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San Marcos CISD board meeting, Sep 21, 2026

3 h 49 min · 4 public speakers

AI in schools ▶ 2:32:22Reading and test scores ▶ 36:07

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 3 h 49 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

San Marcos CISD board rejects refunding bonds, lowers debt tax rate in 6⁠-⁠0 vote 1:02:00

  • Before the vote, the district's municipal advisor said the refunding bond would let the district keep its current debt service rate and avoid the risk of losing between $1.5 and $1.7 million in state aid. 47:14
  • John McGlothlin moved to deny item B1A, the refunding scheme, and to lower the I&S rate to 2671, the no new revenue rate, and the motion carried. 59:34
  • The board heard presentations from potential superintendent search firms and said after closed session that it would take no action that night and would return to the item at its October 5th meeting. 1:34:38
  • The board approved the consent agenda 5⁠-⁠0 and approved a certification to be submitted to TEA as required by Senate Bill 12 by a 5⁠-⁠0 vote. 2:38:31

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Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and pledges 23:43
    • The presiding officer called the meeting to order and said 5 board members were present in person and 1 online. 24:47
    • Students from Travis Elementary led the pledges in English and Spanish. 24:58
  2. Public comment 25:46
    • A speaker at public comment read passages from a novel available in the San Marcos High School library and asked the board to remove it, and another speaker asked the board to review library titles and enforce Texas law. 27:06
    • A speaker at public comment said the decision to consolidate the dual language program down to 2 campuses was made without input from staff and caused problems at Mendez Elementary. 33:06
    • A speaker at public comment said the district should not abandon a whole-child approach as it focuses on the STAAR test. 39:18
  3. Superintendent report and recognitions 40:01
    • The interim superintendent said it was the first board meeting in that role and that the interim superintendent had visited 9 of the 12 schools in the district. 40:07
    • Staff recognized Hernandez Elementary for an August attendance rate of 97.78 and Goodnight Middle School for 95.75%. 41:21
    • A presenter said the district was named a Texas Art Education Association District of Distinction for the 4th year in a row, one of only 109 districts to receive the honor. 42:37
  4. Tax rate and refunding bonds 45:32
    • A staff member said approving the refunding would result in a total tax rate of 0.9611, while not approving it would result in a rate of 0.8902, a reduction of 12.5 cents. 55:25
    • One board member said the refunding had a negative net present value, said they were against this motion, and moved to deny it to give taxpayers a break. 57:11
    • Miguel Arredondo said the motion would enact a total tax rate of 0.8902, a decrease of 12.50. 1:00:00
    • The motion to deny the refunding and lower the debt service rate carried 6⁠-⁠0, and the motion to approve the total tax rate also carried 6⁠-⁠0. 1:02:01
  5. Board proclamation reading 1:02:42
    • Clem Cantu read a board proclamation for September 2026 at the chair's request. 1:02:42
  6. Administration 90-day reports 1:05:57
    • A finance staff member said the district's consultants reported the district would not receive money it had sought from the state. 1:12:42
    • The chief of HR said principals filled 113 teacher vacancies over the summer. 1:13:39
    • An operations staff member said the district had about $7.4 million in additional bond funds and expected a new Mendez traffic circulation setup to be in place in January. 1:24:03
  7. Superintendent search firm presentations 1:34:38
    • Representatives of potential superintendent search firms described their search processes to the board. 1:34:38
    • The presiding officer said the board would save its questions for the closed session. 1:50:01
  8. Weather delay procedures 1:59:14
    • An athletics staff member said the district follows UIL rules, which call for a 30-minute delay when lightning strikes within 10 miles. 1:59:44
    • John McGlothlin asked whether staff had an option to move a game before the team left. 2:02:47
    • The staff member said the weather service discussed would cost $8,999 a year. 2:03:40
  9. Special education staffing update 2:03:53
    • A staff member said Texas leaves special education staffing decisions to local districts and that the district uses benchmarks for planning. 2:04:05
    • Clem Cantu asked whether special education teachers have time during the day to prepare for ARD meetings, and a staff member said teachers have 450 minutes of planning built into the master schedule. 2:07:10
  10. Extracurricular meal funding 2:09:33
    • An athletics staff member said meal funding was reduced during budget cuts to $50,000, allocated to the middle schools. 2:09:50
    • Anne Halsey asked about limits on fundraisers, and a staff member said there is no limit and that clarifying language was added to the booster guidelines. 2:11:52
  11. Campus improvement plans 2:14:14
    • A staff member said the plans are organized under the board's 3 goals and that quarterly updates would come to the board in October or November. 2:21:27
    • Clem Cantu asked about locating students who did not return, and a staff member said the rate was about 2.7% and staff were preparing home visits. 2:28:23
  12. Artificial intelligence policy 2:32:22
    • A staff member said the district's AI policy was based on a template from the Region 20 Service Center. 2:32:39
    • A staff member said campuses will no longer be able to use AI to create flyers using student images and that a district AI policy committee would first meet on September 30th. 2:36:11
  13. Consent agenda 2:37:45
    • Clem Cantu moved to approve all consent agenda items. 2:38:09
    • The motion carried 5⁠-⁠0. 2:38:31
  14. Senate Bill 12 compliance certification 2:38:31
    • The board considered a certification to be submitted to TEA on compliance with Texas Education Code sections as required by Senate Bill 12, and Clem Cantu made the motion. 2:38:31
    • The motion carried 5⁠-⁠0. 2:39:37
  15. Closed session and adjournment 2:39:23
    • The board reconvened from closed session, took no action and said it would return to the item at its October 5th meeting. 2:39:44
    • The motion to adjourn passed 6⁠-⁠0. 3:48:31

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “2026-09-21 Regular Scheduled Board Meeting”