Cedar Hill ISD trustees approve bond design phase, select health consultant and authorize travel, payroll and superintendent contract

Cedar Hill ISD trustees on Jan. 30 approved a package of administrative and contractual items including advancing the High Point Elementary School bond design, contracting a health-benefits consultant, approving an international student trip and authorizing pay for hourly staff affected by recent inclement-weather closures.

The board’s votes package was the most significant business of the evening: trustees authorized Huckabee Associates to move the High Point design development into construction documents, approved Gallagher Benefits Services as the district’s health-benefits consultant and adopted a resolution to join the TASB Benefits Cooperative as a procurement pathway. Trustees also authorized payment for auxiliary and paraprofessional staff for two weather-closure days and approved an international trip for Collegiate High students to Japan. The board voted to call a trustee election for May 3, 2025, and approved the superintendent’s contract.

Votes at a glance: - Order to call trustee election, May 3, 2025 — Approved (recorded voice vote: unanimous). Motion: not specified; second: Trustee Singleton. - Huckabee design development presentation (High Point Elementary) — Approved; board authorized proceeding to construction documents. Motion/second recorded in the meeting; vote: unanimous. - Selection of Gallagher Benefits Services as health-benefits consultant — Approved. Motion: Trustee Singleton; second: Trustee Cabrera Cook; vote: unanimous. Board authorized the superintendent to negotiate a final contract. - Resolution to join TASB Benefits Cooperative (procurement method for benefits) — Approved; vote: unanimous. - Agreement to pay auxiliary and paraprofessional staff for two inclement-weather closure days and premium pay for required nonexempt staff — Approved. Motion: Trustee Ramona Ross Bacon; second: Trustee Morgan; vote: unanimous. - Approval of Cedarfield Collegiate High School international travel proposal (Japan, summer 2026) — Approved. Motion: Trustee Morgan; second: Trustee Williams; vote: unanimous. Estimated per-student cost cited at roughly $5,609 for a 10-day itinerary; students must hold U.S. passports. - Superintendent’s contract — Approved. Motion and second were made during the meeting; vote: unanimous.

What trustees approved and why they said it matters The board moved the High Point Elementary design forward as part of the district’s 2023 bond program. Huckabee presented a design-development package that includes a new fine-arts academy within the building, restroom and finish upgrades, a secured vestibule and updated flooring and millwork. Core Construction provided a preconstruction cost estimate of about $10.39 million against a target budget of $9.9 million; trustees heard that the estimate had trended downward since schematic design, and the team outlined options to reduce cost including reuse of existing doors or selective carpet retention.

On benefits, the board selected Gallagher Benefits Services to lead the district’s benefit plan procurement and ongoing consulting. Gallagher representatives said the role includes running an RFP of health carriers, providing financial monitoring and negotiating multi-year rate guarantees when possible. The consultants’ fee cited in the presentation was $10 per enrolled employee per month; administrators said that fee had been collected indirectly in previous years and that the selection aims to provide more transparency and budget stability.

Trustees also approved an international educational tour for Cedarfield Collegiate High School students. The school’s representative said the proposed 10-day Japan itinerary would be offered through EF Educational Tours with a price per student of about $5,609, funding and scholarship options, a 6:1 student-to-chaperone goal and required U.S. passports and vendor-provided liability insurance.

Procedural notes and next steps - Huckabee will proceed to construction documents for High Point Elementary; the district expects final design approval and a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) presentation in late spring. - Administration was authorized to finalize contract language and fees with Gallagher and to proceed with a benefits RFP in coordination with the district procurement team. - The district will publish details of the trustee election called for May 3, 2025, consistent with state requirements.

Speakers quoted in this story are identified in board materials or on the meeting record. Where a motion or second was not named in the transcript, the board minutes will carry the formal mover/second entries.

Ending: The board closed the meeting after reorganizing officers for the coming year; new board officers were installed during the session and several administrative items will return for follow-up or contract finalization in subsequent meetings.