Board Meeting Recap

The Burnet CISD Board of Trustees convened on Monday evening for their regular October meeting. Below is a brief summary to keep you informed of board activities. Complete minutes from each meeting are publicly posted upon approval for your reference.

MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

Pledge of Allegiance
The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by students from Bertram Elementary. 

RECOGNITIONS                                                                             

The Board recognized several outstanding students for their accomplishments:

• Burnet High School Students of the Month Cason O’Hair and Sarah Cullison 

COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS

• Monthly Financial Reports: Mr. Goehring, CFO, presented updates on financial statements, fund balances, investment activity, tax collections, utility usage, and attorney invoices. 
• Report on Focus Areas for District and Campus Improvement Plans: Dr. Jones and campus principals presented prioritized focus areas for the District and Campus Improvement Plans. Themes across campuses included the need for immediate and significant academic growth, the importance of data-informed short-term interventions, a need for consistency with student behavior expectations, promotion of student leadership on Lighthouse Teams, and a desire to increase transparent communication and feedback between administration and teaching staff. Campus Improvement Plans are posted on each campus’s website, and the District Improvement Plan is located at www.burnetcisd.net. 

CONSENT AGENDA
The Board unanimously approved the Consent Agenda, which included:

• Approval of Board Minutes from the 9/15/25 Regular Meeting and the 9/29/25 Special Facilities Meeting. 
• Expenditures in Excess of $25,000
• Approval of Membership to Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) 
• Approval of Budget for Burnet CISD Education Foundation: this item was tabled until the November regular board meeting pending more information from the Education Foundation.
• Approval of Memorandum of Understanding between the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office and Burnet CISD 

BUSINESS ITEMS

• Approval of Policy Manual for Proposed BCISD Police Department: 

Part of the TCOLE approval process to become a school district Police Department is the creation and board approval of a Policy Manual. The Burnet CISD Police Department is required to have a policy manual specific to the department. This policy manual utilizes nationally recognized best practices in law enforcement. It meets and/or exceeds all of TCOLE’s requirements for a police department policy manual. This takes BCISD one additional step closer to becoming TCOLE approved. 

• Approval of Intruder 911 Communication System: 

The Board provided direction to implement an Intruder 911 Communication System. The district committee reviewed various vendors and recommended moving forward with Crisis Go. Implementation of Crisis Go will begin first with the Crisis-Go Echo Badge implemented by the spring of 2026. During this summer, Crisis-Go Safety iResponse (Reunification) and Crisis Go Gatekeeper Visitor Management will be implemented. All staff will receive training and support to learn this system and feel confident in implementation. 

• Approval of Bilingual Exception and ESL Waiver Applications: 

The Board provided approval for the District to apply for a Bilingual Exception waiver and ESL Waivers as needed to comply with TEA’s November 1st deadline to attest that every Emergent Bilingual (EB) student is served by an appropriately-certified teacher. As a result, the state will require that teachers in affected areas engage in professional development that supports EB students and also reduces the need for waivers in the future. Some campuses have teachers still working towards ESL certification, and the District has also been unable to secure a sufficient number of bilingually-certified elementary teachers in 3rd - 5th grades at RJ Richey. The Board provided direction to the Administration to continue to post and attempt to hire high-quality bilingual teachers for these grades mid-year. Even though the existing positions were filled with GenEd teachers to be able to start the year, the Board expressed willingness to add positions for the remainder of 2025-2026 if skilled bilingual teachers could be hired. 

• Personnel:

Mrs. Gilmore provided a report on professional hirings, resignations, and transfers.

SUPERINTENDENT COMMUNICATION – During this portion of the meeting, Dr. Peña provided a brief overview of the upcoming November Board meeting, as well as a recap of the first Facilities Advisory Committee meeting held on October 7 at the BMS Cafeteria. Approximately 50 community members, parents, staff, and students were in attendance. The committee is charged with reviewing facilities data, learning about district needs and priorities, and developing community-informed recommendations to support long-term planning for Burnet CISD.

The next regular Board meeting will be held on Monday, November 17, 2025, at 6:00 PM.