATING OUT OF THEIR HOMES.
[V. Receive and Discuss Written Reports]
WE, OUR NEXT ITEM ARE SOME SORT OF STANDING WRITTEN REPORTS OR, OR JUST WRITTEN REPORTS THAT WE'VE RECEIVED.UM, THE FIRST ONE'S ON RESILIENCE HUBS AND THE SECOND ONE IS ON THE, THE A ISD PROP, A VOTER APPROVED TAX RATE ELECTION.
UM, WE RECEIVED WRITTEN REPORTS FOR BOTH OF THOSE.
I'LL START WITH THE RESILIENCE HUBS, WHICH WILL BE MOVING TO A RESILIENCE NETWORK MODEL.
UM, I THINK WE HAVE FOLKS HERE FROM, WE HAVE MR. WILSON FROM HESSA.
I THOUGHT I SAW HIM BACK THERE.
UM, SO, SO, SO ZACH AND BILL ARE HERE IF PEOPLE HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT BACKUP.
UM, THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN NURTURING HERE, UM, IN THIS BODY.
UM, YOU KNOW, TO MAKE SURE THAT COMMUNICATION IS HAPPENING, HAPPENING ACROSS ENTITIES.
UM, BUT THEY DID PROVIDE A WRITTEN REPORT THAT TALKS ABOUT HOW WE'RE GOING TO BE TRANSITIONING TO A RESILIENCE NETWORK MODEL THAT WILL BUILD ON THE HUBS, UM, BUT ALLOW US TO, UM, BETTER MEET THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY IN A MORE FLEXIBLE MANNER WITH LEADERSHIP TRANSITIONING, UM, TO HE SSO, WHICH NOW WE HAVE, UM, FUNDED STAFF ATD, HE SSO, WHO ARE DOING OUR MASS COMMUNITY CARE PROGRAMS, ET CETERA.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS ON THAT.
COMMISSIONER MAD CHAIR? YEAH, I DO.
UM, EVEN THOUGH IT'S BRIEF, I DID NOT READ THE BACKUP.
SO, UM, ZACH OR, UH, WHOEVER ELSE IS HERE, IF YOU COULD JUST GIVE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF WHAT THIS WILL LOOK LIKE, TRANSITIONING FROM THE HUBS TO THE NETWORK AND ANY KIND OF PRACTICAL DESCRIPTIONS, UM, WOULD BE HELPFUL.
[00:25:02]
GOOD MORNING.BILL WILSON AND I'M DIRECTOR OF AUSTIN HESO.
SO WE LEARNED A LOT OF LESSONS FROM HAVING OUR PILOT PROGRAM.
THE PILOT PROGRAM WAS ON THE HUBS THOUGH, WHICH WAS PHYSICAL LOCATIONS.
UH, WE REALIZED AS WE'RE MOVING FORWARD AND WE'RE HAVING MORE COMPLEX DISASTERS AND DISASTERS WITHIN DISASTERS THAT WE NEEDED, SOMETHING WOULD BE ABLE TO BETTER MEET THE COMMUNITY NEEDS AS WELL AS PROVIDE A TRANSITION BACK TO THE COMMUNITY AFTER THE CITY AND COUNTY PULL OUT OF DISASTER RESPONSE.
SO WE'RE WORKING ON CREATING PARTNERSHIPS WITH ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE IN THE COMMUNITY.
UH, WE'RE GONNA BE PULLING THEM INTO THE NETWORK, UH, TYING IN COMMUNICATION PATHWAYS SO THAT THEY CAN BE A PART OF THE DISASTER AND BE BUILT INTO DISASTER RESPONSE.
AND THAT'S GONNA ALLOW US TO HAVE MORE RESOURCES THAT WE CAN BRING TO THE COMMUNITY.
AND THEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, I THINK ON THE BACK END, WHENEVER THE CITY AND COUNTY START TO DROP BACK OUT OF DISASTER RESPONSE, WE'RE ALREADY CONNECTING THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO THE PEOPLE IN ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY THAT CAN HELP PROVIDE THEM SERVICES AS THE DISASTER'S.
ENDING KIND OF A QUICK HIGH OVERVIEW.
ZACH, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO ADD? CAN YOU JUST DESCRIBE THAT AT A PRACTICAL LEVEL? PART OF THE VISION BEHIND THE RESILIENCE HUBS WAS WHEN PEOPLE LOSE POWER, PARTICULARLY IF IT'S DURING THE WINTER, THEY CAN'T STAY WARM IN THEIR HOMES.
UH, THEY CAN'T CHARGE THEIR PHONES SO THEY CAN COMMUNICATE WITH ANYONE.
UM, SO THE VISION WITH THE RESILIENT SUBS WAS THAT PEOPLE WOULD HAVE A PLACE TO GO WHERE THEY COULD GET WARM, OR IF IT'S IN THE SUMMER, THEY COULD COOL DOWN, THEY COULD CHARGE THEIR PHONES, THEY COULD TAKE CARE OF OTHER THINGS.
SO, UM, HOW WILL THE NETWORK WORK AND ARE YOU ABANDONING THE NOTION OF RESILIENCE HUBS? THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND.
IF YOU CAN JUST DESCRIBE THE PRACTICAL WAY THAT THAT WILL OPERATE.
SO, SO FIRST, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN SPENT, UM, $3 MILLION OF ARPA FUNDING ON IMPROVING THESE SIX INITIAL PILOT RESILIENCE HUB FACILITIES.
SO THOSE SIX FACILITIES NOW ARE, THE ELECTRICAL UPGRADES HAVE BEEN DONE AT THOSE FACILITIES.
SO THEY CAN RECEIVE BACKUP POWER AND THEY HAVE BACKUP POWER NOW CONNECTED.
SO WHEN THE LIGHTS DO GO OUT, THAT'S SIX MORE FACILITIES IN THE COMMUNITY THAT THE COMMUNITY KNOWS THEY CAN GO TO.
UM, THAT THERE WILL BE MORE RESILIENCE IN TERMS OF LIKE COMMUNITY SPACES THAT CAN BE ACCESSED.
SO THOSE FACILITIES ARE STILL THERE.
AND THIS NETWORK CONCEPT BASICALLY BUILDS ON THOSE FACILITIES.
UH, AND ARE THERE MAPS THAT PEOPLE CAN LOOK AT NOW TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THE RESILIENCE HUBS ARE? SO PART OF THIS CHANGE IS ALLOWING ADDITIONAL FLEXIBILITY.
UH, WE'VE LEARNED THROUGH DISASTERS THAT SOME OF THE HUBS WE USE HAVE MULTIPLE PURPOSES.
SO SOMETIMES IT'S GONNA BE STOOD UP AS A SHELTER, SOMETIMES IT'S JUST GONNA BE A RESILIENT SUBSITE.
SO WE'LL POST LOCATIONS DURING A DISASTER SO THAT WE, THAT ALLOWS US TO ACCOUNT FOR WHATEVER THAT FACILITY'S BEING PURPOSED FOR DURING THAT DISASTER RESPONSE.
UH, I KNOW IN SOME PAST DISASTERS THERE'S BEEN INSTRUCTION, PARTICULARLY FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE UNHOUSED TO GO TO CERTAIN LOCATIONS, WHICH IS OFTEN DIFFICULT 'CAUSE THEY DON'T FREQUENTLY DON'T HAVE TRANSPORTATION.
AND WHEN PEOPLE HAVE ASKED ME WHERE CAN PEOPLE GO, I HAVE TO TELL THEM, WELL GO TO THIS INTAKE AREA.
UM, AS OPPOSED TO BEING ABLE TO IDENTIFY WHERE THE, THE HUBS ARE.
AND I REALIZE IF YOU WANNA REMAIN FLEXIBLE, YOU CAN'T SAY HERE ARE FIXED SOME FIXED LOCATIONS THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS GO TO WHEN POWER GOES OUT OR WHEN THERE'S A DISASTER.
BUT THAT PROCESS OF NOT BEING ABLE TO TELL PEOPLE UNTIL THERE'S A DISASTER, UM, HAS BEEN DIFFICULT FOR SOME FOLKS.
AND ONE OTHER THING THAT, JUST TO NOTE, IT'S KIND OF SEPARATE THAN THIS, BUT WE DO HAVE OUR WINTER WEATHER SHELTERS AND THAT ONE IS WHERE WE HAVE THE EMBARKATION POINT.
UH, DURING THAT WE WORK WITH DIFFERENT COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE, UH, THAT IT'S, THAT IS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS HAS THE, UH, OPTION TO GET THERE.
SO SOME OF THAT'S GONNA BE THROUGH FREE, FREE PASS FREE PASSES WITH CAP METRO.
SOME OF IT'S THROUGH THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH WITH ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE PARTNER WITH.
WE HAVE DIRECT MESSAGING TO ALSO LET THEM KNOW THAT THOSE FACILITIES ARE GONNA BE STOOD UP.
AND THEN OFTEN, UH, WHENEVER THE WEATHER'S GONNA BE SIGNIFICANTLY BAD, WE ALSO SET UP ADDITIONAL VAN RIDES AND DIRECT PICKUP FOR ANYONE THAT'S UNABLE TO MAKE IT TO THE EMBARKATION POINT.
I PROBABLY WASN'T CLEAR IN MY, IN MY QUESTION.
I HEAR FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO ARE NOT UNHOUSED, BUT WHOSE HOMES DON'T WORK VERY WELL WHEN THE POWER'S OUT AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE TO GO.
AND ALL I CAN TELL THEM IS TO GO TO THIS, THIS PLACE WHERE THEY'LL BE REDISTRIBUTED.
SO THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE NOT UNHOUSED, THEY JUST NEED A PLACE THAT'S GOT FUNCTIONING POWER AND HEATING OR COOLING.
NORMALLY DURING DISASTERS, WE WILL JUST PUBLISH TO MULTIPLE LOCATIONS.
UH, WE WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CAT METRO.
THAT'S WHENEVER WE DO THAT SR WITH 3 1 1, SO THAT IF ANYONE'S HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING TRANSPORTATION THERE, THEY CAN CALL 3 1 1 AND GET INFORMATION.
UH, AND THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE THE BUSES THAT WE, OR VANS THAT WE COORDINATE
[00:30:01]
TO GO PICK UP INDIVIDUALS TO TAKE THEM TO THE CLOSEST FACILITY AVAILABLE.SO IT'S, WHEN THERE'S A DISASTER, THEN THE LOCATIONS ARE PUBLISHED? YES, MA'AM.
AND, AND, AND I THINK, AND, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, COLLEAGUE, UM, UH, WHAT WE HAVE TRIED TO DO, AND CHUCK BROTHERTON I THINK IS IN THE ROOM AS WELL.
UH, WE HAVE TRIED TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S AN ASSET MAP AND THAT WE THAT, SO WE KNOW WHERE WE HAVE PLACED SUPPLIES, WE KNOW WHERE, UH, WHERE THERE HAVE BEEN ISSUES BEFORE BECAUSE WE HAVE AFTER ACTION REPORTS AND TELL US, THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE'RE LACKING, THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE'RE ASKED FOR, THIS IS HOW WE RESPONDED TO THAT.
UH, THE IDEA IS I THINK HOW DO WE HAVE, UM, IF NOT CONTINUOUS, AT LEAST CONSISTENT TRAINING ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU LIVE IN THE, IF YOU LIVE IN UNIVERSITY HILLS, THIS IS WHERE YOU OUGHT TO BE LOOKING.
IF YOU LIVE IN MAINOR, THIS IS WHERE YOU OUGHT TO BE LOOKING.
IF YOU LIVE IN PFLUGERVILLE, UM, OR IF WHATEVER THE COMMUNITY IS.
UM, AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT'S IMPORTANT FOR ME, UH, TO BE ABLE TO, UM, NOT ONLY SEND SOMEONE TO A WEBSITE, BUT SEND SOMEONE TO A PHONE NUMBER SO THAT THEY, UH, SO THAT THEY KNOW, UM, WHO TO ASK WHAT TO ASK AND WHERE TO BE GUIDED IN, IN, UH, IN THEIR OWN GEOGRAPHIC AREA.
UM, I KNOW THAT YOU ALL HAVE DONE WONDERFUL WORK, UH, PUT A LOT OF MATERIALS TOGETHER.
UH, BUT A LOT OF TIMES WHEN I ASK PEOPLE OR WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME THINGS AT THE GROCERY STORE, AT THE FOOTBALL GAME, THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO FIND THE INFORMATION.
AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO GIVE WARM HANDOFFS, UH, TO FOLKS WHO HAVE KIDS RELYING ON THEM, NEIGHBORS RELYING ON THEM ARE SICK AND SHUT IN AT CHURCH.
JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO HAVE ACCESS TO, UH, TO A PROCESS, A SYSTEM THAT CAN TAKE THEM FROM WHERE THEY ARE TO WHERE WE NEED THEM TO BE.
SO IF I CAN JUST ADD THAT, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE MOVING TO THE RESILIENCE NETWORK, PART OF IT IS FOLLOWING UP ON AFTER ACTION REPORTS THAT WE HAD AT THE CITY.
THEY'RE REALLY EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE COMMUNITY ACTORS AND NOT WAITING TILL THE DISASTER TO BUILD THOSE RELATIONSHIPS.
UM, AND SO PART OF WHAT THE RESILIENCE NETWORK IS GONNA DO IS FORMALIZE WITH MEMORANDUMS OF UNDERSTANDING SOME OF THOSE, UM, RELATIONSHIPS AND, UM, THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES AND MAKING SURE THAT THE COMMUNICATION IS CLEAR.
YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE THEIR POINTS OF CONTEXT AT THE EOC, UM, AND THAT WE'RE NOT WAITING, YOU KNOW, TO DISASTER TO DO THE PLANNING, UM, SO THAT FOLKS CAN GET THAT WORD OUT.
EVERY DISASTER WE'VE LEARNED IS DIFFERENT.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, WHILE WE WILL STILL, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S HOT OUT, WE'RE GONNA HAVE, YOU KNOW, ALL OUR LIBRARIES ARE OPEN AND, AND THERE'S DIFFERENT THINGS THAT PEOPLE WILL BEGIN TO SEE SOME OF THOSE PATTERNS.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT WE HAVE IS, IS PART OF OUR, OUR HES WORK NOT NECESSARILY PART OF THE RESILIENCE NETWORK, BUT IT'S RELATED, IS WE HAVE, UM, MONTHLY, UM, EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PROGRAMMING THAT'S GOING ON, ROTATING ACROSS THE DIFFERENT, UM, DISTRICTS WHERE PEOPLE CAN COME AND TALK TO FOLKS AND FIND OUT INFORMATION AND, AND GET, UM, DETAILS OR GET CONNECTED IF THEY WANNA PROVIDE, UM, RESOURCES.
AND SO, UM, I THINK THAT THE, YOU KNOW, MY UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PIVOT IS IT'S BUILDING ON THE HUBS AND THAT THE HUBS ARE STILL THERE, UM, BUT JUST KIND OF INFORMATION SHARING, ET CETERA WILL BE FACILITATED BY, UM, STRENGTHENING OF THESE RELATIONSHIPS ON THE GROUND.
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU GUYS WANNA ADD? NO, I, I JUST THINK THAT YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT THAT THE CITY AND OUR FACILITIES CAN'T BE THE BEGINNING AND THE END HERE IS THAT THE RELATIONSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, WITH NONPROFITS BUILDS OUT MORE STRENGTH AND MORE COMMUNICATION.
UM, BECAUSE LIKE BILL SAID, WE HAVE TO BE FLEXIBLE 'CAUSE IT'S NOT THE SAME DISASTER DOESN'T HAPPEN OVER AND OVER.
SO YEAH, I THINK THIS IS A, UM, EXPANDING ON HUBS AND BUILDING TO BE A MORE RESILIENT COMMUNITY, UM, REALLY STARTS WITH RELATIONSHIPS AND STARTS WITH TRUST.
SO WE CAN COMMUNICATE, UM, WHEN, WHEN THE BAD THINGS DO HAPPEN.
AND I THINK FINALLY HAVING THE STAFF AND HES TO PLAY THESE ROLES, WHICH WERE, WERE VERY MUCH PART OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE GOT BACK WILL BE, BE REALLY IMPORTANT.
THOSE RELATIONSHIPS ALSO WILL BE, YOU KNOW, FURTHER BUILDING WITH A ISD, UM, YOU KNOW, AND UNDERSTANDING STUFF ABOUT EMERGENCY CAPACITY AND OTHER KINDS OF THINGS, THOSE THAT WILL ALSO TAKE PLACE.
UM, SO I LIVE IN DOVE SPRINGS AND SO THE LAST TIME WE HAD A, UM, DISASTER, UM, THERE WAS A CHANGE ON INTAKE THAT EVERYONE HAD TO COME TO SOUTH FIRST AND THE TEXAS ONE CENTER AND THAT CAP METRO WAS PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION.
BUT WHEN THE WEATHER IS NOT DRIVABLE, IT WAS JUST A HUGE ISSUE TO TRY TO COME
[00:35:01]
TO ONE PLACE TO DO A TAKE INTAKE.IS THAT GONNA CHANGE IN YOUR STRATEGY ABOUT PEOPLE BY PARTNERING WITH ORGANIZATIONS THAT THEY'LL BE ABLE TO DO INTAKE WHEREVER THEY ARE? YES, MA'AM.
SO WE HAVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESPONSES TO EVENTS.
THE ONLY TIME THAT WE USE THE REGISTRATION AT ONE TEXAS CENTER IS WHENEVER WE DO OUR WINTER WEATHER SHELTERING FOR THOSE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS.
AND THAT'S TARGETED AT, UH, LIFE SAFETY AND KEEPING PEOPLE, OR ALLOWING PEOPLE THE OPTION TO BECOME INDOORS WHENEVER OUR TEMPERATURES ARE GONNA DROP BELOW 35 DEGREES WHENEVER WE HAVE A DISASTER THAT'S IMPACTING THE COMMUNITY AND WE'RE STANDING UP SHELTERS CITY AND COUNTYWIDE FOR THOSE, THOSE WILL BE THE ONES THAT WE PUBLISH AND EITHER ALLOW PEOPLE TO GET THERE OR USE OUR SR WITH 3 1 1 TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO GET PEOPLE TO THOSE LOCATIONS.
BECAUSE, UM, I KNOW YOU KEEP SAYING HOMELESS AND, AND LIKE, UH, COMMISSIONER SHEA SAYS SOME PEOPLE ARE NOT HOMELESS, THEY JUST LOST THEIR POWER.
AND WHEN THEY LEFT IN DOVE SPRINGS, WHEN THEY WENT TO THE REC CENTER, THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO GO IN BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT CONSIDERED HOMELESS.
AND SO THEY WERE SENT AWAY AND THOSE FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN.
SO I HOPE IT'S VERY CLEAR THAT THE SHELTERS IS FOR EVERYONE AND NOT JUST FOR HOMELESS.
UH, WE DO TRY TO SET UP ADDITIONAL FACILITIES FOR, UH, FAMILIES AND OTHER THINGS JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANY ISSUES WITH THE POPULATIONS THAT ARE IN THE SHELTERS, UH, IF WE'VE WORKED WITH STAFF TO MAKE SURE THAT I HEARD OF THAT INCIDENT HAPPENING AND THAT'S BEEN ADDRESSED TO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE GETS TURNED AWAY AT ANY POINT AND EVERYONE IS ALLOWED ACCESS TO ALL SHELTERS.
UM, SO NEXT UP WE HAVE A, WE RECEIVED, UM, A PRESENTATION BACKUP FROM A IC FOR THE VOTER APPROVED TAX RATE ELECTION.
AND FEEL FREE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY TO GRAB A LUNCH BEFORE YOU GO.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW THAT WE'RE DOING THE PREP.
I DON'T KNOW THAT THE PRESENTATION IS BEING PRESENTED AS MUCH AS IT WAS THE BACKUP THAT WAS PROVIDED.
UM, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF, IF, UH, PRESIDENT, TRUSTEE, PRESIDENT SINGH, IF YOU'D LIKE TO MAKE ANY COMMENTS ON THE PHOTO APPROVED TAX RATE ELECTION, YOU DON'T NEED TO.
UM, WE HAVE THE BACKUP, UM, BUT WE HAVE KNOW ABOUT FIVE MINUTES HERE IF YOU WANNA YEAH, SURE.
UM, I THINK MOST FOLKS KNOW THAT, UM, A ISD WILL HAVE PROPOSITION A ON THE BALLOT THIS NOVEMBER, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE TRAVIS COUNTY PROPOSITION A, WHICH IS ON CHILDCARE, BUT REALLY THEY BOTH SERVE OUR FAMILIES.
AND, UM, AND I FEEL, YOU KNOW, UM, SO THE MAIN THING, THE MAIN TAKEAWAYS FOR Y'ALL ARE THIS WILL BRING 41 MILLION IN NEW DOLLARS, UM, INTO A ISD PER YEAR.
UM, THE OTHER THING TO KNOW IS THAT THE STATE OF TEXAS HAS NOT INCREASED THE BASIC ALLOTMENT, WHICH IS, UM, THE PER PUPIL AMOUNT OF FUNDING IN FIVE YEARS.
AND JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT WE'VE ENDURED DURING THOSE FIVE YEARS.
OUR KIDS ARE STILL SUFFERING FROM COVID EFFECTS INFLATION, WE'VE GOT DOUBLE DIGIT INFLATION.
UM, AND WE HAVE A LARGE SCHOOL DISTRICT WITH 73,000 STUDENTS THAT NEED, UM, SUPPORTS.
AND THIS MONEY WOULD GO TOWARDS, UM, TEACHER COMPENSATION.
IT WOULD HELP INCREASE THE, THE WAGES FOR ALL OF OUR HOURLY WORKERS.
IT WOULD ALSO GO GO TOWARDS ACADEMIC SUPPORTS AND MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS AND INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES, ALL WHICH WILL HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT ON STUDENT OUTCOMES.
AND IT'LL ALSO HELP STABILIZE US FINANCIALLY BECAUSE IT IS, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR BOARD AND TO OUR ADMINISTRATION THAT WE KEEP OUR, UM, AAA BOND RATINGS AND OUR, THE HIGHEST FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY RATINGS AT THE STATE OF TEXAS CAN GIVE A DISTRICT.
WE HAVE THAT AND IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO KEEP THAT.
BUT TO DO THAT WE HAVE TO KEEP 30% OF OUR OPERATING, NO, 20% RIGHT.
20% OF OUR OPERATING BUDGET AND RESERVES.
AND WE HAVE KATRINA MONTGOMERY HUSER, UM, ACTING CFO AND INJECTOR DR.
JACOB REACH HERE AS WELL TO CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG,
AND I'LL JUST OPEN IT UP TO ANY QUESTIONS THAT FOLKS MIGHT HAVE SINCE WE HAVE OUR EXPERTS HERE AS WELL.
AND I WILL JUST POINT OUT THE NEXT ITEM IS TO TALK ABOUT THE ISD BUDGET.
AND SO IT MAY, WE ALSO COULD OH YEAH, LET'S, LET'S JUST COMBINE IT WITH THAT THEN, THEN WE MIGHT TAKE THAT PRESENTATION AND THEN DO QUESTIONS.
'CAUSE THEY MIGHT ANSWER THAT UNLESS YOU WANNA JUMP IN.
UH, I JUST THINK THAT, UM, A DISCUSSION THAT PROVIDES SOME OF THE DATA FROM THE BACKUP IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
I'M, I'M, I'M UNDER NO ILLUSIONS THAT THERE'S HUGE AUDIENCE WATCHING THIS, BUT I THINK EVERY OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT WHY THIS ELECTION IS SO CRUCIAL, WHAT THE, UH, THE PROBLEMS ARE, PARTICULARLY AT THE STATE LEVEL THAT HAVE GOTTEN US HERE, IN ADDITION TO THE FAILURES TO INCREASE FUNDING
[00:40:01]
FOR FIVE YEARS, UH, TEXAS IS $4,000 BEHIND THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.SO I THINK JUST SOME OF THOSE DATA POINTS ARE USEFUL.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW IF YEAH, IT MAKES SENSE TO COMBINE THAT WITH A BUDGET DISCUSSION, BUT I JUST THINK PEOPLE NEED TO HAVE A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF WHY THIS IS SO IMPORTANT.
AND I'LL MENTION THAT MOST OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN CENTRAL TEXAS, UH, HAVE PASSED DEFICIT BUDGETS.
THAT IS NOT THE WAY PUBLIC EDUCATION SHOULD BE FUNDED WHEN YOU'VE GOT
AND A RE A RECENT RICE UNIVERSITY STUDY FOUND THAT OVER 70% OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS WERE SEVERELY UNDERFUNDED.
SO THESE ARE, UM, THINGS FOR US ALL TO CONSIDER, PARTICULARLY AS THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION IS COMING UP.
UM, AND I WANNA ASK KATRINA, MS. MONTGOMERY, ARE YOU GONNA BE GOING OVER SOME OF THIS IN THE BUDGET PRESENTATION? OKAY.
SO WE'LL JUST KIND OF SAVE SOME MORE OF THAT, UM, FOR THEM.
BUT, BUT, AND, AND I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE REASON THAT WE'VE GOTTEN INTO THIS SITUATION OF, UM, YOU KNOW, SEVERELY UNDERFUNDED PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN TEXAS BE IS BECAUSE OF POLITICAL AND POLICY DECISIONS BY THE LEADERSHIP AT THE STATE LEVEL.
THEY HAVE $36 BILLION IN SURPLUS FUNDS.
THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR THEM TO BE CHRONICALLY AND IN SUCH A DAMAGING FASHION, UNDERFUNDING PUBLIC EDUCATION, EXCEPT THAT THEY HAVE A PHILOSOPHY, UM, THAT, UH, SUPPORTS PRIVATE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION INSTEAD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.
AND PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT, 'CAUSE THIS IS, IT'S NOT ACCIDENTAL THAT THE SCHOOLS ARE STARVING AND THE STUDENTS DON'T HAVE, UH, ENOUGH FUNDING AND THAT THE TEACHERS ARE UNDERPAID AND, AND A WHOLE HOST OF PROBLEMS ACROSS THE BOARD.
IT'S, IT'S BECAUSE OF POLICY DECISIONS AND POLITICAL ACTIONS AT THE STATE LEVEL.
I DON'T KNOW THAT I WOULD SAY RELIGIOUS, I WOULD SAY CONSERVATIVE NATIONALIST RELIGION, WHICH IS DIFFERENT THAN THAT IS TRUE.
IT'S WHITE NATIONALIST RELIGION.
THERE, THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF, OF, UH, REPORTS ABOUT THE CHIEF FUNDERS WHO ARE DRIVING, UH, THE GOVERNOR'S ACTIONS.
[VI. AISD Long Term Budget]
INTO THE BUDGET PRESENTATION AND THEN WE CAN CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION AS APPROPRIATE.UM, I THINK SOME OF THIS WE TALKED ABOUT A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, UM, WHEN THE CITY MANAGER WAS HERE, I THINK BEFORE YOU GOT HERE, COMMISSIONER, SHE, GOOD AFTERNOON.
I'M THE CHIEF OFFICER FOR GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS AND BOARD SERVICES FOR AUSTIN, ISD HELLO EVERYONE.
I AM KATRINA MONTGOMERY, THE INTERIM CFO AT AUSTIN, ISD.
AND SO TODAY WE WANNA SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, THE BUDGET WORK WE'VE BEEN DOING IN OUR LONG-TERM BUDGET PLANNING.
UH, BEFORE WE GET STARTED WITH OUR SLIDES, I DO VERY MUCH WANNA TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO THANK OUR COMMITTEE MEMBER WHO CAME OUT TODAY AND ALSO LEFT SOME COMMENTS WITH THE COMMITTEE.
UH, BUT WE APPRECIATE EVERYONE WHO'S PART OF THE COMMITTEE THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON.
SO IF, I'M SURE YOU ALL ARE, ARE AWARE, WE HAVE A AD HOC BUDGET COMMITTEE THAT HAS BEEN HELPING US WORK THROUGH OUR BUDGET CONCERNS.
AND WE ALSO HAVE OUR TRUSTEES WHO ARE HELPING US ALSO TALK ABOUT WAYS THAT WE CAN GET INTO THIS DEFICIT AND DECREASE IT.
BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT THE COMMITTEE'S CHARGE.
THE COMMITTEE IS CHARGED TO CREATE LISTS OF AREAS FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION.
SO WHAT OTHER WAYS CAN WE TRY TO FIND WAYS TO REDUCE OUR EXPEND EXPENDITURES? EXPLORE BUDGET IDEAS FOR 500,000 PLUS TEST AND REFINE EQUITY BASED RUBRIC AND CREATE LISTS OF POTENTIAL CUTS TO BE EVALUATED USING OUR EQUITY BASED RUBRIC.
AND THE PLAN IS GONNA BE OVER THREE YEARS.
SO THE DEFICIT THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE, WHICH IS $92 MILLION, THANK YOU.
IT'S GONNA, WE'RE GONNA CLEAR THIS DEFICIT UP OVER THREE YEARS.
SO LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS SLIDE.
WE CALL IT THE CASCADE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
AND SO IF YOU LOOK IN YOUR FAR LEFT HAND SIDE, IT SAYS FISCAL YEAR.
SO WE'VE BROKEN THIS OUT BY FISCAL YEARS.
AND THEN YOU HAVE OUR DEFICIT.
SO LET'S LOOK AT THE FIRST ROW FISCAL YEAR 24, 25.
WE'RE GOING TO IDENTIFY AS FAR AS CUTS AND MAKE CUTS, MAKE REDUCTION STRATEGIES.
SO IN 24 25, WE'RE, WE'RE GOING TO REDUCE OUR DEFICIT BY $26 MILLION.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH OUR CHIEFS AND MAKING SURE WE CAN ATTAIN THIS GOAL BY REDUCING THIS $26 MILLION IN 24 25.
AND THEN IN 25, 26, WE HAVE AN ADDITIONAL IDENTIFIED REDUCTIONS OF $22 MILLION.
[00:45:01]
A QUICK WAY TO LOOK AT THIS, IF THERE'S GONNA BE $48 MILLION WORTH OF OUR DEFICIT, WE'RE GONNA IDENTIFY 48 MILLION, 26 MILLION HAVE TO TAKE IN EFFECT THIS FISCAL YEAR 24 25.AND THE ADDITIONAL 22 MILLION WILL TAKE OR HAVE AN IMPACT IN FISCAL YEAR 25, 26.
SO THEN IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT ROW, 25, 26, IT SAYS WE'RE GONNA DO AN ADDITIONAL AMOUNT OF $25 MILLION.
SO THE SECOND COLUMN, THE DEFICIT, THAT'S WHERE OUR CURRENT YEAR DEFICIT IS $92 MILLION.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT IT SAYING, OVER THREE YEARS, HOW ARE WE GOING TO DECREASE THIS DEFICIT OF $92 MILLION? SO 24 25, WE'RE GONNA REDUCE $26 MILLION IN TOTAL 25 26, WE'RE GONNA REDUCE 47 MILLION.
AND 26 27 WE'RE GONNA REDUCE 19 MILLION.
SO IN EACH OF THESE YEARS, WE'RE GONNA BE REDUCING OUR DEFICIT OR INCLU INCREASING OUR, UM, REVENUE STRATEGIES.
BUT THE BA THE THE BUDGETS THAT WE PASS MUST BE BALANCED.
SO WE CAN'T CONTINUE TO GROW THIS DEFICIT.
WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE WE'RE CUTTING THESE, THESE NUMBERS, THESE AMOUNTS.
26,000,020 4, 25, 40 7,000,020 5, 26 AND 19,000,020 6 27.
DO THESE NUMBERS ASSUME THAT THE, UM, THE TAX RATE ELECTION PASSES? THEY DO.
AND THAT'S WHERE THE REVENUE WILL COME FROM? YES, IT DOES.
SO IF THE TAX RATE ELECTION DOESN'T PASS, WE'RE LOOKING AT PROBABLY EXTREME BUDGET CUTS.
SO TRUSTEE SEEING PRESIDENT SING SAID THE NET AMOUNT IS $41 MILLION.
SO THE QUICK MATH THAT WE COULD DO IS YOU TAKE THE 92 PLUS THE 41 MILLION.
SO I WANNA GO OFF SLIDE A LITTLE BIT AND, UH, GO BACK TO COMMISSIONER SHEA'S EARLIER QUESTION ON WHAT SOME OF THE GOOD INFORMATION THAT WAS IN THAT PROP, A PRESENTATION.
AND I WANNA SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW DID WE GET HERE.
UM, SO WE'VE ALREADY SHARED, AND IT WAS ALREADY DISCUSSED, UM, THAT WE ARE ABOUT 4,000 BEHIND ON THE NATIONAL AVERAGE ON PER PUPIL SPENDING.
UM, WHEN YOU COMPARE STATES, UH, THE LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION, THE STATE ACTUALLY SET ASIDE AS, YOU KNOW, $5 BILLION FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION.
IT WENT BACK INTO THE GOVERNOR'S BUDGET AT THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR AND WAS NOT SPENT ON PUBLIC EDUCATION AS IT WAS DEDICATED FOR.
UM, SO PEOPLE COMMONLY ASK, WELL, HOW DID AUSTIN ICED TEA GET HERE? HOW DID YOU GET TO A $92 MILLION DEFICIT, YOU KNOW, IN, IN ABOUT ONE YEAR? UM, AND SO I WANT TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT AND KIND OF RESPOND TO THAT QUESTION.
UH, FIRST, WHICH WAS ALREADY BROUGHT UP IS INFLATION.
AND NOT ONLY HAS OUR COST OF BUSINESS, JUST LIKE ALL OF OUR OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES GONE UP OUR INSURANCE MM-HMM,
UM, BUT OUR COST OF LABOR HAS GONE UP.
THE STATE ACTUALLY IDENTIFIED LAST YEAR THAT TEACHER PAY WAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM FOR TEACHER RETENTION IN TEXAS.
AND THEY SAID THAT THAT WOULD BE A PRIORITY.
UM, BUT THERE WAS NO ADDITIONAL FUNDING AT THE END OF THE DAY FOR TEACHER PAY.
AUSTIN ISD DID INCREASE TEACHER PAY BECAUSE WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE COMPETE FOR LABOR JUST LIKE MANY OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES.
AND WE WANTED TO KEEP THOSE GREAT TEACHERS IN AUSTIN, ISD.
SO WE PROVIDED A, UH, ONE OF THE LARGER RAISES THAT WE'VE EVER PROVIDED AS A DISTRICT, AND IT WAS NECESSARY TO ENSURE THAT WE WERE VALUING THE GREAT CONTRIBUTION OF OUR TEACHERS AND OUR STAFF.
UM, BUT THAT, THAT WAS, UM, THAT, I'M SORRY, THAT DID NOT SEE ANY ADDITIONAL FUNDING FROM THE STATE, EVEN THOUGH THEY SAID PAY FOR TEACHERS WAS A PRIORITY.
UH, SO INFLATION IS CERTAINLY ONE.
ANOTHER ONE, WHICH I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT IN A LATER, UH, PRESENTATION IS OUR COST FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION.
WE'RE SPENDING ABOUT $25 MILLION MORE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS AS WE ENSURE THAT WE ARE, UH, MEETING EVERY STUDENT'S NEED IN SPECIAL EDUCATION.
SO THIS IS JUST A SUMMARY NUMBER, DON'T WRITE IT DOWN AS THE ACTUAL NUMBER, BUT BASICALLY AUSTIN, ISD SPENDS ABOUT 160 MILLION ON SPECIAL EDUCATION THROUGH THE STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND DEDICATED FUNDING FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION, WE GET ABOUT 50 MILLION.
SO WE HAVE ABOUT $110 MILLION GAP THAT WE AS A DISTRICT ARE GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT'S WHAT OUR STUDENTS AND OUR STAFF NEED TO PROPERLY PROVIDE A SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
UM, SO WHEN WE CONSIDER THOSE DIFFERENT ITEMS, YOU CAN SEE HOW THAT CAN ADD UP LEADING TOWARDS 92 MILLION, UM, AS ADDITION AS YOU ALL KNOW, BECAUSE YOU PROBABLY ALSO FELT, UM, OUR GROWTH IS NOT AS HIGH FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR IN PROPERTY VALUES AS IT WAS FOR PREVIOUS YEARS.
UM, AS YOU PROBABLY ALSO KNOW, WE RELY ON OUR TAXES A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN THE CITY AND THE COUNTY.
THE CITY AND THE COUNTY SET THEIR BUDGET, THEN SET THEIR RATE, AND I KNOW I'M SIMPLIFYING IT, BUT SET THEIR RATE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE BRINGING IN THE MONEY FOR THEIR BUDGET.
AUSTIN ISD LOOKS AT WHAT THE TAX RATE WILL ALLOW US TO BRING IN, AND THEN WE HAVE TO SET OUR BUDGET OFF OF THAT.
UM, SO WE, WE DON'T HAVE THE SAME ABILITY TO CHANGE OUR
[00:50:01]
TAX RATE THAT SOME OF OUR OTHER MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS HAVE.AND SO WHEN PROPERTY GROWTH IS NOT AS STRONG, UM, THAT'S FURTHER WHERE WE CAN SEE, UH, THESE NUMBERS CHANGE.
AND THEN FINALLY, WHY WE HAVE REMAINED STEADY IN OUR STUDENT POPULATION OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, WHICH WE'RE PROUD OF.
UM, WE DO RECOGNIZE THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF STUDENT LOSS DURING THOSE, DURING THOSE COVID YEARS.
AND MANY PEOPLE THINK, WELL, IF YOU LOST 500 STUDENTS, YOU JUST NEED TO REDUCE BY 20 TEACHERS.
AND THERE NOW IT'S EVEN, YOU KNOW, SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY ACROSS THE BOARD, BUT SCHOOL DISTRICTS DON'T LOSE STUDENTS EVENLY.
UM, NOR DO WE LOSE THEM ALL IN ONE PLACE.
WE LOSE, YOU KNOW, ONE AT THIRD GRADE AT THIS ELEMENTARY, ONE AT EIGHTH GRADE AT THIS MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH ACROSS THE ENTIRE DISTRICT.
AND A TEACHER SALARY IS A TEACHER SALARY.
WHETHER I HAVE 28 KIDS IN THAT CLASS OR I HAVE EIGHT KIDS IN THAT CLASS, THAT TEACHER SALARY IS THE SAME.
FURTHERMORE, UM, OUR STATE, ALONG WITH ONLY TWO OTHER STATES IN THE ENTIRE NATION, STILL FUNDS BASED OFF OF ATTENDANCE.
SO THEY'RE NOT FUNDING BASED OFF OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF KIDS.
THEY'RE GIVING US MONEY BASED OFF OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF KIDS AND HOW MANY DAYS THEY'RE IN ATTENDANCE.
WELL, AGAIN, I'M PAYING A TEACHER THEIR SALARY AS WE SHOULD BASED OFF OF THEIR ROLE.
NOT THAT TODAY YOU ONLY HAD EIGHT KIDS IN THE CLASSROOM AND NORMALLY YOU HAVE 14 MM-HMM,
BUT THAT'S HOW THE STATE'S FUNDING US.
THEY'RE SAYING TODAY YOU ONLY HAD EIGHT KIDS, SO I'M ONLY GIVING YOU MONEY FOR EIGHT KIDS.
EVEN THOUGH THE MAJOR COST DRIVER, OUR STAFF DOESN'T CHANGE AT ALL DURING THAT TIME.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO SHARE ALL THAT TO KIND OF GIVE AN IDEA ON HOW WE GOT TO WHERE WE'RE AT TODAY.
UH, SO NOW I WANNA SHARE A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT OUR COMMITTEE AND THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING.
UH, WHAT WE'VE SHARED IS A CALENDAR OF THE COMMITTEE'S WORK AND HOW WE'RE DIVIDING IT UP.
SO AT OUR COMMITTEE MEETINGS, AND THEY'RE, EVERY TUESDAY I'LL MENTION ON, UH, WE HOLD BOTH ZOOM AND IN PERSON AT OUR PERFORMING ARTS CENTER.
THEY'RE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, INDIVIDUALS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND.
UM, BUT AT EACH OF THESE MEETINGS, WE BREAK DOWN A PORTION OF OUR DISTRICT'S BUDGET BY DEPARTMENT.
AND THEN WE GO THROUGH IN DEPTH AND DETAIL THAT DEPARTMENT AND UNDERSTANDING WHERE THERE COULD BE ROOM FOR EXPLORATION FOR POTENTIAL COST DRIVERS OR COST SAVINGS.
UM, SO AT OUR LAST MEETING A WEEK AGO, WE WENT THROUGH A LOT OF OUR OPERATIONS TEAM, FACILITY MANAGEMENT, CUSTODIAL TRANSPORTATION, UM, TRANSPORTATION.
I'LL GO AHEAD AND THROW THIS, THAT ONE OUT THERE AS WELL IS ANOTHER ONE TO WHERE THE STATE PROVIDES US $6 MILLION FOR TRANSPORTATION.
IT COST US $40 MILLION TO OPERATE TRANSPORTATION IN AUSTIN, ISD.
SO A DIFFERENCE OF ABOUT 34 MILLION THAT WE NEED TO COVER OURSELVES.
UM, AT OUR NEXT MEETING TOMORROW NIGHT, WE'RE GONNA COVER OUR, UM, OUR IT DEPARTMENT ALONG WITH LEGAL AND POLICE, AND THEN WE'LL CONTINUE TO GO THROUGH DISCUSSING EACH OF THESE DEPARTMENTS.
OUR HOPE IS WORKING WITH OUR COMMITTEE TO NOT ONLY GENERATE QUESTIONS AND IDEAS THAT WE CAN THEN LOOK MORE IN DEPTH FOR POTENTIAL COST SAVINGS, BUT ALSO RUN SOME OF THESE IDEAS THROUGH, UH, WITH OUR COMMITTEE THROUGH WHAT MS. MONTGOMERY JUST MENTIONED, OUR EQUITY RUBRIC.
SO WE CAN ENSURE THAT WHEN WE ARE CONSIDERING POTENTIAL CUTS THAT UH, WE ARE NOT DISPROPORTIONATELY, UH, AFFECTING OUR MOST MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES.
WE KNOW THAT IN THE PAST SOMETIMES CUTS WERE JUST DONE ACROSS THE BOARD.
AND THEN WHAT WE LEARN LATER IS THAT THOSE EFFECTS MAY BE, FELT, FELT DIFFERENTLY ACROSS DIFFERENT CAMPUSES.
SO WE WANT TO CONSIDER THAT UPFRONT NOW, UM, SO THAT WE DON'T LEARN A YEAR FROM NOW, THAT THAT EFFECT DID NOT REALLY, OR I'M SORRY THAT THAT CUT DID NOT REALLY AFFECT ONE CAMPUS OVER HERE, BUT IT HAD A GREAT EFFECT ON A CAMPUS ELSEWHERE.
WE WANT TO HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THAT OVERALL AT THE START BEFORE WE BRING THAT FORWARD TO OUR BOARD FOR DISCUSSION.
UM, SO THESE CONVERSATIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF OCTOBER.
UM, AND AT THAT LAST MEETING, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE LOOKING THROUGH ALL OF THEIR FINAL DATA AND ALSO THEN TALKING ABOUT, UM, WELL, OUR TEACHING AND LEARNING TEAM, WHICH IS REALLY ABOUT THE CLASSROOM.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE GO THROUGH ALL OF THAT OPERATIONAL ITEMS FIRST BEFORE WE START TALKING ABOUT CUTS THAT COULD AFFECT THE CLASSROOM BECAUSE THAT'S, YOU KNOW, TO, TO PUT IT PLAINLY, THAT'S WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS.
THAT'S WHERE WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH KIDS.
SO THAT NEEDS TO BE THE LAST PLACE THAT WE LOOK, THE LAST PLACE THAT WE MAKE CUTS BEFORE WE CONSIDERED EVERYTHING ELSE.
UM, OVERALL, THIS IS OUR TIMELINE FOR THE YEAR AND A LOT OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW, YOU MAY SAY, OH, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE DOING A LOT OF WORK IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, THAT'S PRETTY QUICK AND WE WILL AGREE WITH YOU.
WE'LL BE THE FIRST TO SAY THAT.
BUT AS, UH, JUST, JUST LIKE THE CITY AND LIKE THE COUNTY, YOU KNOW, OUR BUDGET YEAR STARTS PRETTY MUCH AS SOON AS THE YEAR STARTS AND WE START GETTING BUDGET OUT TO OUR CAMPUS IN JANUARY.
SO IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT THIS CALENDAR, YOU'LL SEE THAT WE WANT TO GET A LOT OF THIS WORK DONE YOU BEFORE NOVEMBER OR IN NOVEMBER, SO THAT IN DECEMBER WE'RE PRESENTING PLANS
[00:55:01]
TO OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES, GETTING THEIR FEEDBACK, TAKING ANY APPROPRIATE VOTES THAT WE, THAT THE BOARD MAY NEED TO CONSIDER.AND THEN ALSO ENSURING THAT WE'RE GETTING NOTIFICATION OUT TO OUR CAMPUSES BEFORE THEY GET THEIR BUDGET SO THAT WE'RE NOT COMING BACK LATER AND SAYING, OH, YOU THOUGHT YOUR BUDGET WAS THIS, BUT NOW IT'S ACTUALLY GONNA NEED TO BE THIS.
UM, SO THIS WILL ALLOW US TO DO IT UPFRONT SO CAMPUSES KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DEALING WITH IN JANUARY.
UM, AND THEN WILL HELP US WHEN WE START LOOKING AT OUR PRELIMINARY OVERALL DISTRICT BUDGET, WHICH WE'LL DO IN APRIL.
AND THEN JUST AS A REMINDER, UM, AS A SCHOOL DISTRICT, WE ACTUALLY APPROVE OUR BUDGET IN JUNE.
WE ARE JULY TO JUNE FOR OUR FISCAL YEAR.
UH, SO WE'LL MAKE THOSE FINAL DECISIONS AND FINAL APPROVAL BY OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES IN JUNE.
AND SO THAT'S AN OVERVIEW OF OUR LONG-TERM BUDGET WORK.
I KNOW WE PUT A LOT OF INFORMATION IN JUST A FEW SLIDES, BUT, UH, BOTH OF US ARE READY TO DISCUSS MORE ABOUT OUR BUDGET OR THIS BUDGET WORK, OR ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
UM, I THINK THIS PRESENTATION JUST FURTHER UNDERSCORES THE NEED FOR US TO HAVE, UM, A COLLECTIVE EFFORT, UM, PARTICULARLY AT THE LEGISLATURE, UM, AND IN THE COURTS TO FURTHER ADDRESS, UM, RECAPTURE, UM, AND REALLY JUST THE UNDERFUNDING OF, OF OUR, OF THE BASIC ALLOTMENT, WHICH HAS A HUGE IMPACT ON AUSTIN, BUT IT IMPACTS EVERY STUDENT IN STATE.
UM, BUT BECAUSE OF THE COST OF LIVING IN AUSTIN, IT'S PARTICULARLY, UM, DIRE HERE.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN A LONGSTANDING CONCERN OF MINE, UM, BUT I'LL JUST SAY THAT I THINK WE'RE, WE, WE'VE GOTTEN TO A POINT WHERE THERE'S, THERE'S NO NO WAY OTHER THAN TO REALLY RAISE AS MUCH HELL AS WE CAN.
UM, AND FORTUNATELY WE LIVE IN AUSTIN AND CAN GO TO THE LEGISLATURE, AND I THINK WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO JUST REALLY MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE KNOW, UM, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THIS PROCESS AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UM, ARE THERE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS IN THE BUDGET FROM ANYONE ELSE? MADAM CHAIR, COMMISSIONER, SHE AND THEN COMMISSIONER.
CAN WE FOR, UM, UH, NEXT, UH, JOINT SUBCOMMITTEE TO HAVE AN EXECUTIVE SESSION, UH, AND BRING IN, UM, LEGAL GUIDANCE? MM-HMM.
I THINK THIS JUST SEEMS SO PROFOUNDLY WRONG AND, UM, UM, CERTAINLY LEGALLY QUESTIONABLE, BUT I'D LIKE FOR US TO GET LEGAL GUIDANCE AND TO HAVE A SCHEDULE, AN EXECUTIVE SESSION IN ORDER TO HAVE THAT DISCUSSION.
SO WE ARE HOPING TO HAVE, I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.
WE ARE HOPING TO HAVE A MEETING EITHER ON DECEMBER 2ND OR SIXTH, WHICH WOULD BE, IF WE COULD MANAGE IT, WOULD BE BEFORE, UM, THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION SESSION.
UM, AND I THINK IT WOULD BE INTERESTING FOR ALL OF US TO HEAR COLLECTIVELY FROM THE DIFFERENT LAWYERS, THE LEGAL GROUPS, AND HAVE THEM HAVE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION BEFORE THEN ABOUT WHAT COULD THIS LOOK LIKE AND WHAT WOULD NEED TO HAPPEN.
AND IT, AND IT MAY BE THAT WE HAVE TO APPROACH THIS, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT, I'M NOT A LAWYER, SO THERE COULD BE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO, TO APPROACH IT, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO HEAR, UM, FROM ALL THREE BODIES LEGAL DEPARTMENTS, AS TO WHAT MIGHT MIGHT BE, I HAVE A FOLLOW UP QUESTION, BUT IF THERE'S OTHER MADAM CHAIR.
A LOT OF OUR LAWYERS DON'T DEAL WITH CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUES AND, AND DON'T LITIGATE THEM REGULARLY.
AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO USE THE BODY OF INFORMATION THAT WE ALREADY HAVE ACCESS TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 10, 20, 30 YEARS, UM, TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY, UM, UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND US, UH, WHAT DECISIONS HAVE BEEN HANDED DOWN OVER THE LAST TWO TO THREE YEARS, AND WHERE WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE PROGRESS BECAUSE IT IS UNUSUAL THAT THE WALLS CAUGHT BECOME TUMBLING DOWN AT ONE TIME.
IT IS AN INCREMENTAL PROCESS AND, AND IT NEEDS TO BE PLANNED WELL.
COMMISSIONER ILIAN, UM, I BELIEVE A SD ARE YOU HOSTING NEXT? IS THAT YES, WE ARE.
UM, PERHAPS YOU CAN CONNECT WITH YOUR STAFF LIAISON WHO CAN CONNECT WITH THEM AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE NAMES.
I'M NOT SURE ABOUT THE, ANY RULES WITHIN EXECUTIVE SESSION.
IF YOU'RE BRINGING IN LEGAL ADVICE, COUNCIL COUNSEL, OUTSIDE COUNSEL THAT IS NOT HIRED, HOW THAT WORKS.
BUT I'M SURE THAT THERE'S A WAY TO DO THAT, UM, TO HEAR FROM THEM AND OR THEIR, FOR A PORTION OF THE SESSION.
AND THAT MAY EVEN BE WHAT WE, YOU KNOW, DECIDE THAT WE'VE FOCUS THE, THE SESSION ON.
IF THEY'RE NOT, THERE MAY BE ALSO SOME FOLLOW UP, UM, FOR THE CHILDCARE, YOU KNOW,
[01:00:01]
THAT WE WANNA DO AT THE NEXT MEETING.BUT, UM, I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.
AND IF YOU, IF YOU KNOW THOSE LAWYERS WHO IN AUSTIN WHO YOU THINK WOULD BE PARTICULARLY HELPFUL, I THINK IT, IT WOULD JUMPSTART THE PROCESS TO HAVE THEM IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE REST OF THE LEGAL TEAM.
AND IT'S GONNA BE A HOSTILE PROCESS.
UM, AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE'VE BEEN SUED AT LEAST THREE TIMES BY DOING THINGS LIKE MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE WERE TAKEN OFF.
THE VOTING ROLLS HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE PUT BACK ON.
SO MY EXPECTATION IS THAT THERE WILL BE, THERE WILL BE LITIGATION ALL ALONG THE WAY, UH, BUT THIS IS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO, UH, TO DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND AND FIGHT.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UH, I THINK MOST IMPORTANTLY FOR THIS GROUP, WE, AND I KNOW WHEN I'VE TALKED TO THE SUPERINTENDENT, WE CAN'T RELY ON THE LEGISLATURE.
THEY, THEY MAY DO THE RIGHT THING, PROBABLY NOT.
SO WE NEED TO
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE DISTRICT DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE CITY AND VICE VERSA.
WE NEED TO MAKE IT AFFORDABLE AND DESIRABLE FOR FAMILIES TO LIVE HERE IN AUSTIN SO THAT YOUR ENROLLMENT NUMBERS DO GO UP AND THAT HELPS WITH THE FUNDING THAT YOU RECEIVE AND, AND FILL THE SCHOOLS AND, AND ULTIMATELY REINFORCES ITSELF AND, AND LEADS TO ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND PROSPERITY HERE AT THE CITY.
AND, AND I THINK IT'S REALLY THE NEAT PART ABOUT A GROUP LIKE THIS.
YOU HAVE COMMISSIONER PAVILION WHO ALSO SITS ON CAP METRO, AND YOU TALKED ABOUT THE TRANSIT ISSUE, RIGHT? WELL, CAP METRO IS A LOCAL ORGANIZATION THAT CAN BE AT THE TABLE AND HELP US REGIONALLY LOOK AT HOW WE CAN TOGETHER, FIGURE OUT WHAT ROLES EVERYBODY IS PLAYING AND WHERE WE MIGHT ALL, UH, STEP IN TO HELP.
YOU KNOW, YOU ARE NOW BEING ASKED TO BE A HUNDRED PLUS PERSON POLICE DEPARTMENT, RIGHT? THAT IS TRADITIONALLY A CITY ROLE.
I MENTIONED PUBLIC HEALTH EARLIER.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER THINGS THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE NOW BEING ASKED TO DO, TASKED TO DO THAT FALL TRADITIONALLY TO OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES.
SO WHERE CAN WE LEVERAGE OUR ABILITY TO GENERATE REVENUE THAT ISN'T SUBJECT TO RECAPTURE OR OTHER, UM, TYPES OF, OF REALLOCATION AND ASIDE? I WOULD LOVE FOR US TO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS AS A GROUP TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE MIGHT ALL COME TO THE TABLE, CENTRAL HEALTH BEING ANOTHER.
I AM CURIOUS AS WE LOOK TOWARDS THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION, JUST SO YOU KNOW, YOU RAISE THE QUESTION, I'VE HEARD IT TOO, THE, HOW DID WE GET HERE? OH MY GOSH.
YOU KNOW, WHERE DID THIS BUDGET DEFICIT COME FROM OVERNIGHT? UH, I REMEMBER LAST SESSION THE NUMBER WAS AROUND A THOUSAND DOLLARS.
IF YOU PEGGED THE BASIC ALLOTMENT TO INFLATION FROM 2019, IT WOULD'VE BEEN RAISED ABOUT A THOUSAND DOLLARS.
HAVE YOU RUN THE NUMBERS ON LET'S JUST USE THAT A THOUSAND DOLLARS, HOW MUCH MORE THE DISTRICT WOULD HAVE GENERATED, UH, FOR THE BUDGET? DO YOU HAVE A ROUGH ESTIMATE IF IT WAS PE TO INFLATION? WELL, IF, IF YOU, IF THE STATE RAISED THE BASIC ALLOTMENT BY A THOUSAND DOLLARS, HOW MUCH THE DISTRICT A ISD WOULD STAND TO BENEFIT.
I MEAN, I KNOW 73,000 STUDENTS, YOU'D THINK IT'D BE OVER 73 MILLION, BUT YOU GOT YOUR MULTIPLIERS.
SO I WOULD THINK PROBABLY SOMEWHERE IN THE 80 TO 90 MILLION RANGE.
WE CAN DO THE MATH IN A SECOND, BUT WE GOTTA YEAH, SURE.
AND THE REASON I'M ASKING IS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, YOU LOOK AT A 90 SOMETHING MILLION DOLLARS DEFICIT, AND THAT'S SIGNIFICANT.
BUT IF 85 MILLION OF THAT IS SIMPLY BECAUSE IT HASN'T KEPT UP WITH INFLATION, I THINK PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND THAT.
AND SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT WHY DO WE NEED PROP A OR WHY DOES THE LEGISLATURE NEED TO STEP UP AND JUST DO THE BASIC OF KEEPING THINGS FLAT, NOT EVEN GIVING US, YOU KNOW, A COST BASED, YOU TALK ABOUT SPECIAL EDUCATION, A COST BASED ALLOCATION TO DO WHAT WE'VE BEEN TOLD WE HAVE TO DO BY STATE AND FEDERAL LAW.
AND IT'S, IT'S A GOOD THING YOU'RE DOING IT.
BUT, UM, I THINK THAT WOULD HELP IN OUR CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'RE HAVING.
IT WOULD BE SOMEWHERE AROUND 80 MILLION, BUT WE WOULD WANT TO SURE.
ACTUALLY DO THE MATH TO GET A MORE EXACT FIGURE.
AND THE SAME QUESTION AS IT RELATES TO ENROLLMENT BASED FUNDING, RIGHT? ENROLLMENT VERSUS, UM, ATTENDANCE.
I KNOW THAT'S A CONVERSATION THAT'S BEING HAD AT THE LEGISLATURE.
[01:05:01]
MOVE FORWARD, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH MONEY DOES THE DISTRICT STAND TO GAIN THERE? AND, AND HOW, WHAT, HOW MUCH OF THE CUTS WOULD THAT OFFSET? UM, AND SO THAT CAN HELP WITH OUR EFFORTS, BOTH IN TERMS OF ADVOCACY AND TALKING JUST TO NEIGHBORS AS WELL.SO ROUGHLY IF THE STATE DID NOT CHANGE THE BASIC ALLOTMENT WHEN CHANGING SYSTEMS, WHICH OF COURSE WE WOULD SUGGEST THAT THEY NOT DO, WHICH IS WHAT OTHER STATES HAVE NOT DONE, RIGHT.
UM, IT WOULD BRING IN ABOUT 20 MILLION.
AND THAT'S, AND THAT'S OBVIOUSLY VERY SIGNIFICANT TO THE 'CAUSE YOU'RE LOOKING AT.
AND I ALSO WANT TO JUST BRING TO THE DISTRICT'S ATTENTION.
UM, THE CITY IS HOPEFULLY HERE SOON POISED TO PASS, UH, WHAT IS CALLED THE SOLAR STANDARD OFFER.
IT IS, UH, A PAYMENT FROM THE CITY, THE AUSTIN ENERGY TO COMMERCIAL OR LARGE SCALE, UH, FACILITY OPERATORS THAT IF YOU PUT SOLAR F SOLAR ON TOP OF YOUR BUILDING, WE WILL PAY YOU FOR BASICALLY THAT GENERATION, UH, AT A STANDARD RATE.
AND SO INSTEAD OF JUST TALKING ABOUT HOW WE ARE GONNA CUT VARIOUS PROGRAMS, THE CITY, THE COUNTY, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ARE LARGE FACILITY OWNERS, YOU HAVE GREAT ROOF SPACE.
HOW MIGHT WE PARTNER WITH Y'ALL TO HAVE Y'ALL PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAM AND US BRING SOME OF THAT MONEY TO THE TABLE, UH, IN ORDER FOR YOU TO BASICALLY LEASE THAT SPACE ON YOUR ROOF AND MONETIZE THOSE NOW EMPTY ROOFS.
YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT WOULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY WORTH EXPLORING AND OBVIOUSLY HAVE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS AS, AS WELL AS MONETARY BENEFITS.
SO I JUST WANNA BRING THAT TO YOUR ATTENTION AS WELL AS WE HAVE THE FUNDING DISCUSSION.
SO THAT'S, I CAN TALK ABOUT THIS ALL DAY, BUT I REALLY APPRECIATE
AND SO APPRECIATE THE EFFORTS.
AND I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTO, YOU HAD TRIED TO PURSUE A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT IDEAS AND WE WERE NOT ABLE TO MAKE THEM PAN OUT IN TIME, UH, FOR VARIOUS DEADLINES.
AND, AND I HOPE YOU'LL CONTINUE TO, TO RESURRECT THOSE.
UM, IT IS PAINFUL TO HAVE TO SEND EVEN ADDITIONAL MONEY FROM TRAVIS COUNTY, UM, TO THE STATE.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, JUST AGAIN, WHAT YOU SAID, WHERE, YOU KNOW, IF WE INCREASE THE P IF WE INCREASE THE PER PER STUDENT ALLOTMENT, IF WE CHANGE HOW WE COUNT, UM, YOU KNOW, ATTENDANCE VERSUS, UM, ENROLLMENT, THAT THOSE THINGS DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
THEY MAKE A DIFFERENCE, NOT JUST FOR AUSTIN.
THEY MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR ALL OF CENTRAL TEXAS.
THEY MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR STUDENTS ALL ACROSS THE STATE.
THIS IS NOT JUST SOMETHING THAT'S HURTING AUSTIN.
WE'VE BEEN, WE'VE BEEN PAYING, UM, RECAPTURE FOR A LONG TIME, WHICH HURTS US WITH RESPECT TO OUR TAXES.
BUT, UM, THESE ADJUSTMENTS NEED TO HAPPEN FOR EVERY CHILD ACROSS, UM, THE STATE.
ANY OTHER LAST COMMENTS? COMMISSIONER CHAIR? YEAH, I HAD A, A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS, UM, TO TRY AND UNDERSTAND HOW TO EXPLAIN THE DEFICIT ALONG THE LINES OF WHAT COUNCILMAN WALTER HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT.
DID I UNDERSTAND THAT? I DON'T KNOW WHERE THIS A THOUSAND DOLLARS PER STUDENT, UH, NUMBER CAME FROM.
WAS THAT SOMETHING THAT THE LEGISLATURE WAS CONSIDERING BUT DIDN'T FUND? NO, THE LEGISLATOR WAS CONSIDERED, WAS IT $60? IT WAS 60 OR $80.
I DON'T REMEMBER THE EXACT NUMBER.
SOME OF THE OUTSIDE GROUPS PUT FORWARD THAT IF YOU KEPT THE BASIC ALLOTMENT UP WITH INFLATION, YOU WOULD NEED TO RAISE IT ABOUT A THOUSAND DOLLARS.
THAT'S WHAT I WAS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND.
SO REALLY, IF, IF YOU JUST KEPT UP WITH INFLATION, LIKE COST OF LIVING INCREASES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, IT WOULD, IT WOULD MEAN THAT A ISD WOULD HAVE ABOUT EIGHT $80 MILLION MORE.
WAS THAT YOUR ROUGH CALCULATION? YEAH, IT WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER, BUT I'M NOT SURE ON THE EXACT AMOUNT.
SO I MEAN, THAT, THAT GOES A LONG WAY.
'CAUSE I, I GET THESE QUESTIONS AS WELL.
HOW, HOW DID THE SCHOOL DISTRICT DEVELOP SUCH A MASSIVE DEFICIT? SO IF THE LEGISLATURE HAD JUST FUNDED, UH, STUDENT ALLOTMENTS TO KEEP UP WITH INFLATION, YOU WOULD HAVE MORE THAN $80 MILLION, UH, EXTRA PER YEAR.
SO TAKE THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, SUBTRACT THAT FROM THE $95 MILLION DEFICIT.
AND THEN DO MANY SCHOOL DISTRICTS FUND BASED ON ATTENDANCE VERSUS ENROLLMENT ARE, WE'RE A, WE'RE A REAL OUTLIER IN THAT REGARD.
RIGHT? THAT'S WHAT I WANNA UNDERSTAND.
THERE'S THREE, THERE'S THREE STATES THAT FUND BASED OFF OF ATTENDANCE INSTEAD OF ENROLLMENT.
SO ACTUALLY CALIFORNIA IS ONE OF THEM.
UM, AND THEY'RE THE, YEAH, SO THE, YOU KNOW, TWO OF THE THREE LARGEST SCHOOL DISTRICTS OR STATES FUND BASED OFF OF ATTENDANCE, BUT IT'S FROM PROP 13.
YEAH, I WANNA SAY THE OTHER ONE'S NEBRASKA, IT MAY BE MISSOURI.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE AN OUT, IT'S, WE'RE AN OUTLIER NATIONALLY IN FUNDING COMPLETELY AN OUTLIER BASED ON ATTENDANCE VERSUS ENROLLMENT CA IN CALIFORNIA IS CURRENTLY UNDER
[01:10:01]
A STUDY TO CHANGE TO DOING IT BY ENROLLMENT.AND, UM, IF WE, IF WE FUNDED BASED ON ENROLLMENT, THAT WOULD GENERATE AN ADDITIONAL, WAS IT ROUGHLY 20 MILLION? YEAH, I WOULD NEED TO CHECK.
SO IT WOULD BE THAT, IT WOULD BE LIKE, YOU HAVE A HUNDRED PERCENT ATTENDANCE, SO IT'D BE AN 8% INCREASE IN YOUR WA I'M JUST TRYING TO GET SOME REALLY KIND OF BASIC NUMBERS THAT A FIVE, YOU KNOW, FIFTH GRADER WOULD UNDERSTAND.
'CAUSE THAT'S THE LEVEL I'M WORKING AT WITH THE A ISD BUDGET.
BUT TO EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE HOW, HOW THE SCHOOL DISTRICT GOT SUCH A BIG DEFICIT, UM, SO INFLATION AND, UH, FUNDING ON, UM, ENROLLMENT INSTEAD OF ATTENDANCE.
SO THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD TWOFOLD, THE, UM, SPECIAL EDUCATION COSTS, IF THE DISTRICT SPENDS SOMEWHERE AROUND $160 MILLION A YEAR, AND THAT INCLUDES THE ADDITIONAL 25 MILLION THAT WE'VE SPENT TO, YOU KNOW, ENHANCE THE SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, BUT WE ONLY GET 50 MILLION FROM STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDS.
ARE THOSE FUNDING SOURCES THAT WERE PRESUMED INITIALLY TO FULLY FUND SPECIAL EDUCATION? WAS THAT THE INTENTION OR WAS IT ALWAYS THE INTENTION? THAT IS THE INTENTION, YES.
SO THE INTENTION WAS THAT THE STATE AND FEDERAL MONEY WOULD FULLY FUND SPECIAL EDUCATION, BUT THAT HAS NOT KEPT UP, THAT IS THE IN INTENTIONAL INTENTION.
AND THEN ON TRANSPORTATION, WAIT, CAN I SAY ONE MORE THING ABOUT THE SPED FUNDING? YEAH, YEAH.
IS, UM, IDEA IS A FEDERAL LAW TO FUND SPECIAL EDUCATION.
AND AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, IT'S NOT BEING COMPLETELY FUNDED.
AND, UH, IT'S ONLY BEING FUNDED ABOUT 14% OF WHAT IT SHOULD BE.
SO THIS IS VERY MUCH A FEDERAL ISSUE AS WELL AS A STATE ISSUE.
WELL, MAYBE WE KNOW SOMEBODY WHO CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
WELL, WE DO, I KNOW THERE'S NOT A WHOLE LOT OF INTEREST IN CONGRESS FROM WHAT I HEAR, UM, TO ACTUALLY ENFORCE THIS LAW.
SO THE FEDS SHOULD BE FUNDING IT, UM, CERTAINLY MUCH MORE.
AND THAT WOULD HELP WITH IT, UH, THE, UH, THE DEFICIT.
AND THEN, UH, ON TRANSPORTATION, IS IT ONLY THE STATE THAT PROVIDES ADDITIONAL FUNDING THERE AND CLEARLY NOT ENOUGH? OR DO THE FEDS ALSO HELP WITH TRANSPORTATION, OR IS THAT JUST STATE AND LOCAL? IT'S, IT'S ONLY, I MEAN, THERE'S ALWAYS GRANTS.
BUT REALLY IT'S ONLY THE STATE AND IT'S COSTING US 40 MILLION.
AND THE STATE IS FUNDING 6 MILLION.
WAS THE INTENT THERE THAT THE STATE WOULD FUND MORE OF THAT? YEAH.
SO THEY'RE USING A PER MILE RATE.
THAT'S, I I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW OLD AT THIS POINT.
IT'S OVER 30 YEARS OLD, YOU KNOW, SO THEY'RE SAYING THEY FUND US SPACE OFF OF A PER STUDENT MILE.
SO THEY CALCULATE THE NUMBER OF KIDS ON THE BUS AND DIVIDE IT BY HOW MANY MILES THAT BUS DRIVES.
AND THAT'S HOW YOU GENERATE FUNDING ON APPROVED ROUTES ONLY.
BUT EVEN FOR OUR APPROVED ROUTES, WE'RE ONLY GETTING ABOUT A QUARTER OF WHAT THAT ACTUALLY COST US.
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, GAS ISN'T 78 CENTS A GALLON ANYMORE, AND BUS DRIVERS AREN'T PAID $6 AN HOUR ANYMORE.
SO THEIR FUNDING FORMULA HAS NOT INCREASED FOR 30 YEARS ON THE PRICE OF GAS PER MILE.
IT'S A VERY OLD FUNDING FORMULA FOR TRANSPORTATION.
BUT IT WAS THE, IT WAS WHAT THE PRICE OF GAS WAS, SAY, 30 YEARS AGO PER MILE.
THOSE KINDS OF REALLY SIMPLE EXPLANATIONS I THINK WOULD, WOULD BE HELPFUL.
'CAUSE THEY, THEY LAY OUT THESE REALLY, REALLY LARGE ADDITIONAL COSTS THAT ARE BEING FORCED ON THE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND THAT ARE REALLY HARMING, UM, UH, A ISD.
UM, I'D LIKE TO ADD ONE MORE THING.
I DON'T THINK YOU TALKED ABOUT, UM, HOUSE BILL 16.
OH, WELL, SO THERE'S TWO THINGS.
ONE IS, UM, THE, IN THE LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION, UM, THERE WAS A LAW PASSED THAT REQUIRED US TO PUT ARMED OFFICERS AT EVERY CAMPUS, AND THAT WAS UNDERFUNDED.
SO WE'RE PAYING ABOUT 8 MILLION, RIGHT.
COULD MS. MONTGOMERY $8 MILLION OR MORE TO MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE IN ADDITION.
SO WE ARE INCURRING, SO THIS IS AN UNFUNDED MANDATE OR UNDERFUNDED MANDATE BY THE STATE.
AND THEN SECONDLY, UM, THERE'S A GRANDER SCHEME AT WORK HERE.
HOUSE BILL 1605 IS, UM, SOMETHING THAT WAS PASSED.
PART OF THAT BILL BASICALLY SAYS THAT THE STATE CAN, CAN CREATE A CURRICULUM THAT IS VERY MUCH, UM, IN LIKE A, A I'LL SPEAK BY FOR MYSELF, NOT ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD HERE, BUT IT IS A VERY, UM, CONSERVATIVE, UM, NATIONALISM, SORT OF BIBLE INFUSED CUR CURRICULUM THAT MANY OF YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN HEARING ABOUT.
THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION RIGHT NOW IS CONSIDERING THIS CURRICULUM.
UM, BUT IT WOULD ACTUALLY IN TEA WOULD PAY SCHOOL DISTRICTS $60 PER STUDENT TO ADOPT THIS CURRICULUM.
SO ON ONE HAND, WE ARE BEING SEVERELY UNDERFUNDED.
ON THE OTHER HAND, THEY'RE SAYING, HEY, BUT YOU CAN, WE'LL PAY YOU TO
[01:15:01]
ADOPT A CURRICULUM THAT WE DEVELOP.SO THEY'RE BRIBING THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO USE BIBLE-BASED EDUCATION AT THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
WOULD THAT NATIONALIST BIBLE
NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE BIBLE, BUT IT SHOULDN'T BE TAUGHT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
AND, AND DON'T FORGET, UM, FOR AUSTIN, THE FORMULAS FOR, UM, RECAPTURE OUR RIDICULOUS 30 PLUS YEARS OLD AND MM-HMM.
AND THAT WE'RE SENDING $800 MILLION OUT OF OUR CITY WHEN WE HAVE A DEFICIT AND WE HAVE CHILDREN OUR NEEDS.
AND, YOU KNOW, EVEN IF WE GOT THE 1000 FOR INFLATION, EVEN IF WE GOT, UM, THE, THE, UM, ENROLLMENT BUMPS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S STILL PLENTY OF THINGS THAT WE COULD BE DOING TO BETTER SERVE OUR KIDS.
AND TEXAS IS IN THE BOTTOM FOR PER PUPIL SPENDING AS IT IS.
WE ARE 10% OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL KIDS IN THE COUNTRY, UM, IN TEXAS.
AND OUR OUTCOMES, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES DO REFLECT THAT.
SO WE, WE ARE AT THE VERY BOTTOM OR, UH, ALMOST AT THE BOTTOM.
UM, WE ARE IN THE FORTIES SOMETHING, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE ARE.
I DO WANNA, WE SPEND LESS THAN, WHAT WAS IT ALABAMA LIKE, WHO WAS THE YEAH, I DON'T REMEMBER.
UM, BUT I DO WANNA RAISE UP SOMETHING THAT THIS CO COUNCIL MEMBER ALMAN HAD MENTIONED, WHICH WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE BECOME MORE SELF-RELIANT ON OUR FUNDING? AND I'M REALLY EAGER TO EXPLORE WAYS FOR THAT TO HAPPEN.
AND I'M ALSO EAGER TO EXPLORE WAYS THAT WE CAN, UM, AS THREE GOVERNING ENTITIES CAN WORK REALLY TOGETHER TO ENSURE THAT BEING, WE ARE BEING EXTREMELY STRATEGIC AND MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY DOLLAR.
AND SO I THINK IT WOULD BE HELP, REALLY HELPFUL TO HAVE CONVENE A SMALLER WORKING GROUP WITH US.
UM, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST ONE REPRESENTATIVE FROM EACH GOVERNING ENTITY ALONG WITH SOME OF OUR FINANCIAL FOLKS FROM THE DIFFERENT ENTITIES TO REALLY SIT DOWN, GO THROUGH THE NUMBERS, AND THINK THROUGH, OKAY, WHERE COULD WE ALIGN RESOURCES HERE OR HERE OR HERE? BECAUSE EVEN IF A ISD PROP A PASSES, WE'RE STILL TALKING ABOUT A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF BUDGET REDUCTION.
AND THESE ARE THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO BE, UM, THE THINGS THAT ARE ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK, FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM, ARE THINGS THAT DIRECTLY IMPACT NOT ONLY FAMILIES AND THE WAY WE TRADITIONALLY THINK ABOUT FAMILIES AND SERVICES, BUT ALSO THINGS LIKE, UH, CAREER AND TECHNICAL PROGRAMS. THIS IS VERY MUCH A WORKFORCE ISSUE.
YOU KNOW, THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS TRYING TO, I THINK, FILL 10,000 NEW ADVANCED MANUFACTURING JOBS OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
WELL, THOSE ARE GONNA BE A ISD GRADS.
AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE STUDENTS WHO KNOW WHAT ADVANCED MANUFACTURING IS AND AREN'T COMING OUT OF SCHOOL OR READY TO WORK OR READY TO PURSUE FURTHER EDUCATION IN THAT FIELD, THAT IMPACTS ALL OF US AS A CITY.
AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE CONTINUE, UM, YOU KNOW, LEANING ON WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS, LOOKING AT LIKE THE OTHER GOVERNING AGE OR THE OTHER ENTITIES AROUND HERE.
AND REALLY LOOKING AT THE, AT THIS THROUGH A WORKFORCE LENS AS WELL AS LIKE A PUBLIC HEALTH LENS AND, AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT'S IMPORTANT TO US, BUT WE ARE PRODUCING THE WORKERS OF TOMORROW FOR OUR REGION.
AND SO WE'VE ALL GOTTA PUT OUR MINDS TOGETHER TO THINK ABOUT HOW TO BEST SERVE THEM.
SO I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR LIFTING UP ALL THOSE THOUGHTS.
SO, SO FAR WE HAVE SAID THAT WE WANNA HAVE EXECUTIVE SESSION, UM, ON OUR NEXT MEETING, UM, DECEMBER 2ND OR SIXTH.
IF YOU HAVEN'T RESPONDED TO YOUR STAFF LIAISON ABOUT YOUR AVAILABILITY, PLEASE, UM, DO THAT.
UM, AND THEN SO WE CAN GET THAT SCHEDULED.
IT WOULD BE DECEMBER 2ND OR DECEMBER 6TH IN THE SAME KIND OF TIME PERIOD.
I'M GONNA ASK, UM, PRESIDENT SINGH, IF, IF FOLKS ARE INTERESTED IN SERVING ON THAT COMMITTEE, UM, TO TALK WITH YOU SINCE I THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY BOARD MEMBER CON CORRECT.
UM, AND, UM, SO COMMISSIONERS, IF THERE'S ONE OF YOU THAT'S INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THAT, UM, LET, UM, PRESIDENT SINGH KNOW AND, AND RUN OR HUE, IF YOU WANNA LET HER KNOW AS WELL.
YOU CAN HAVE MORE THAN ONE IF YEAH, IF YOU'RE, IF MORE THAN ONE IS INTERESTED, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A GREAT, UM, NEXT STEP FOR THIS COMMITTEE.
[VII. TEA Approved Order on Special Education]
NOW TO THE TEA APPROVED.UM, WE'RE GONNA NOW MOVE TO THE TA APPROVED ORDER ON SPECIAL EDUCATION.
UM, AND I'LL JUST SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DO HAVE A HARD STOP TODAY, IDEALLY A LITTLE BEFORE ONE 30.
COMMISSIONER ILIAN AND I BOTH HAVE TO GET TO CAMPO ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN.
I, I DO HAVE TO STEP OUT, SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE EVERYBODY AWARE OF THAT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME BACK.
[01:20:01]
A YEAR AGO, IT MAY HAVE BEEN ABOUT 10 MONTHS AGO THAT I LAST PROVIDED YOU AN UPDATE ON THE TEA AGREED ORDER.AND SO HAPPY TO BE BACK AND LETTING YOU KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENED OVER THE LAST YEAR.
SO, AS A REMINDER, OUR TEA AGREED ORDER WAS ENTERED IN WITH THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY LAST AUGUST, UM, IN ORDER TO SATISFY A SERIES OF CORRECTIVE ACTIONS THAT WERE OPEN AGAINST AUSTIN ISD DUE TO, UH, ADMITTEDLY US FAILING TO PROVIDE, UM, TIMELY EVALUATIONS OF STUDENTS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION AND ENSURING THAT THOSE EVALUATIONS WERE THEN PUT IN PLACE IN WHAT WE CALL AN IEP, AN INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLAN.
AND THAT THOSE WERE TIMELY PUT IN PLACE FOR STUDENTS.
UH, SO THIS AGREED ORDER REQUIRED MULTIPLE THINGS, AND THERE WAS ACTUALLY, UM, THE OVERALL AGREEMENT AND THEN FOUR PRIORITIES THAT WE NEEDED TO SATISFY.
SO THE FIRST PART OF THE AGREEMENT WAS, OF COURSE, SATISFYING THE OPEN CORRECTIVE ACTION, AND THAT OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES WOULD ALSO BE REQUIRED TO GO THROUGH CERTAIN TRAINING, WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT IN A MOMENT.
UM, AND THEN EACH OF THOSE PRIORITIES, UH, LISTED ONE OF THE MAJOR CONCERNS THAT TEA HAD AT THAT TIME BASED OFF OF OUR SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM.
SO SINCE WE'VE MET FROM A YEAR AGO, WE HAVE NOW COMPLETED 71 OUT OF 99 OF THE REQUIRED TASK IN THAT AGREED ORDER.
IN ADDITION, WE HAVE, UH, COMPLETED EVERYTHING UNDER PRIORITY ONE, PRIORITY AND PRIORITY FOUR.
WHILE PRIORITY THREE IS COMPLETE, AS IN WE'VE DONE OUR INITIAL SUBMISSIONS, THOSE ARE REQUIRED MONTHLY.
SO THEY DON'T REALLY COMPLETE UNTIL WE ARE COMPLETELY DONE WITH THE ORDER OVERALL.
UH, BUT WE HAVE DONE OUR INITIAL SUBMISSIONS, SO I'M GONNA GO INTO A LITTLE BIT OF DETAIL ON EACH ONE.
UH, THE FIRST ONE IS THE OVERALL AGREED ORDER AND WHAT WE NORMALLY REFER TO AS THE LONE STAR GOVERNANCE PORTION.
UM, SO IT REQUIRED THAT OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES IMPLEMENT A LONE STAR GOVERNANCE PROCESS AND THEN ALSO MEET A CERTAIN SCORE ON THE LONE STAR GOVERNANCE EVALUATION.
UH, SO THE BOARD DID THEIR LAST SELF-EVALUATION, UM, IN AUGUST.
AND AT THAT MEETING, UH, THEY SCORED A 66, WHICH WAS A MEETS FOCUS, WHICH WAS THE REQUIREMENT UNDER THE APPROVED ORDER.
SO NOW THE BOARD IS REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN, UH, THAT, UH, MEETS FOCUS FOR AT LEAST THREE MORE QUARTERS.
SO ALL IN ALL, IT'LL BE A COMPLETE YEAR.
UM, BUT THEY'VE COMPLETED ONE NOW THEY HAVE THREE MORE TO GO, AND THEY WILL DO ANOTHER QUARTERLY EVALUATION AT THE END OF THIS MONTH.
UH, PRIORITY ONE WAS, CAN I SAY SOMETHING, DR.
AND YOU'RE NOT, YOU DIDN'T BRAG ON US, BUT WE ACTUALLY MET OUR DEADLINE A FULL YEAR BEFORE TEA REQUIRED US TO
AND OUR, OUR LONE STAR GOVERNANCE COACH ACTUALLY REALLY SAID VERY EFFUSIVELY WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT THIS.
AND SHE HAS NEVER WORKED WITH A BOARD THAT HAS BEEN ABLE TO MOVE, UH, SO QUICKLY THROUGH THE LENS STAR GOVERNANCE REQUIREMENTS.
AND THAT'S A TESTAMENT TO OUR ENTIRE BOARD AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM FOR ALL THE HARD WORK THEY'VE DONE.
SO, UNDER A PRIORITY ONE, UM, THIS WAS SATISFYING THE OPEN CORRECTIVE ACTION PLANS.
AT THE TIME THAT TEA PLACED US UNDER THE ORDER, WE HAD 15 OPEN CORRECTIVE ACTIONS WITH THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY.
UM, SINCE THAT TIME, WE HAVE COMPLETED ALL OF THOSE CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.
IN ADDITION, WE HAVE COMPLETED ALL OF THE OUTSTANDING EVALUATIONS THAT WERE DONE PRIOR TO THE START OF THE ORDER.
AND WHILE NOT PART OF THE ORDER, I DO WANNA ALSO REPORT, UM, THAT WE HAVE MANAGED TO NOT ADD TO OUR OUTSTANDING EVALUATIONS.
SO THOSE THAT ARE OUT OF TIMELINE, UM, SINCE WE, UH, REALLY SINCE ABOUT OCTOBER OF LAST YEAR.
SO, UH, IN OTHER WORDS, WE'RE COMPLETING ALL OF OUR EVALUATIONS ON TIME.
NOW, WE'VE ALSO COMPLETED A DETERMINATION OF ALL THE STUDENTS WHO WERE OUTSTANDING TO DETERMINE IF THEY NEEDED COMPENSATORY SERVICES, WHICH IS JUST ADDITIONAL SERVICES THAT THEY'RE DUE BECAUSE THEY DID NOT GET SERVICES DURING A TIME PERIOD THEY SHOULD HAVE BECAUSE THEY WERE LATE.
UM, SO WE HAVE COMPLETED ALL THOSE DETERMINATIONS.
UH, AND WHILE NOT PART OF PRIORITY ONE, UH, WE WOULD ALSO WANNA MENTION, AND WE SHARED THIS LAST MONTH AT OUR BOARD MEETING, UH, THAT WE WERE UNDER A, UM, A LAWSUIT THAT CAME FROM AN OUTSIDE ORGANIZATION THAT ACTUALLY BROUGHT SOME OF THIS TO T'S ATTENTION.
AND WE'VE ALSO COMPLETED EVERYTHING IN THAT LAWSUIT THAT WAS ASSOCIATED WITH OUTSTANDING EVALUATIONS.
UM, SO OUR PRIORITY TWO IS IDENTIFYING AND IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE PRACTICES.
THIS IS REALLY ABOUT THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR OUR STAFF AND ENSURING THAT WE HAVE A STRONG PROGRAM IN AUSTIN, ISD.
UH, SO WE'VE ACTUALLY COMPLETED A STATE OF OUR SPECIAL EDUCATION.
WE PROVIDED THAT TO OUR BOARD BACK IN JUNE.
UH, WE'VE ALSO DEVELOPED A NEW SPED EVALUATION MANUAL, AND A MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM OF SUPPORTS MANUAL, WHICH I'LL REFER TO AS MTSS.
AND MTSS, AGAIN, IS JUST THE SERIES
[01:25:01]
OF SERVICES THAT YOU PROVIDE TO A STUDENT, UNDERSTANDING THAT AT SOME POINT THEY MAY NEED ADDITIONAL SERVICES.SO THEN THEY RISE UP A TIER, AND THAT'S A THREE TIER SYSTEM.
WE'VE TRAINED ALL CAMPUS STAFF AND ALL CENTRAL OFFICE STAFF ON SOME PORTIONS OF THIS, AND ALL CAMPUS STAFF AND ALL CAMPUS LEADERSHIP ON ALL OF THE MTSS PROGRAMS. UM, SO THAT'S OVER 6,000 TEACHERS THAT WE GOT TRAINED DURING THE SUMMER.
UM, WHICH I WILL TELL YOU A YEAR AGO, WE SAT THERE AND DISCUSS HOW ARE WE ACTUALLY GONNA GET THAT DONE? UM, WE WERE ABLE TO BUILD IN SOME PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAYS, UM, FOR OUR TEACHERS AT THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.
SO PAYING THEM TO COME IN A LITTLE BIT EARLY SO WE CAN COMPLETE THAT.
BUT THAT WAS DIFFICULT, BUT WE DID MOVE FORWARD ON IT.
AND THEN THIS YEAR WE'VE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED THAT NEW MTSS SYSTEM.
SO THROUGH THE YEAR, UM, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO NOT ONLY IMPLEMENT IT, BUT ALSO TRAIN OUR STAFF ON THE PROTOCOLS AND WALKTHROUGHS FOR MTSS.
AND THEN WE'LL ALSO PROVIDE QUARTERLY UPDATES TO OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
AND WE'RE GONNA DO OUR FIRST ONE AT OUR BOARD MEETING THIS MONTH.
SO PRIORITY THREE WAS OUR DATA SYSTEMS. UH, ONE CONCERN THAT TEA RAISED WAS THAT THEY FELT THAT WHEN THEY WERE ASKING US FOR DATA, THEY WOULD GET DIFFERENT DATA AT DIFFERENT POINTS.
UM, AND THEY JUST FELT IT WAS NOT RELIABLE DATA.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO BE HONEST THAT THAT WAS CORRECT.
WE DID NOT HAVE RELIABLE SYSTEMS THAT PROVIDED THE DATA THAT WE NEEDED TO MAKE ACTIONABLE CHOICES WHEN IT CAME TO WHAT WAS BEST FOR OUR STUDENTS.
UM, SO WE'VE IMPLEMENTED A LOT OF NEW, UH, DATA SYSTEMS AND TRAINED OUR STAFF ON THAT.
AND WE HAVE STARTED SUBMITTING MONTHLY REPORTS TO TEA THAT SHOWS SUMMARY OF ALL OF OUR T ALL OF OUR SPECIAL EDUCATION DATA.
SO, EXCUSE ME, BUT IS IT NOT TRUE, UH, THAT SINCE INTEGRATION, UH, THE, THE SPECIAL EDUCATION HAS PRIMARILY, PRIMARILY BEEN USED AS A DISCIPLINARY TOOL.
IT HAS NOT HAD ALL OF THE DIAGNOSTIC, UH, TESTS OR INFORMATION THAT ARE NECESSARY TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENT FORMS OF DYSLEXIA OR OTHER ISSUES AND ADDRESS THEM.
I MEAN, I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, THAT, THAT, UH, WE ARE NOT GATHERING ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WE SHOULD GATHER.
WE NEVER HAVE, IT WAS NEVER INTENDED FOR THAT PURPOSE UNTIL THIS LEGISLATURE DECIDED THAT, UH, THIS WAS A WAY TO DING SOME OF OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
I, I UNDERSTAND, UH, THAT WE ARE NOT DOING SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT HAVE BEEN ASKED FOR, BUT WE'VE NEVER DONE THE THINGS THAT, THAT THEY'RE ASKING FOR.
AND IT'S DISINGENUOUS WITHOUT PROVIDING THE RESOURCES THAT ARE NECESSARY, NOT ONLY TO DIAGNOSE, BUT THEN TO ADDRESS THE DIAGNOSIS.
YEAH, I GUESS YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T ANSWER THAT ON CAMERA
WE WANNA BE UPFRONT, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ADDRESSING WHERE WE SEE AREAS FOR CONCERN IS WHEN WE SEE DISPROPORTIONALITY IN STUDENTS THAT ARE REFERRED FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION, UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS.
AND WE BELIEVE STRONGLY THAT IF WE HAVE STRONG ACADEMIC SYSTEMS, THEN WE'RE NOT GONNA SEE THOSE REFERRALS THAT SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING.
UM, AND SO ONE THING THAT WE ARE TRACKING IS NOT JUST THE DISPROPORTIONALITY OF WHO IS REFERRED, BUT, UM, THOSE STUDENTS WHO ACTUALLY WHAT WE CALL DNQ, THEY DID NOT QUALIFY.
SO THEY WERE REFERRED, BUT THEY DID NOT NEED SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, UM, THAT REALLY THAT NUMBER SHOULD BE ZERO.
UM, BUT HOW, IF WE HAVE STRONG ACADEMIC SYSTEMS THAT SHOULD ADDRESS STUDENTS BEING REFERRED IN THE FIRST PLACE, I KNOW THAT ONLY ANSWERS A VERY SMALL PART OF YOUR QUESTION OR ADDRESSES A SMALL PART, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE LOOK AT CAREFULLY WITH WHAT WE'RE MONITORING RIGHT NOW.
SO WHEN YOU SAY DISPROPORTIONALITY, IT SHOULD, I UNDERSTAND THAT TO MEAN THAT THE NUMBER OF MINORITY STUDENTS ASSIGNED TO, UH, SPECIAL EDUCATION, UH, FAR OUT, OUT RATES THE NUMBERS IN WHICH THEY ARE A PART OF THE STUDENT BODY? THAT'S CORRECT.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE COMMONLY SAY THAT LIKE AN AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE IS TWICE AS LIKELY TO BE REFERRED THAN ANY OTHER STUDENT, WHICH SHOULD NOT, SHOULD NOT MATHEMATICALLY MAKE SENSE.
ARE YOU SEEING THOSE KINDS OF, UH, NUMBERS DECLINE OR DO YOU EXPECT THAT YOU WOULD, SINCE YOU'VE NOW TRAINED 6,000 STAFF, UH, I GUESS TO HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO EITHER REFER OR DIAGNOSE OR? THAT'S RIGHT.
WE DO EXPECT THAT THE TRAINING IS GOING TO LEAD TO, UM, TO ASSIGNING SUPPORT AS NEEDED.
AND NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS, YOU KNOW, A REFERRAL FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION, IT MAY JUST BE A REFERRAL TO HELP REREAD THIS PASSAGE WITH THAT STUDENT.
OR THAT'S NOT EVEN A REFERRAL, JUST A KNOW-HOW IN THE CLASSROOM.
UM, AND SO WE DO EXPECT THAT THAT TRAINING SHOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN WHAT WE SEE IN DISPROPORTIONALITY
[01:30:01]
IN STUDENTS WHO DO NOT QUALIFY ONCE THEY COMPLETE THEIR EVALUATIONS, IT SHOULD DECREASE THOSE.UM, SO OUR LAST PRIORITY WAS PARENT OUTREACH.
UM, AND SO THIS WAS ENSURING THAT WE HAVE ESTABLISHED AND DEVELOPED A PARENT AND FAMILY OUTREACH CAMPAIGN IN AUSTIN, ISDA COUPLE THINGS THAT WE DID FOR THAT ONE, IT CREATED NEW MATERIALS AROUND WHAT IT IS AN EVALUATION, WHAT DOES A PARENT NEED TO KNOW IF THEY GET AN EVALUATION FOR THEIR STUDENT, OR IF THEY GET SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES FOR THEIR STUDENT.
UM, MAKING THAT MORE, UH, ACCESSIBLE FOR OUR FAMILY MEMBERS.
UM, ALL OF THESE MATERIALS ARE AVAILABLE IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES.
UH, WHILE WE HAVE OVER 90 LANGUAGES IN AUSTIN, ISD, WE WERE NOT ABLE TO TOUCH ALL OF THEM.
UH, WE'VE MOVED BEYOND, YOU KNOW, TY.
SO WE ALWAYS HAVE MATERIALS IN ENGLISH AND COMMONLY WE HAVE THEM IN SPANISH.
BUT WE, UH, MADE A, A PURPOSE THAT ON THIS WE WANTED TO INCLUDE, UH, ENGLISH, SPANISH, VIETNAMESE, KOREAN, CHINESE, FRENCH, AND THERE'S ANOTHER LANGUAGE, UM, I BELIEVE IT'S ARABIC.
AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE ALL OF THESE MATERIALS IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES TO MAKE THEM MORE ACCESSIBLE TO MORE OF OUR FAMILIES.
UM, WE'VE ALSO CREATED A BRAND NEW COMMITTEE, THE SPECIAL EDUCATION FAMILY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
THEIR NEXT MEETING WILL BE OCTOBER 28TH.
AND THEIR ROLE IS TO NOT ONLY GIVE US FEEDBACK ON EVERYTHING THAT I'VE GONE THROUGH TODAY, BUT ON THE, UM, THE NEW SYSTEMS THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTING.
SO OUR SPECIAL EDUCATION HANDBOOK, OUR SPECIAL EDUCATION GUIDANCE, THEY'RE PROVIDING US FEEDBACK ON THAT FROM A PARENT AND FAMILY PERSPECTIVE.
WE ALSO HAVE STAFF ON THERE, ALTHOUGH THE PURPOSE FROM TEA WAS TO BRING FAMILY MEMBERS, THEY WERE OKAY WITH US EXPANDING IT.
SO WE'VE ALSO INCLUDED STAFF, UM, BUT GETTING THEIR PERSPECTIVE ON THESE CHOICES AND CHANGES BEFORE WE ACTUALLY MAKE THEM.
SO AGAIN, NEXT MEETING OCTOBER 28TH, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
IT'LL BE AT OUR CENTRAL OFFICE.
UH, AND THAT IS AN OVERVIEW OF OUR SPECIAL EDUCATION AGREED ORDER WITH TEA.
UM, YOUR LAST COMMENT JUST BROUGHT UP ANOTHER AREA, UM, THAT I WANNA FLAG FOR COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTAR, WHERE WE MAY BE ABLE TO HELP, WE HAVE SOME NEW SYSTEMS FOR LANGUAGE TRANSLATION, ET CETERA.
UM, AND THERE MAY BE, THERE MAY BE SOME ECONOMIES OF SCALE MM-HMM.
WHERE IF WE ARE COORDINATING AMONGST ENTITIES THAT, UM, THE PRICE GOES DOWN MM-HMM.
UM, OR, OR WHERE WE CAN, WE CAN ASSIST WITH THAT.
UM, I DON'T KNOW ALL THE DETAILS ON THEM, BUT THEY'RE, BUT THEY'RE PRETTY COOL.
UM, HOW, DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE FOR HOW A ISD COMPARES WITH OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS? IT STRIKES ME THAT THE ISSUES THAT WE'VE HAD, UM, WITH THE SPECIAL EDUCATION STATE REQUIREMENTS, I'M ASSUMING OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS, UM, ARE HAVING SOME SIMILAR STRUGGLES.
DO, DO WE KNOW HOW A ISD COMPARES? AND IS THE STATE BEING AS RIGOROUS IN EXAMINING OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS AS THEY HAVE BEEN? OR DO THEY ONLY RESPOND TO LAWSUITS ON THIS? UH, I CERTAINLY THINK THAT, UH, BOTH, UM, THE CORRECTIVE ACTION PLANS WOULD COME FROM PARENT CONCERNS THAT ARE RAISED DIRECTLY TO TEA, UH, WAS A MAJOR DRIVER ALONG WITH THAT LAWSUIT.
WE KNOW THAT THE LAWSUIT WAS A MAJOR DRIVER AS WELL.
AND AREN'T THEY LARGELY A CHARTER SCHOOL DISTRICT NOW? HAVEN'T, HASN'T, HASN'T THE STATE ALLOCATED GIVEN OVER THIS EDUCATION IN, IN HOUSTON ISD TO CHARTER OPERATIONS, UM, TO A GENTLEMAN WHO WORKED FOR A CHARTER SCHOOL YES.
FOR MIKE MILES, WHO WAS NAMED THE SUPERINTENDENT.
AND HE, THEY TOOK OVER THE BOARD.
UM, THEY HAD SOME ISSUES ALSO DEALING WITH ACCOUNTABILITY THAT WE DID NOT.
SO THEY HAD A DIFFERENT ACTION THAN WE DID.
BUT MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THAT THEIR ORIGINAL WORK WITH TEA AND THEIR ORIGINAL CONSERVATOR WAS JUST ON SPECIAL EDUCATION.
THEN THEY HAD THE ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUE, AND THAT'S WHEN THE STATE TOOK OVER THE WHOLE DISTRICT.
UM, BUT HOUSTON, ISD, UH, WAS UNDER A SIMILAR ORDER.
WE DO KNOW THAT THERE WERE LOTS OF DISTRICTS THAT WERE OUT OF, OUT OF COMPLIANCE WITH ENSURING THOSE TIMELINES, ESPECIALLY COMING OUT OF COVID.
ONE, MANY DISTRICTS DID NOT EVALUATE STUDENTS DURING THAT.
UM, THAT AT HOME COVID PERIOD.
WHICH, OF COURSE, NOW, IN RETROSPECT, WE WOULD'VE WISH WE COULD HAVE PUT BETTER SYSTEMS IN PLACE, BUT HOW DID WE KNOW THAT WE WOULD NEED THEM? UM, AND, UH, AND THEN MORE STUDENTS WERE ACTUALLY, UH, NOT, I'M SORRY, WERE, UH, REFERRED FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES FOLLOWING COVID.
SO WE'VE SEEN THOSE REFERRAL NUMBERS GO UP.
UH, AUSTIN, ISD RIGHT NOW IS SERVING ABOUT 16% SPECIAL EDUCATION, UH, WHICH IS FAIRLY HIGH FOR THE STATE.
THE STATE AVERAGE IS ABOUT 12.
UM, BUT WE ARE SIMILAR TO SOME OF OUR OTHER URBAN PEERS.
AND SO IT DOES SEEM THAT, UH, THE URBAN AREAS TEND TO HAVE SLIGHTLY HIGHER SPECIAL
[01:35:01]
EDUCATION NUMBERS.THAT MIGHT BE BECAUSE THE CHARTERS ARE TAKING ALL THE KIDS WHO ARE NOT SPECIALIZED.
CHARTER, THE PERCENTAGE IS PROBABLY SIMILAR IN OUR COMMUNITY, BUT NOT IN OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT.
BUT THE LINE DISTRICT CIVILIAN, THE LINE OF DEMARCATION USUALLY GOES AROUND URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS AS, AS OPPOSED TO OUR RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
I MEAN, AT, AT THE END OF THE DAY, UM, THE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS THAT WE HAVE ARE PLACES WHERE WE ALSO HAVE LARGER MINORITY POPULATIONS AS WELL.
SO THERE'S A, THERE'S A DIRECT CORRELATION THERE.
UM, ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON THIS ITEM? I JUST WANNA, UM, THANK THE STAFF OF A ISD FOR ALL THE PRESENTATIONS TODAY AND OUR STAFF.
UM, BUT ALSO JUST TO RECOGNIZE THE REALLY HARD WORK THAT THE A ISD BOARD, UM, AND THE ADMINISTRATION HAS PUT INTO ADDRESSING SOME REALLY CHALLENGING SITUATIONS AND, AND REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR ABILITY TO PROVIDE THE METRICS AND, AND, AND REALLY SHOW US THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE, UM, IN HOPEFULLY THAT THE STUDENTS WHO AND THE FAMILIES WHO ARE IMPACTED ARE SEEING THAT TOO IN THEIR EXPERIENCES, IN THEIR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.
UM, IF THERE ARE NO OTHER QUESTIONS ON THAT, THEN THE LAST ITEM
[VIII. Standing Items (set at previous meetings)]
IS KIND OF JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR, UM, NEXT MEETING.UM, I THINK WE NEED TO DETERMINE IF IT'S DECEMBER 2ND OR DECEMBER 6TH, AND I GUESS OUR, IT'S GONNA BE THE SIXTH.
SO IT'S GONNA BE DECEMBER 6TH, OUR NEXT MEETING, UM, FROM 1130 TO ONE 30, AND IT WILL BE AT THE A ISD LOCATION.
UM, I'VE ALSO ASKED OUR STAFF IF THEY CAN COORDINATE SO THAT, UM, WHOEVER'S LEADING THE MEETING WILL SEND OUT THE AGENDA, UM, AND THE DOCUMENTS TO US BY EMAIL, AS WELL AS HAVING IT IN THE CALENDAR INVITE.
AND THEN IF WE CAN, UM, WORK UP A LITTLE BIT BETTER SYSTEM SO THAT IF PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO FIND, UM, THIS COMMITTEE.
UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY ONLY POSTING MEETINGS ON THE HOST ORGANIZATION.
THERE'S NOT A, A LANDING SPOT FOR ALL OF, UM, THE MEETINGS TOGETHER, WHICH MAKES IT, I THINK, A LITTLE BIT CHALLENGING FOR PEOPLE TO FOLLOW.
AND OUR MEETINGS DON'T HAPPEN KIND OF WITH A REGULAR SORT OF RHYTHM.
UM, SO IF WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT ON ALL THREE ENTITIES WE ARE POSTING THE DATES.
AND IF, IF YOU DON'T POST, IF IT'S TOO HARD TO POST THE FULL AGENDA MATERIALS, IF YOU CAN AT LEAST POST WE'RE MEETING THIS DAY, CLICK HERE TO FIND THE OTHER CAL THE OTHER CALENDAR, I THINK THAT WOULD HELPFUL.
BE HELPFUL AND, AND MAKE THIS MORE TRANSPARENT, UM, FOR THE PUBLIC AND THE MEDIA WHO MAY WANNA BE ENGAGED IN THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'RE, WE ARE HAVING.
UM, AND THEN FOR THE NEXT MEETING, UM, WE HAVE SAID THAT WE WANNA DO THE EXECUTIVE SESSION.
THAT MAY TAKE UP MOST OF THE TIME.
AND THEN I THINK WE WOULD PROBABLY WANNA SEE IF THERE'S, ARE THERE ARE ANY CONVERSATIONS WE NEED TO HAVE ABOUT EITHER OF THE PROP A, UM, AND WHAT HAPPENS IN THE ELECTION.
UM, THERE MAY BE SOME OPPORTUNITIES TO AT LEAST UNDERSTAND, UM, WHERE DIFFERENT ENTITIES CAN, CAN PLUG IN TO PROP A, UM, IMPLEMENTATION FOR THE CHILDCARE.
UM, THAT SHOULD BE A MONTH AFTER.
THERE MAY BE, THAT MAY BE A GOOD TOUCH POINT.
IT MAY MAY BE THAT FURTHER CONVERSATIONS OFFLINE WITH STAFF HAVE TO HAPPEN, BUT I THINK WE COULD PERHAPS AIM FOR AN INITIAL TOUCH POINT THERE.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE THINK WE COULD FIT ON THIS AGENDA? I THINK THAT'S A LOT OF MATERIAL.
I THINK WE SHOULD HAVE TOO MUCH ELSE.
UM, ANYTHING ELSE? EDNA, DID YOU WANNA ADD ANYTHING ELSE? YOU, EDNA WERE YOU TRYING TO ADD ANYTHING ELSE? I WAS JUST GONNA ASK WHAT YOU ALL WOULD LIKE ON THE AGENDA.
AND SO MY UNDERSTANDING IS MAYBE SORT OF A, A REPORT ON THE PROP, A RESULTS AND THEN EXECUTIVE SESSION.
AND THEN DO YOU ALSO WANT TO DISCUSS WHO WANTS TO BE THE ONE PERSON FROM EACH ENTITY ON THIS COMMITTEE TO EXPLORE? I THINK TRUSTEE SING, UH, PRESIDENT SINGH.
I THINK YOU MENTIONED PEOPLE CAN EMAIL ME.
SO PEOPLE CAN EMAIL HER AND THEY CAN MAYBE EVEN START, UM, BEFORE.
UM, AND SO IT'S NOT JUST THAT I WANNA REPORT ON WHAT HAPPENS WITH PROPE.
WE'RE ALL GONNA KNOW WHAT THAT HAPPENS.
WE WANNA, LIKE, THERE'S AN IMPLEMENTATION PART WHERE THERE MAY BE QUESTIONS OR, OR PIECES WHERE DIFFERENT ENTITIES COULD BE HELPFUL TO THE COUNTY.
UM, AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THAT.
AND IF THAT PROVES TO BE INAPPROPRIATE TO DO AT THAT STAGE IN, IN IN PUBLIC SESSION, THEN WE CAN DO A, JUST A SHORT REPORT ON IT, UM, AND MAKE SURE THAT THOSE CONVERSATIONS HAPPEN IN THE APPROPRIATE PLACES.
IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE HARD FOR ME TO PREDICT WHAT CAN HAPPEN BETWEEN
[01:40:01]
NOVEMBER AND AND DECEMBER, BUT I THINK THERE, THERE ARE CERTAINLY CONVERSATIONS THAT WILL NEED TO HAPPEN ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHETHER A ISD FACILITIES CAN BE USED FOR SPACE OR HOW TO, HOW TO ALLOCATE, UM, CONTRACTED SLOTS THAT MIGHT GO TO OTHER ENTITIES THAT MEET THE REQUIREMENTS SO THAT WE CAN LEVERAGE MORE SPACES, ET CETERA.AND I THINK THOSE THAT MAY BE TOO EARLY, I DON'T KNOW.
BUT, UM, ONCE, IF WE, IF IT'S NOT TOO EARLY, HAVING A TOUCH POINT WOULD BE GOOD.
UM, IF IT IS TOO EARLY, THEN JUST TELL US IT'S TOO EARLY.
WELL, UH, I'LL JUST SAY WE'VE BEEN GETTING A BRIEFINGS FROM OUR STAFF ON SOME OF THEIR VISION, AND I THINK THAT IT'S NOT UNREASONABLE BY DECEMBER TO ASK FOR A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT THAT OR WHAT YOUR THINKING IS, OR KIND OF WHAT YOUR TIMETABLE IS.
I THINK WE SHOULD PLAN TO HAVE AN ITEM ON OUR AGENDA FOR SOME KIND OF AN UPDATE IN DECEMBER.
I THINK WE CAN PROVIDE A, A BRIEF UPDATE, BUT I THINK IT WILL BE TOO EARLY, UH, JUST BECAUSE WE'RE, WE'RE EXPLORING THINGS THAT OUR LEGAL TEAM NEEDS TO REVIEW.
AND IT MIGHT, IT MIGHT, YOU KNOW, ONE MONTH MIGHT BE TOO EARLY.
BUT I JUST THINK WE SHOULD HAVE IT ON THE AGENDA SO THAT IF THERE IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SOME KIND OF AN UPDATE, IT WOULD BE VALUABLE.
BUT I THINK THE BULK OF THE TIME SHOULD BE SPENT IN THAT, IN THE LEGAL, IN THE LEGAL EXECUTIVE SESSION.
AND COMMISSIONER TRIVI IS COMMITTED TO HELPING YOU GET NAMES OF SOME OTHER FOLKS.
UM, AND IT MAY BE THAT YOU HAVE TO DO IT IN TWO PARTS SO THAT THE OUTSIDE COUNSEL'S IN PART OF IT AND NOT IN PART OF IT.
YOU, YOU'LL HAVE TO FIGURE THAT, THAT OUT.
AND SOME OF IT MAY BE, THERE'S A PORTION OF IT THAT YOU SHARE WITH US THAT'S A HISTORY OF OTHER ACTIONS WHERE THEY'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL.
UM, WELL WITH THAT, I WILL, UM, ADJOURN THIS MEETING AT ONE 17.
IF ANYBODY HAS NOT HAD LUNCH, WE STILL HAVE ADDITIONAL LUNCHES.