Katy Independent School District’s board of trustees met Monday, July 22, for a work-study session at the district’s board room at 6301 S. Stadium Lane in Katy.

Among the agenda items was a discussion to consider naming a portion of a facility at Cinco Ranch High School. Public comments from about ten speakers were almost evenly divided in support for naming the facility either for former school athletic director Don Clayton or for late track coach Gary Derks. Speakers included former Cinco athletes as well as fellow educators Ray and Jamie Wolman. Board president Victor Perez read a portion of information submitted by the Clayton family. Perez suggested that the field house at Cinco Ranch High School be named for Clayton and said that other portions of the athletic complex could still be named for other individuals. Board member Dawn Champagne supported the naming of the field house for Clayton but questioned how the signage could be placed. Ted Vierling, KISD chief operations officer, said the district was working on creating district standards for naming facilities so that all namesakes could be honored in a similar way.

At Champagne’s urging, Perez explained the procedure for submitting a naming request for a portion of a facility which is different for the process of naming a school. Ken Gregorski, KISD superintendent, said that there is a fillable form on the district website which is submitted to the district’s communication department along with letters of recommendation and other documents. Trustee Rebecca Fox recommended consideration of naming portions of the Cinco athletic complex for both men at next week’s meeting; Vierling said that the district would obtain pricing and ideas for signage for that meeting. Fox also recommended a discussion with KISD Executive Athletic Director Lance Carter for his input.

The board also discussed approval of a contract for new construction for the Northwest Transportation center and Ag Barn #10. The projects are being bid together for economies of scales and are close together, said Lisa Kassman, KISD Executive Director of Facilities, Planning and Construction. Renovations to Katy Junior High School were also presented.

Sherri Ashorn, Katy ISD director of Student Affairs, presented a first reading of Policy Update 123, which she said was “hopefully the last pf the legislative updates from the 80th session and the administrative code that trickles down from it.” Ashorn said the changes were generally small wording changes to ensure alignment with some policy re-organization. Board president Perez asked about specific guidelines for use of technology as the district rolls out its one-to-one Chromebook program; Ashorn said those guidelines were still being developed. The board will have a second reading of the policy update and a vote to adopt the policy at the next board meeting on July 29.

The board also discussed draft updates to the board’s operating procedures. Perez said that the requested updates came about as a result of a request from trustees Champagne and Fox to insert in the board procedures a requirement for board committees to formalize reporting to the rest of the board and that the committee reports be made more complete and more comprehensive. Trustee Lance Redmon questioned the change of number of board members required to put an item on the board’s meeting agenda, which was changed from three to two last year and is now being changed back to

three. Perez said that upon reflection he felt that three was a better idea as a “check and balance.” Champagne said that only a small percentage of Texas school boards require three members to place an item on the agenda. She added that having two board members helped represent minority viewpoints by placing more items on the agenda for discussion. Trustee Morgan Calhoun said that the movement to three would force the board members to be more collaborative and that the public can always speak on any matter during public comments at the board meetings. A brief side discussion was held about involvement with the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB); trustees Redmon and Champagne serve as delegates to that organization. Calhoun questioned the necessity of Katy ISD belonging to TASB.

The discipline management plan involving telecommunications devices was also discussed, with a focus on smart watches. Champagne raised a new concern about the ability for students and parents to use such devices to monitor chronic health conditions such as blood sugar levels. She said that she understood that exceptions could be made for such students allowing them to wear their devices but that these situations also made the students’ conditions more apparent and singled them out if they were the only ones wearing smart watches. Perez said current protocols were in place which enables students with such concerns to have access to Bluetooth devices and these situations were being taken care of and that he has discussed the matter with Dr. Gwen Coffey, Assistant Superintendent for Special Education and Therese Highnote, Katy ISD Director of Health Services. Board Vice President Amy Thieme Trustee said she was open to looking at this issue later if it becomes a concern but that for now recommended that “we stick with what we have.” Mary Ellen Cuzela said that teachers were already accustomed to managing smart watch use in the classroom since they already ask students regularly to remove the watches during test and quizzes.

The next board meeting will be held on July 29.