Mason Moses[/caption]1. New trustee joins board
Trustee Mason Moses, who was elected in November to Place 7, took his seat with fellow trustees for the first time during a regular board meeting. Moses was officially sworn in Nov. 29, along with trustees Nikki Gonzales and Chad Chadwell, who hold Place 1 and Place 2 on RRISD’s board, respectively, and retained their seats last month after running unopposed.
Moses was given the opportunity to participate in a ceremonial swearing in Thursday along with his wife and two children. His oath of office was administered by U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, a special guest at Thursday's meeting who also led the board and attendees in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas pledge.
2. New president, board leadership elected
Trustee Diane Cox, who holds Place 3, was elected board president by trustees. Cox takes over for Trustee Paul Tisch of Place 6.
First elected in 2005, Cox is the longest-tenured member of RRISD's board. She previously served as board president from 2007-2009 and has held other board leadership positions. Her current term expires in 2018.
In addition to electing Cox, trustees voted to select Gonzales as board vice president and Trustee Suzi David of Place 5 as secretary.
3. Board approves district's 2016-17 legislative priorities
Trustees approved 19 items on RRISD's priorities in the upcoming 85th Texas Legislature, which convenes Jan. 9. A full list is available on the district's website.
The priorities address topics of school finance, academic accountability, post-secondary readiness and opposition to any state legislation that would create a school voucher system that would lack measures and transparency and accountability.
One priority calls for continued support of the state's District of Innovation system, which was created by House Bill 1842 in 2015 to allow public school districts to exempt themselves from certain components of the Texas Education Code. RRISD trustees approved a DOI plan in October, although the plan was opposed by Education Round Rock, a union representing RRISD teachers and education employees.
The Texas State Teachers Association filed a complaint last month with RRISD, arguing that the district had not followed appropriate procedures when developing its DOI plan.
4. Trustees hear updates on RRISD's "state of technology"
Mark Gabehart, RRISD's executive director of management information systems, gave trustees a report on the efforts to improve the district's technological capabilities. The presentation can be viewed here.
Gabehart said improving the district's student-to-device ratio has been a major goal in the past year. He said that $49 million toward district technology through a bond passed by voters in 2014 has provided significant help in that area. In the past three years, RRISD has worked on several upgrades, including new mobile tablet devices and projectors for classrooms as well as new video surveillance cameras.
Gabehart said moving forward his team is working on a student data privacy initiative and a cloud readiness assessment to see which of the district's digital applications can be effectively stored through online storage databases, along with several other initiatives. The district plans to continue providing laptops to RRISD students, particularly those who are economically disadvantaged.
"We are a large enterprise district with a lot of technology infrastructure out in our schools,” Gabehart said.
Trustees were also given an update by Lannon Heflin, RRISD's director of instructional technology, on the district's Next Generation Digitial Classrooms and Libraries pilot program, which will finish in May.
