Harlandale ISD work session approves pay for staff during Jan. 21 weather closure; board reviews policies, contracts and purchases

The Harlandale Independent School District Board of Trustees at a Feb. 12 work session approved a resolution to compensate employees for the district's emergency closure due to inclement weather on Jan. 21, 2025, and heard staff briefings on advisory appointments, a campus name change, district donations, vehicle and billing contracts, TASB policy updates and a final payment on athletic field lighting.

Board president and staff declared a quorum at 6:15 p.m. and moved through the agenda items in a roughly 22-minute work session at the district central office in San Antonio. There were no public comments reported at the meeting.

The board approved a resolution to pay employees for the Jan. 21 emergency closure. "Board policy, DEA local, gives the board the authority to compensate without requiring the employees to make up the workdays on another date," said Mr. Flores, assistant superintendent for business and finance, explaining the legal basis for paying staff. Trustees moved and seconded the resolution and recorded the motion as passed by electronic vote.

Why it matters: The board's action prevented staff from losing pay for a day the district closed because of hazardous weather. The district also noted it will not lose state funding as a result of the emergency closure.

Staff briefings and items reviewed

Student Health Advisory Council nominations: Miss Casey, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, presented nominations to add parents to the district's School Health Advisory Council for 2024–25: Priscilla Mata (representing Liao Middle School), Ashley Casas (representing Schultz, Kingsborough and McCollum), Olga Barra (McCollum) and Scott Albeck (Schultz). Casey said the advisory council assists the district's coordinated school health program and referenced policies BDF and FFA. Trustees asked whether the nominees had served previously; Casey said she would follow up on that point and confirmed that SHAC meetings are posted and videotaped on the district website.

Campus name change: Staff asked the board to approve updating the official campus name for the STEM Early College High School by dropping the partner institution from its campus title. "When we established STEM Early College High School, we were in partnership with Alamo Colleges; part of our MOU specified the name 'Harlandale ISD STEM Early College High School — Alamo Colleges at Palo Alto College' and that is how it is registered with TEA," Casey said. She told trustees that the current cohort is the last that will be partnered with Palo Alto College and that future cohorts will take courses through another partner; trustees discussed keeping the campus name more open to reflect potential future partnerships. The proposed change would use the name "Harlandale ISD STEM Early College High School" without the Alamo Colleges/Palo Alto College suffix.

Donations: Mr. Sotto, superintendent of schools, presented four monetary donations for board review, ranging from $500 to $17,500. Donors named in the report included Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union, Walsh Gallegos, WellPoint Corporation and the American Diabetes Association.

Vehicle purchase for child nutrition: Administration briefed trustees on a proposed purchase of a 2024 Transit Cargo RWD high-roof van at an estimated $55,972 through BuyBoard cooperative contract 724-223, to be paid from the Child Nutrition Fund. Officials cited Texas Department of Agriculture rules that allow the Child Nutrition Fund to carry up to six months of average operating expenses; the fund balance at the close of FY2023–24 was reported as $4,355,068. Staff said the van would replace a 20-year-old vehicle used by the Child Nutrition Department.

Medicaid billing (CHARS) procurement: Miss Casey reviewed a proposed contract to procure Medicaid billing and school health–related services (CHARS) through the Allied States Purchasing Cooperative contract 25-7511 for the period Feb. 24, 2025, to Feb. 23, 2026. Casey explained CHARS allows districts to seek Medicaid reimbursement for health-related services documented in a student's individualized education program and that oversight of CHARS is shared by the Texas Education Agency and the Health and Human Services Commission. Staff reported negotiating a 0.5 percentage-point reduction from the current vendor's 5% compensation rate; the procurement item will return for board consideration on Monday.

TASB policy updates: A staff presenter reviewed TASB Policy Update 124, which recommends minor local policy revisions across several areas. The update addresses—among other items—fiscal management (CAA local), investments (CDA local), intellectual property and copyright (CY local), employee standards of conduct including electronic vaporizing devices (DH local), curriculum/dyslexia requirements (EHB local), gifted and talented program language (EHBB local), child-abuse reporting changes (FFG local) and community conduct on campus (GKA local). Staff noted that some changes align local policy with revisions to state law, the administrative code and federal grant rules.

Final payment for athletic field lighting: Staff reported a final payment of $7,900 to Techline Sports Lighting for baseball and softball field lighting projects at district high schools. The original contract approved June 19, 2023, had an authorized budget of $784,000; staff said the project was completed approximately $117,000 under that budget, with an overall reported cost of about $670,000. The final payment is to be funded from the 2022 bond program.

Other procedural items: The board reviewed an agenda item that was deferred until a later meeting and moved to adjourn; a motion to adjourn was seconded and passed electronically. The board noted that the work session included multiple staff presentations and that items requiring formal approval will return for action at the next regular meeting.

Quotes used in this article were taken directly from the Feb. 12, 2025 Harlandale ISD work session transcript and are attributed to the listed speakers.