The Brownwood ISD (BISD) Board of Trustees met for a regular session meeting on Monday, March 17, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. Board President Michael Cloy called the session to order. BISD Trustee Time Wilson gave the invocation. Coggin Sixth Grade students Trinity Davis and Exebuse “Zeb” Ripley led the Pledge of Allegiance.

STUDENT PERFORMANCE

Coggin Sixth Grade choir students performed a selection of songs led by choir teacher Micah Ripley.

INSTRUCTIONAL FOCUS

BISD Superintendent, Dr. Joe Young presented an update regarding the district’s Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) program. TIA is designed to reward and support those who have demonstrated exceptional teaching practices, contributing significantly to student success and our district’s overall performance. BISD continues to make strong progress towards implementing and expanding the program. Texas Education Agency (TEA) approval for the 2024-25 designations was received on February 4, 2025, marking the second consecutive year of designation approval through the program. BISD has a total of 48 active TIA designated teachers. In the first year the TIA program yielded a total of $309,284 to be paid out to teachers based on their TIA designations. An allotment of approximately $500,000 is anticipated for this year, with 17 new designations and six teachers who moved up a tier within the program.

RECOGNITIONS

BISD SPOTLIGHT

The BISD Spotlight recognizes members of the BISD faculty and staff who go the extra mile to ensure excellence in education for all our students.

TEACHER SPOTLIGHT

This month’s Spotlight Teacher was Coggin Elementary Life Academics teacher Brooke Garrett who was nominated by Penelope Putnam, the parent of one of Ms. Garrett’s students. Pictured are BISD Trustee Wilson, BISD Director of Special Populations Rebecca Faulkner, Brooke Garrett, Coggin Elementary Principal Kali McLaughlin, and Assistant Principal Monica Verner.

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

Our Staff Spotlight honoree for the month was BISD Maintenance worker Danny Goins. Pictured to the right are BISD Trustee Tim Wilson, Danny Goins, and Maintenance Operations Coordinator Ben Hamlett.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

The board moved into executive session at 6:41 p.m. to discuss personnel and security matters. This discussion included any findings from local or state-mandated district-wide intruder detection audits. They returned to open session at 6:49 p.m.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Young provided the following reminders and updates:

• BISD Bond Update

o The Multipurpose Student Activity Center building roof and band tower construction are complete. Work continues on the inside with a projected completion in August 2025.

o At Gordon Wood Stadium, the walls of the new concession stand building are being constructed and the support piers for the extended stands and new press box have been poured.

o The Baseball and Softball complex entrance arches are complete and the parking lot has been paved.

o Concrete for the BMS locker rooms is expected to be poured soon. The BHS locker room renovations will start after school releases in May.

• The district owned building at 403 Fisk (former location of the Brown County Appraisal District) has been sold.

DISCUSSION & ACTION ITEMS

DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS

BISD Community Relations Report: Dr. Young presented a summary of the communicationsrelated data provided by BISD Community Relations Coordinator, Charles Musgrove. The communications report contained updates and data on several completed, ongoing, and upcoming projects including print ads, website updates, billboard campaigns, and various other digital communications. Since March 2024, sixty-one press releases and 46 School Messenger direct communications (130,978 Email / 125,871 SMS) have been sent. The report also contained examples of recent visual communications, and a summary of website and social media statistics which indicate continued growth on all social media platforms. Dr. Young noted that the district will be transitioning to ParentSquare for communications with a three-phase rollout set to begin before the end of the year. ParentSquare will streamline communications across the district, combining the capabilities of SchoolMessenger, sportsYou, and expanded classroom messaging into one unified platform.

TIA UPDATE

Texas Education Agency (TEA) notified BISD on February 4, 2025, that 2024-2025 teacher designations (based on 2023-2024 teacher effective Data) have been officially approved. (See the INSTRUCTIONAL FOCUS section of this report for additional details.)

DISCUSSION OF PLACE 6 TRUSTEE REPLACEMENT

Brownwood ISD Board of Trustee Place 6 has been vacated by the resignation of Amary Doremus. This position is up for election in November 2026. By law, the vacant seat must be filled within 180 days, requiring an appointment before a special election in November 2025 for the unexpired term. The appointed board member may run for election, if so desired in November 2026 to serve a full 4-year term. Those interested in applying to fill the role must live with the boundaries of Place 6. Applications will be available on the district website and at BISD Central Support Center in April. The Board anticipates the appointment of a Trustee for Place 6 will take place in May.

CONSIDER APPROVAL OF GUARDIANS

Approval of Campus Guardians relates to the authorization of certain employees to possess firearms to address concerns about the effective and timely response to an emergency on District property, including the invasion of a school by an armed person who may pose a direct threat of physical harm to students or others. BISD Trustee Codie Smith made a motion to approve the Campus Guardians, per Policy CKED and the Campus Guardian plan as presented. The motion was seconded by BISD Trustee Roderick Jones. The motion was unanimously approved.

CONSENT AGENDA

The following items were listed for consideration on the Consent Agenda.

1. Final Reading: TASB Initiated Policy Update 124

2. Instructional Materials Annual Certification

3. School Nutrition Contract Renewal

4. Minutes from February 10, 2025

Trustee Jones moved that the Consent Agenda be approved as presented, with BISD Trustee Diane Thompson seconding the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Early Release: 03/28/25

• Next Board Meeting: 04/14/25

The meeting adjourned at 7:01 p.m.