Board Meeting Minutes
June 25, 2015
A regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Refugio Independent School District was held on
Thursday, June 25, 2015, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Refugio High School Library, 212 West
Vance Street, Refugio, Texas, with the following members present: President Jorge Jaso, VicePresident Ethel Garza, Secretary Andy Rocha, Laura Ramirez, Eugene Lewis, and Lorraine Garcia.
Absent: T. Wayne Price.
Also present: Jack Gaskins, Superintendent.
Staff present:
Twyla Thomas, Cortney Hunkapillar, Melissa Gonzales, and Brenda Schumann.
Others present: Donna Johnson and Alice Garcia.
President Jorge Jaso established a quorum of members present, welcomed guests, and called the
meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
Mr. Jorge Jaso led members and guests in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Motion by Mr. Lewis, seconded by Mrs. Garza to accept the offers for purchase of the tax sale
properties as recommended and listed. All voted for 6-0
Ms. Donna Johnson with Grant Works proposed to the Board a “Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant”
for a project cost to Refugio ISD of $3,600. Ms. Johnson explained that the school district could
apply for several pre-disaster activities if the district chooses to participate in the program, which
include Flood proofing; Safe room construction; Early warning systems; Wind/Fire/Flood retrofits;
Infrastructure retrofits; Wildfire mitigation; Public information campaigns; Structure elevations to
above base flood elevations; Critical facility generators; Soil stabilization; and Acquisition of
property for mitigation purposes.
Motion by Mr. Rocha, seconded by Mrs. Garza to approve the Interlocal Agreement with Refugio
County for Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program. Voting for Jorge Jaso, Eugene Lewis, Laura
Ramirez, Ethel Garza, and Andy Rocha. Abstain: Lorraine Garcia
Motion by Mr. Rocha, seconded by Mrs. Garcia to approve the agreement with Walker Quality
Services for food service management consulting services for 2015-16 as presented. All voted for. 60
Motion by Mrs. Garza, seconded by Mr. Lewis to approve the agreement for the purchase of
Attendance Credits for the 2015-16 school year as presented. All voted for. 6-0
Motion by Mr. Rocha, seconded by Mr. Ramirez to adopt the resolution identifying the hazardous
traffic conditions applicable to Refugio ISD in order to obtain supplemental state funding for
transporting regular, otherwise ineligible students, who live within two miles of their school but who
would be subject to hazardous traffic conditions if they walked to school as recommended. All
voted for. 6-0
Motion by Mrs. Garza, seconded by Mr. Lewis to move that the Board add, revise, or delete
(LOCAL) policies as recommended by TASB Policy Service and according to the Instruction Sheet
for TASB Localized Policy Manual Update 102. All voted for 6-0
Motion by Mr. Rocha, seconded by Mrs. Garcia to approve William Blair as Senior Manager and
Raymond James as Co-Manager to serve as bond underwriters for RISD bond project. All voted
for. 6-0
Superintendent’s Report:
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RHS - Mrs. Gonzales reported that new staff is being hired for the 2015-16 school year;
Student Council had a bake sale; youth cheer camp is taking place with a great turnout;
attendance for STAAR remediation classes is good, and the next STAAR retest will be in
July.
RES - Mrs. Thomas reported that summer school is going well; Summer Reading Program
had great attendance with 25-30 students the first week; RES Library hosted a Texas
Storyteller on June 30th at 2:00 p.m.; several teachers participated in professional
development this summer; RES is still in need of a few teachers for the 2015-16 school year.
Financial Information
REIC Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2015
Date of July board meeting, July 30, 2015
Discussion of salary proposals for 2015-16 school year
Discussion of stipend proposals for 2015-16 school year
Non- Contract employees pay increase per DEA (LOCAL)
Mr. Gaskins reported to the board regarding the “Non-Contract Employee pay increase per
DEA(LOCAL)”. There were two errors on two non-contract employee pay grades. Those
pay errors have been corrected.
General comments on the state of the District.
Mr. Gaskins and Cortney discussed the salary scenarios and stipends proposals for the upcoming
year and the challenging financial situation that Refugio Independent School District is facing this
coming year due to decrease on preliminary taxable values. The Board members were asked to take
into consideration the estimated revenues, expenditures, and estimated final Fund Balance as they
ponder possible salary and benefit options for the coming year and report back at the July board
meeting with their considerations.
The following consent agenda items were approved by common consent:
Approve the minutes of the May 28, 2015 regular meeting and special board meeting June 12, 2015
as presented.
The board entered closed session beginning at 7:23 p.m. pursuant to the following sections of the
Texas Open Meetings Act Texas Govt. Code Sections 551.074, 551.075 deliberate the appointment,
employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or
employee or to hear complaints against an officer or employee; To confer with employees of the
school district to receive information or to ask
questions; employment of probationary
contract employee(s) of the GSEC Special Education Cooperative for the 2015-16 school year;
employment of probationary contract employee(s) for the 2015-16 school year.
The Board returned to open session at 7:41 p.m. having taken no action.
Motion by Mrs. Garza, seconded by Mr. Lewis to approve the Superintendent’s recommendation of
Emilee Cox as a non-chapter 21, one-year probationary contract for the 2015-16 school year. All
voted for 6-0
Meeting adjourned at 7:43 p.m.
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Jorge Jaso, Board President
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Andy Rocha, Board Secretary