Advisory Board Meeting:
Monday, September 8, 2025, 1:00 PM

1. Call to Order
2. Establish Quorum
3. Meeting Minutes
   1. Presentation and approval of Meeting Minutes (Consent)
4. Public Comment
5. Superintendent's Report
6. People First Spotlight
   1. K-12 Advisors
7. Professional Development:
   1. Open Meetings Act
   2. Program Spotlight: Tuition-Paid Program
8. State Accountability: 2024 & 2025
   1. Strengths
   2. Proactive Corrective Action Measures
9. Adjourn

Call to Order:

• Superintendent Dr. Robert Bayard called the meeting to order at 1:01 PM.
• Quorum established; majority of board members present.

Board Members Present:

• Margaret Leifeste (virtual)
• Kayla Morrison
• Shawn Mason
• Dr. Cameron Brown

Consent Items:

• Minutes from the August 11, 2025 meeting were reviewed and approved by consent.

Superintendent’s Report:

• Superintendent Bayard expressed honor in serving and highlighted student growth in tuition-paid, tuition-free, and international programs at the middle school level and learning academies.
• Tuition-free program enrollment is closed for this year; students may check back at the next enrollment period.
• House Bill 8 (89th Legislature): Approved; eliminates STAAR assessment and replaces it with three shorter assessments (beginning, middle, end of year). Challenges include in-person testing three times annually; virtual proctoring options under discussion. Collaboration with UT High School to share testing responsibilities.
• Senate Bill 569: Changes the virtual school model. Potential shift from a completion-based funding model to an average daily attendance model; awaiting state definitions and financial impact.
• 3rd “D” Trigger: Improvement model initiated using the Effective School Framework. Student achievement remains high, but performance is limited by operational constraints.
• Brazil Visit: 20 Brazilian leaders visited Texas Tech K-12 to learn about programs and admissions; valuable partnership-building experience.
• Staffing Updates:
  • Open positions: new executive assistant, three assistant principals, several program directors for curriculum content expertise.
  • Rhonda Coursey departing.
  • Jared Lay retiring; acknowledged with appreciation.

Staff Spotlight:

• Advising team introduced; each advisor provided an overview of their role. Advisors provide essential support to students and families by leading open house and new student orientation sessions, hosting monthly Zoom advising on key topics, and referring students to resources such as TCHATT for mental and behavioral health. They actively support student engagement by attending events like Raiderpalooza, Spring Fling, state testing, and graduation, while also serving as the primary point of contact and customer service liaison for full-time tuition-paid and tuition-free students. Advisors monitor grades, attendance, credits, and progress reports, educate parents on how to access and use these tools, and track College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) for all high school students. Additional responsibilities include providing onboarding and program information upon enrollment, conducting transcript evaluations, offering individualized academic advising and graduation planning, and guiding students through college and career readiness preparation.

Professional Development:

• Open Meeting Act: Dr. Bayard went over the Open Meetings Act (OMA) information, provided general training, and asked Advisory Board Members to complete the training via the Attorney General’s webpage for OMA.

Public Comment:

• No public comments were received.

Professional Development:

• Program Spotlight: Braxton Allison went over the Tuition-Paid Program. The tuition-paid program is the original Texas Tech K-12 program and currently serves around 300 students. These students are offered the same courses and curriculum, and all graduation requirements must be met. Unlike the tuition-free program, state accountability is not tied to this program. Students in this group often need greater flexibility, particularly with attendance requirements, which are more adaptable as they cannot always meet the strict progress standards set for state-funded programs.

State Accountability: 2024 & 2025

• Texas Tech K-12 has received three consecutive “D” ratings, primarily due to CCMR indicators, dropout rates, and STAAR test participation.
• Overall student performance remains strong.
• Currently implementing the Effective School Framework, though it is not as specifically aligned to areas of growth.
• The team is optimistic ratings will improve next year.
• Focus on improving constructed responses to positively impact accountability scores.
• Utilizing tutoring and small group direct instruction intervention groups via Brainfuse and IXL to support targeted academic needs.
• Coordinating with other schools to share testing sites for efficiency and access.
• Preparing to submit an appeal for ratings by this Friday.

Adjournment:

2:25 PM

Next Meeting:

October 20, 2025.