Below is the agenda for this special Board meeting, with my agenda analysis and meeting analysis underneath.
Agenda analysis: a. What is a special meeting? "Special" meetings pop up every so often for all governmental bodies. I haven't before discussed its meaning, but the brevity of this agenda makes this a worthwhile opportunity for my series on "how to read an agenda". The Open Meetings Act mentions special meetings, see 51.002, but doesn't define or even describe them. If you want to do a deep dive on the meaning consider researching Robert's Rules of Order, the bible of parliamentary procedure. For my purposes, a special meeting is merely an extra public meeting that is usually dealing with some particular business matter that the board could not address at its regular meeting because of a timing issue but still must be dealt with before the next regular session. These meetings usually address a matter of high importance that cannot be delayed, but that also does not qualify for an "emergency" meeting for extreme circumstances. Because a quorum of the board will be present at a special meeting, it still has to meet all the posting deadlines of the Open Meetings Act. And, because it is a public meeting, the agenda still has to have a place for public comment. See 51.007. This agenda includes a public forum at item 2. (There were once some very dark days under former Supt. DeSpain when ICISD completely eliminated the public forum, so I watch this issue closely.) Also, note that the agenda does not have an item for an executive session. While Texas law requires that every public meeting must have a public forum, there is no requirement that the body meet in closed session. Closed sessions, while highly regulated under the Open Meetings Act, are not required. b. Health insurance, item 4. I first became interested in the insurance woes at ICISD when, during a public forum for the re-election of state Representative Drew Darby, it became evident that the previous contract for insurance apparently entered at the end of Supt. DeSpain's tenure was in fact nonexistent. Subsequent board meetings made it public that the District was essentially self insuring its staff during the school year. See Meeting Analysis # 6. (I have a related pending PIA request related to this matter, coincidentally. Good health insurance is one of the few perks of government employment, so the teachers that registered their anger at the Darby public forum on this issue were justified, in my opinion. While I obviously have huge issues with using tax dollars to flood my home and community, I strongly favor excellent health care insurance for government employees.) This agenda item hopefully will get the District back under contract with an insurance company, based on discussions at the previous board meeting. c. Attendance waiver, item 3. TEA has a rule that can be waived, and they are going to waive it. My experience is that if a rule in some way involves money, and attendance always does, TEA requires a formal waiver. Rules that don't or indirectly involve money, well, there's a fudge factor. TEA does not enforce all of its many rules.
2. Meeting analysis:
a. Health Insurance, item 4. Supt. Moore ran through a few ways the District could save money with its employer contribution part of the new plan with Blue Cross, then the Board approved the plans. That's really good news for teachers and staff and their families; Blue Cross has excellent plans for government employees. b. Attendance waiver, item 3. The District had a handful of low attendance days this last year and had some explaining to do to TEA. The Board approved the waiver request. c. Adjourned. There was no other business, no discussion and the Board adjourned promptly.
d. Forecast. More rain is in the forecast, with moderate temps for the area in the low 90's. These slower rains are more beneficial to our water table, as the soil is less hydrophobic and that allows for more soil absorption and less runoff to Spring Creek. But, of course, if we pave and cement over the soil the impermeability of that covering will increase runoff. So the weather related word for these 2024 bond era years is "depave" which means to undo the act of paving and restore the land to its original state. Consider this article on depaving, Depave - the Community-Based Approach to Stormwater Management.
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