Forney ISD board approves OC Drive construction bid, property purchase and personnel actions; casts appraisal-district votes

The Forney Independent School District Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved multiple construction and real-estate actions, accepted two PTO donations, approved personnel items and cast the district's votes for the Kaufman County Appraisal District board of directors.

Most of the evening's formal actions were routine approvals that the board adopted unanimously or by recorded motion. The board approved a construction bid to extend OC Drive to Valley View and selected Johnson Volk Consulting for related civil engineering work; it approved a resolution to purchase about 88.44 acres in the Juan Lopez survey in Kaufman County; and it rescinded a prior declaration of surplus for an approximately 4.86-acre tract adjacent to 309 South Bodark. The board also approved employment actions discussed in closed session and authorized the superintendent to report an educator, Jasmine Clark, to the State Board for Educator Certification/Professional Investigations unit for abandonment of contract.

Details of the largest items: Gallagher Construction representatives recommended selection of Johnson Volk Consulting to provide civil engineering services for three projects, with a fee of $303,500, and presented bids for the OC Drive extension project. The board voted to award the OC Drive extension contract in the amount of $2,799,722. Board members said the extension is intended to relieve traffic during events and support future development; administration said construction funds will be used initially and the district will seek to replace those funds with bond sale proceeds later in the fiscal year.

The board accepted two PTO donations presented by communications staff: Griffin PTO offered $12,000 and Johnson PTO offered $7,000 for campus programs and field trips. Both donations were approved by unanimous voice vote.

On governance matters, the board voted its allotted 1,559 appraisal-district votes (the district's votes were split as a motion instructed: 780 votes for Robert Dodd and 779 votes for Don Griffin). One trustee abstained from that vote; the motion carried.

Other formal actions included routine consent-agenda approvals (minutes, budget amendment, prevailing wage rates, and an interlocal agreement for EMT services) and approval of the 2026–27 school calendar as a first reading to be placed on the January final-read consent agenda. The board also moved and approved a motion finding that no good cause existed for Jasmine Clark to abandon her contract and authorized the superintendent to report the matter to SBEC/PGA as discussed in closed session.

Ending note: Board members recessed into executive session to discuss attorney consultations, potential real-estate transactions, personnel and safety matters under the Texas Government Code; all actions taken after closed session were read into the open record and voted on in public session.