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February 18, 2025

Work Session

The board held their monthly Work Session on Thursday, February 13. Dan Cash presided again in Josh Brown's absence. Melissa Wyatt, Claire Reeves, and Eric Welch were also absent. The vast majority of this meeting was spent going over the rough outline of the proposed 25-26 budget. They are starting their reviews early this time to make sure the board members have plenty of time to ask any questions and provide any feedback.

There was also some discussion about the policy changes regarding Public Records Requests. Most of the changes are updating the policy to reflect an updated request form or adding specificity to some definitions. Donna Clements spoke up to ask that the policy more clearly define what is discoverable. That change will not be reflected in this round of changes, but will likely be discussed in a policy session in the near future.

Voting Meeting

Overall, this was a rather uneventful and short meeting. Dan Cash presided again as chair in Josh Brown's absence. Mr. Brown missed last month's meeting as well. Jay Galbreath was absent for this meeting and Claire Reeves joined remotely.

There wasn't much to report from the board this month. The most interesting parts of this meeting came from public comments. Kate Keese (of OneWillco) spoke about the racial inequities in our educational settings. There was also a mom and her two kids who spoke in favor of increasing the supplemental pay for fine arts teachers. And there was a parent who was upset about the contract that the district has with a supplier of sporting equipment.

The comment that stood out to me the most was from Genevieve Pahos (of Moms For Liberty). She spoke out against the process that has been followed to review the proposed new science textbooks. She claimed that the process has been insufficiently transparent. She also alluded to current court challenges to school materials that are unresolved. Because of these factors, she proposed that the adoption of these new textbooks be delayed by a year.

Upcoming Events

Next month's school board meeting will be Monday, March 17th. Come say hi, but be sure to wear some green for St. Patrick's Day.

Also, this Saturday is a OneWillco event called "the Students speak." It is an opportunity to hear Williamson County students discuss issues that are important to them. Click here for more info.