Board Action Regarding ReDesign

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This Administration has been intentional about working with integrity and transparency so that the District can regain the trust of the community. We see our relationship (which includes communication and transparency) with our Board of Trustees as very important in our ability to truly improve as a District.

We understand that there has been community interest and concern regarding recent Board action to approve a purchase of service with reDesignU. We want to be clear that nothing illegal nor unethical occurred and are providing the following information to provide context to clarify what occurred and why. 


May 11 Board Workshop

  • All trustees were present. 

  • The DeSoto ISD Board of Trustees considered and discussed the reDesign: Competency-Based Discovery & Capacity Building for possible action. 

  • During the meeting, trustees raised some questions about this item.

  • After discussion, there was no call for a vote and no action was taken. 


June 8 Board Workshop

  • All trustees were present except one. (We received notice of the absence shortly after 4 PM on June 8, 2020.)

  • The DeSoto ISD Board of Trustees considered and discussed the reDesign: Competency-Based Discovery & Capacity Building for possible action. 

  • During the meeting, trustees raised some questions about this item.

  • After the presentation, Board President asked for further comments and proceeded to the next item without asking if anyone wanted to make a motion. Immediately after the following presentation concluded, Board President went back to the previous item and asked if anyone wanted to make a motion since she inadvertently did not call for that opportunity.

  • A motion was made to approve and received a vote of 3 to 3. Therefore, no action nor decision was made by the Board on this matter.

  • Board President requested the Superintendent place this item on the Board’s agenda for a future meeting.


June 15 Special Called Board Meeting

  • Appropriate notice was given to trustees regarding the Special Called Meeting.

  • Five trustees were present. (While one trustee provided advanced notice of the absence, we received notice of the absence of another trustee shortly after 4:30 PM on June 15, 2020)

  • The DeSoto ISD Board of Trustees considered and discussed the reDesign: Competency-Based Discovery & Capacity Building for possible action. 

  • During the meeting, trustees raised some questions about this item.

  • After discussion, the Board President called for a vote and a motion was made to approve. The motion passed by a vote of 3 to 2.

A question has been raised regarding whether the Board was precluded from reconsidering this item on June 15, based on the motion and vote taken at the June 8 meeting. The District has reviewed policy and procedures and conferred with District legal counsel on this issue. As result, we found that there is nothing in Board policy nor the law that would prevent the Board from reconsidering an agenda item at a future meeting. The fact that the motion did not carry and no action was taken does not preclude the Board from considering the item again at a future meeting.   

Another question has been raised regarding whether a provision in the Board Operating Procedures (BOP) prohibits the Board from reconsidering an item that was the subject of a failed motion. More specifically, attention was brought to item G5 in the BOPs which states, “Once a vote is taken by the Board, each decision is an action by the whole, binding upon each member and should be supported by each member.”  Based on our review and guidance from District legal counsel, we have concluded that this language in the BOP does not preclude the Board from reconsidering an item for which action failed at a prior meeting. Item 5G makes reference to the Board as a whole supporting “each decision” which is deemed to be “an action by the whole.”  In this circumstance, because the motion failed, no decision was made and no action was actually taken by the Board. Therefore, this provision does not seem applicable and would not preclude the Board’s reconsideration of this item at the June 15 meeting.  

In addition, we sought legal guidance from the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB): 


[According to] the Board Development book on Robert’s Rules, it helped me confirm that a “motion to reconsider” is a very specific motion under Robert’s Rules to revisit a decision that was already made previously in the same meeting. That really has nothing to do with revisiting a topic at a later meeting, especially a topic on which there was not a previous decision, because there was only a tie. Similarly, the common board operating procedure that encourages supporting board actions after a final decision has been reached does not prevent revisiting an issue after a tie vote.

-Joy Baskin, TASB Director of Legal Services

In order to ensure that Administration was responsive to and resolved trustee questions, the Superintendent included additional information and answers to trustee questions in the June 5 and June 12 Weekly Board Reports. In addition, he and his staff answered follow-up questions.

reDesign offers a host of services directly aligned to the District’s immediate needs. In addition to these services supporting our application for multiple grants potentially bringing in millions of dollars in additional revenue into the district to directly support teachers and students, engaging in this scope of work with reDesign is critical to our COVID-19 response and the district being able to adequately plan for the 2020-2021 school year. Therefore, it was deemed time sensitive. Since no action had been taken in two previous meetings, this item was brought before the Board during the Special Called Meeting on June 15, 2020. Delaying a decision further would significantly impact the district’s ability to effectively plan for the upcoming school year. In presenting the item a third time, the Administration simply wanted the Board to take action on the item so that leaders would be able to solidify details for summer/fall planning.