Last night a board member made a nearly 5 minute rant during the board report that was not mentioned, planned for or given to any other board member prior to the meeting. Not once did the board president attempt to stop this statement from continuing.

This meeting is on CSISD's YouTube Channel during the regular meeting around minute 32. Please take the time to watch this meeting and form your own opinions on the statement.

CSISD Board Meeting 8/25

our board president didn't know he was presenting a statement and doesnt think the board should just be reading out statements like this yet she LITERALLY POINTED TO HIM TO TELL HIM TO START TALKING!!

Does the president not know what the board is presenting and what is on the agenda?

I think my definition of rant differs.. Nothing to see. Move along.

Some people have too much time if this is what they worry about. Who cares if an elected Trustee reads something then or later or had a written version distributed or not. I'm sure there are rules and regs for this, but in the end, content matters. Not so much timing. Move on. If the others clearly wanted to respond they can in whatever medium they want (apparently social media per what the "announcement" was about).

Cliff notes for those of us that can't really watch the video right now?

It was a terrible look. Essentially lecturing the Board about how they should be properly conducting themselves, all while doing so breaking rules of decorum, being out of order, and out of line.

That was rich.

Sounds like a real-life Nextdoor thread.

What I heard was "trust the narrative coming from the district administration and don't try to independently verify if or what the administrators says or reports is fact or not. You must accept it at face value and if any of your actual voting consituents tell you different....it is noise and social media echo chamber. This under the guise of "we have a policy on how things are supposed to be done." Sounded like he's had too many team building classes and hasn't ever taken a candor/reality class.

I'm missing the background to this story. Is there some social media fight going on? What led to this statement?

Mr. Paine appears to be a stand up guy. Is/was a current military reservist who missed some board time as he got deployed, and professor at Texas A&M who teaches a leadership class. Also involved heavily with the corp of cadets still. He's generally the one who will speak up with some direct grounded comments because he's not there to put on some production for attention like you will see others do. I don't think he's worried about today's cancel culture but that's my opinion, I don't actually know him but do generally agree with his comments when he speaks.

That FB group is about as toxic as it gets. Total echo chamber of people that for the most part have no clue what they're talking about.

I don't like how Paine did it in the meeting or how it was handled, but what he said was spot on

A lot of what teachers complain about just comes down to them being held accountable in areas where they previously weren't. I've heard that from multiple current teachers who came to CSISD within the last few years after teaching elsewhere; teachers are upset about things that other districts have been doing for years.

The pay part is legitimate though. There's no reason our teachers should be that far behind other schools in the area.

Martindale originally brought in Solution Tree, yes, but Harkrider has significantly expanded its implementation since then, and the district has spent considerably more with Solution Tree than what was originally planned.

Harkrider also received approximately a 12% increase in total compensation just last year and is among the higher-paid superintendents in Texas. When CSISD teachers are being paid below the state average and less than teachers in surrounding districts, I believe that is a serious issue.

Did Harkrider create the teacher compensation problem? Absolutely not. But for years, CSISD has benefited from its reputation as "the district to teach in," and that reputation helped attract and retain great teachers even when compensation wasn't as competitive. Based on what we are hearing from teachers today, I don't believe the district can continue relying on that reputation without addressing their concerns.

So yes, when we continue increasing compensation at the central administration level while the people interacting with, educating, and supporting our children every single day are falling behind, I believe we absolutely should be questioning those priorities.

TAMU1990 said:

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How many people got raises in the Admin building? Is this just about Harkrider? Didn't everyone get a raise when we voted on it a few years ago? I'm also assuming the district gives annual raises - I don't know because I don't work there. But I'm assuming these raises are small.

Also, martindale bought Solution Tree and it sounds like Harkrider is using the tool that was already purchased and on the books. Why should we (and I mean we as in taxpayers) spend even more money on a new system when one has already been bought and is suitable for use?

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I genuinely don't know what these people are upset about, and I don't think they do either.

I don't have kids in the schools, don't know the history, but am a voter. I did not vote for Matindale as it seemed odd to me for the former Sup to run for the board, particularly after having just left the job. This just ads more controversy.

TAMU1990 said:

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I had an additional thought and updated my post. But yes, I don't know either unless it's agenda driven. It's no secret they want to turn over the school board to fire Harkrider. Even those not plugged in hear it.

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It's also ironic that their whole thing is "supporting teachers", but then they harass the ones that don't agree with them and/or won't publicly support their cause.