During the January 12 work study meeting, the Katy ISD board of trustees heard a presentation and then held a public hearing on a targeted improvement plan for Cimarron Elementary School. The board also considered options for the future instructional calendar, including a possible fall break and reviewed the current process for library book acquisitions, as well as considering potential improvements to several older facilities in the district.

Cimarron Elementary School, at 1100 S. Peek Road in Katy, has received a “D” rating from the Texas Education Agency for the past years, district officials said. Upon the third consecutive D rating, TEA requires intervention, said presenter Deb Hubble, KISD assistant superintendent for elementary school leadership and support. Components of the required intervention are:

*Assignment of a district-level coordinator of school improvement

* Participation in an “Effective Schools Framework Diagnostic” with Region IV

*Engagement in the Foundational Leadership Instructional Practices and System

*Participation in a consultation with the superintendent and TEA representative

*Provide community stakeholders with the opportunity to provide feedback

*Complete and submit the targeted improvement plan

*Board approval of the Targeted Improvement Plan


Hubble provided an update on dates that the required steps were completed. Principal Lindsay Chase presented the three key components of the targeted improvement plan, which are high quality instructional materials aligned to TEKS, research-based instructional strategies used in classrooms and student ownership of learning. Effective instruction is an area the campus has focused on this year, Chase said, with observation and feedback cycles. The second component is a focus on student discourse in conjunction with effective instruction and making sure that students are taking ownership of their learning.

“What we found is that the person doing the talking is the one doing the learning, so we're really focused to make sure that our students are talking, discussing, and explaining their answers,” Chase said.

The third focus is on staff and resource support, including additional staffing such as a student support assistant principal who focuses on our special education students and other support areas with high need, a behavior professional and a part-time social worker.

More than 35 percent of the students at Cimarron are special needs students, Chase said.

Cimarron, with an enrollment of 564 students, has proportionately more special needs students than the district average of 16.2 percent, according to 2023-2024 information from the Texas Tribune. The school’s students are 40.1 percent Hispanic, 33 per cent white, 12.8 percent African American, 5.1 percent Asian and about 9.0 percent other. Cimarron’s students at risk of dropping out is at 55.3 percent, compared to 44.3 percent for the district. Enrollment in gifted and talented programs is low at

1.8 percent, compared to the district average of 8.9 percent. Chronic absenteeism, at 19.4 percent, is higher than the district average of 12.4 percent, according to the Texas Tribune data.

Accountability goals have been set, and weekly observation and feedback cycles are continuing, Chase said, before taking questions from board members. In the spring, an assessment calendar will be developed for the 2026-2027 school year.

Sherri Ashorn, KISD director of student affairs, presented three options for the instructional calendar year to be considered for implementation during the 2027-2028 school year, including the district’s traditional calendar, its historical calendar which she said was what the public was accustomed to seeing, and a third option which would provide a Friday-Tuesday fall break in October for students and teachers. Ashorn said that the district wanted to maintain its week-long Thanksgiving break and to ensure that there are professional development opportunities for staff within the instructional calendar, as well as allowing for bad weather days. Under the new option, classes could start as early as August 11 but would end before Memorial Day. Andrea Grooms, chief communications office for KISD, presented the results of a community and KISD staff survey conducted in December and January which showed support for the new third option by parents but support for the “historical calendar” by KISD staff. Board members discussed making some of the proposed changes in time for the 2026-2027 calendar.

The board, after again reviewing the district’s rigorous process for acquiring library books, considered the list of books for which the district is seeking approval. The list goes back to September, said Deputy Superintendent Leslie Haack, since that is when new state legislation took effect.

“This week Katy ISD posted a list of 142 books (100 or so previously flagged for ‘gender fluidity’ review) now banned from classroom and campus libraries, to ‘remain in compliance with Senate Bill 12 and Senate Bill 13,” Anne Russey, one of the founders of Texas Freedom to Read, subsequently posted on Facebook on January 13. “142 books. Gone. Just like that.”

The board also considered improvements to various district facilities, including flooring replacement at Cardiff Junior High and WoodCreek Junior High, interior lighting upgrades at the Education Support Complex and the Leonard E. Merrell Center and replacement of the electronic display board at the Merrell Center.

The next meeting of the school board was to be held on January 20, after the Katy Times went to press for this issue. February board meetings include a work study meeting on February 16 and a regular board meeting on February 23.