CCISD approves delayed bus agreement; grievance committee effort fails

Records show items were prepared for Aug. 31 regular meeting before it was postponed, redesignated as special meeting

The Calhoun County Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a long-awaited student transportation agreement Sept. 10, 10 days after the item had been scheduled for consideration at a regular board meeting that was postponed without a public explanation.

During the Sept. 10 special meeting, trustees unanimously approved an interlocal agreement allowing Austwell-Tivoli Independent School District buses to enter CCISD to pick up transfer students. A separate effort to form a three-member board grievance committee failed when a motion to create the committee received no second.

Both matters had been included in a 70-page board packet prepared for the Aug. 31 meeting. The packet, obtained by the Port Lavaca Wave through a public information request, is titled "Agenda of Regular Meeting" and states a regular meeting of the board would be held Aug. 31 at 6 p.m.

The agenda included the ATISD transportation agreement as an action item, along with the appointment of trustees to the board's Safety, Finance and Grievance committees.

The Aug. 31 meeting was instead postponed to Sept. 10 and designated a special meeting.

The Wave has made repeated attempts to obtain an explanation from Superintendent Evan Cardwell regarding the postponement, including emails, telephone calls and an attempted in-person interview at the district administration office. Emails seeking information also were sent to members of the board.

As of press time, the district had not provided an explanation for why the Aug. 31 regular meeting was postponed.

 

The ATISD agreement had become an issue for several families who transferred their children out of CCISD following the district's decision to close Port O'Connor Elementary School and move Seadrift seventh- and eighth-grade students to Travis Middle School.

Under the agreement, ATISD may operate a school bus inside CCISD's geographic boundaries to transport students who live within CCISD, have been accepted as transfer students by ATISD and are enrolled there. 

The Aug. 31 board packet included the complete agreement and a recommendation that CCISD trustees approve it.

The agreement is effective for the 2026-27 school year unless terminated earlier and may be renewed for subsequent school years with approval of both districts.

Parents had been waiting for the agreement since the school year began.

Lacey Vasquez, whose son transferred from CCISD to ATISD, previously told the Wave the delay meant she was driving him to and from school each day, a trip she said was both time-consuming and expensive.

"For me, I am fortunate that I have the flexibility at [my work], that I make the schedule, and that I can take him to school. I am just barely getting to work on time at 8 a.m., but I can do it, and I'm off in the afternoon if I need to get him. My husband works a week-on, a week-off at an oil field, so we tag team our work schedule," Vasquez said. "But I'm filling my car up three times a week now ... It really puts families at a financial disadvantage."

Cardwell previously told the Wave the interlocal agreement could not be placed on the Aug. 17 agenda because that agenda had already been posted and said the item would be brought to trustees Aug. 31.

The board packet obtained by the Wave confirms the agreement was prepared for action at that meeting. The supporting document states ATISD requested the agreement to operate a school bus and establish bus stops within CCISD and recommends approval.

At the Sept. 10 meeting, trustees unanimously approved the agreement.

Board President Bill Shrader said the pickup location would be near the intersection of State Highway 185 and State Highway 35 and said the location was selected with safety in mind.

"[The location] was based on safety. It's a big, wide-open area right there. There used to be a grocery store in that area. It was called Green Lake Stop and Shop," Shrader said. "The store is not there anymore, so it's a big open area. It's right before the railroad tracks on the left."

Vasquez, however, criticized the location during public comment, saying it would still require some families to travel a considerable distance to reach the bus stop.

"I appreciate that [the interlocal agreement] was signed and approved. I don't appreciate the fact that it took so long to get it done. I think this could have been done without it going through a board meeting, and I think the stipulation that they put on it tonight as far as where ATISD's buses can come in is at a very dangerous meeting point," Vasquez said. "It also does not benefit Port O'Connor residents at all, because this meeting point at Hwy 185 and Hwy 35 is literally six miles from Tivoli, so their community does not benefit from it all."

 

The proposed grievance committee also drew significant attention during the Sept. 10 meeting.

Several residents spoke against creation of the committee, arguing grievances should continue to be heard by the entire seven-member board.

Vasquez, who has a pending grievance with the district, asked trustees to hear her grievance as a full board rather than refer it to a committee. She said she had followed the district's grievance process after previously being told it was the appropriate avenue for bringing a specific complaint before trustees.

Former CCISD trustee Terry Maddux also opposed the proposal.

"I, as a past trustee, feel that grievances should be heard by the entire board, not a committee," Maddux said. "During my time on the board, I do not remember a grievance committee being established as that was a role of the elected officials of the office."

Lori Griffin also urged trustees to retain responsibility for hearing grievances rather than placing them before a smaller committee.

"You are the final decision makers. You are the accountability mechanism," Griffin told trustees.

 

Documents obtained by the Wave show appointments to a grievance committee already had been contemplated for the postponed Aug. 31 regular meeting.

The agenda listed "Appointment of Board Member/Members to Board Safety Committee, Board Finance Committee and Board Grievance Committee."

A supporting page stated the board president would appoint members to the committees. Under "Board Members Appointed by the President to the Board Grievance Committee," the document provided spaces for a chair and two members.

CCISD's BDB(LOCAL) policy specifically governs committees composed only of current board members and states, "Formation of a Board committee shall be by Board action."

The policy further requires the board action establishing a committee to specify the number of trustees on the committee, the appointment process, terms of membership and responsibilities of the committee.

When the committee item came up Sept. 10, Shrader began making appointments to existing board committees and then moved toward appointments to the grievance committee.

Trustee Cindy Alford raised a point of order, saying the grievance committee first had to be formed by the board before appointments could be made.

Trustee Brian Batts then moved to form the grievance committee.

No trustee seconded the motion.

"I don't have a second, so the motion fails," Shrader said.

No grievance committee was formed.

Despite the failed motion, a Sept. 16 meeting subsequently posted by the district is titled “Special Committee Meeting” and identifies its first agenda item as a “Special Meeting of Board Committee to hear FNG Level I Grievances.” The agenda cites Education Code 26A.001(d), which allows a school board to delegate authority to hear and decide grievances to a committee of at least three trustees.

The CCISD board has not formed a grievance committee.

 

The documents also show a change in how the Aug. 31 meeting was classified.

The district's previously published 2026-27 board meeting schedule listed Aug. 31 as a regular meeting. The board packet prepared for Aug. 31 likewise repeatedly identifies it as a regular meeting.

A subsequently revised district schedule changed the Aug. 31 entry to "Special Meeting - Rescheduled for Thursday, September 10, 2026."

The distinction between a regular and special meeting affects public participation under CCISD's own policy.

BED(LOCAL), included in the Aug. 31 board packet, states that at regular meetings, the board must permit public comment regardless of whether the subject is included on the posted agenda. At all other board meetings, public comment is limited to items on the posted agenda.

The Aug. 31 packet also specifically stated, "At each regular Board meeting an opportunity is provided for the public to speak to the Board."

At the beginning of the Sept. 10 special meeting, Shrader told speakers their comments were limited to items on the posted agenda.

CCISD's BE(LOCAL) policy gives the board president authority, when determined necessary and for the convenience of board members, to change the date, time or location of a regular meeting with proper notice. The policy separately provides that the board president may call special meetings at his discretion or upon the request of two trustees.

The district has not explained why the Aug. 31 regular meeting was not held or why the Sept. 10 meeting was designated a special meeting rather than a rescheduled regular meeting.

 

Trustees also considered another issue Sept. 10 involving the record of their Aug. 17 special meeting.

The board approved the consent agenda, including the Aug. 17 minutes, with corrections requested by Alford.

Alford questioned language stating that an Aug. 17 public hearing on the district's budget and proposed tax rate had been delayed because a quorum was not present at 5:30 p.m. She said trustees previously had voted to set the hearing for 6 p.m. and asked that her written objection concerning the discrepancy be included in the record.

The timing discrepancy could also be relevant to the process leading to the district's voter-approval tax rate election. State law requires school districts to publish notice and hold a public meeting to discuss the proposed budget and tax rate, with taxpayers permitted to participate. CCISD's published notice stated the district would hold the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 17 and expressly invited public participation

The minutes also state three individuals spoke during the public hearing concerning the district's budget and voter-approval tax rate election and that no one spoke under the separate agenda item for public comments.

Records obtained by the Wave from CCISD, however, show the three individuals completed the district's public participation forms identifying Agenda Item 4, Public Comments, as the item under which they requested to speak.

The Aug. 31 board packet itself contains the proposed Aug. 17 minutes. They list Item 3 as the public hearing and state one person spoke regarding the budget and two regarding the budget and VATRE. The next item is Item 4, Public Comments, with no speakers listed beneath it.

A recording of the meeting shows the three individuals spoke after the meeting was called to order and before trustees proceeded to the remainder of the agenda.

The Wave has sought answers from the district regarding the handling of public comment at the Aug. 17 meeting and the subsequent meeting changes.

CCISD's next regular board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 21.