Irion County ISD Special Meeting October 27 2025

Agenda Analysis | Meeting Review | Meeting Documents | Commentary | Last Meeting

I attended the Austin No Kings protest in Austin on November 18 2025. The pictures on this page are from that protest. See my commentary at C 1 below.

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A. Agenda Analysis

1. Special meeting: Note at the top of the agenda that this is a "special meeting". My understanding is that this meeting is necessary mainly for the purpose of moving forward with the construction bids.

2. Elementary Construction Bids, item 6: What should be happening here is that the construction manager, Gallagher, will have its folks present to get approval on their recommendations on bidders for the new elementary. In the prior meetings where this part of the process has unfolded, the Board has done a good job at quizzing Gallagher's folks on the costs and their recommendations.

3. ESL evaluation, item 5: This is the English as Second Language Program, a federally mandated program. See Lau v. Nichols. The week before this meeting Dept. of Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, fired all the staff at the Dept. of Education's Office of Civil Rights. This guts the office that enforces the law for this program, so the operative question here is, regardless of this evaluation, does the federal government, or the state government through which it operates, even care? Context on why I care: My grandmother, Nan Lackey DeLong (then Nan Noelke) taught for Mertzon Public Schools in 1934. She taught in what her teaching contract identified as the "Mexican school", which still stands in Mertzon. In order for her students to even have school text books, she had to appear before the school board to lobby for them. So today, when the law is effectively rescinded and there is so much racial animus in state and federal government against non-white groups, citizens should start questioning how much civil rights backsliding is already taking place.
   

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Two protest signs, one reading "Imagine Fearing Diversity but not Dictatorship" and another "We the People Never Forget the Cowards in Congress Who Kept Quiet".

B. Meeting Review

1. Approval of elementary school construction bids, item 6: The board again did a fine job of reviewing and quizzing the Gallagher representative who presented the recommended bid winner list. The list was a handout to the board only, so it was impossible to review the list during discussion. (I will be asking for it in a PIA request.) Gallagher's rep advised that the bids came in at $611,000 under the budget of the $26 million budgeted. However, it seems possible that the numbers may be on budget, rather than below, because he announced they pulled the stormwater control project on the north end since they didn't like the numbers. ( I read this as the stormwater projects cost more than they anticipated...) This is especially problematic for those in the community who are already being flooded by the District because it means there will be even more delays getting the flooding under control. Also, read my commentary below for how I approached the growing menace of waste caliche piling up in a city right of way.
   

2. ESL program evaluation, item 5: A report was provided to the Board by Ms. Jackson, the ESL program director, and I hesitate to say much here without having that report in hand. I will make a PIA request for it also. Advocacy tip: most everything provided to the Board during a meeting by a staff member or District agent is subject to disclosure under the PIA; documents provided to and reviewed by the Board are a great resource for understanding board decisions. IC ISD has seven students in the ESL program. That's not many out of the 300+ total students, but it is important to note that the law requires that their rights to an education cannot be ignored.
   

3. Annual FFA presentation: Sometimes off agenda items come up, and this is the time of year for 8 or so FFA students to make their presentation to the Board for their annual competition. It's basically an oral advocacy project. This year's topic is whether exotic animal species be regulated in Texas. (Damn right they should!) It is a great program, especially since young folks are getting quizzed by the Board. It's good for the Board and its good for the students.
   

4. Everything else: Board members Ricky Rey and Ashley Hill were not present at this meeting. Note that the usual items, like Reports, were not on the agenda because this was a "special" meeting.

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This obscene directive in Spanish more often uses the word “Madre” but here uses MAGA.

C. Commentary

1. Before my regular readers condemn this page as leftist nonsense, allow me to remind you that: In a recent 2024 election, I openly supported a local State Representative, Drew Darby, a Republican, who opposed Gov. Abbott's position on school vouchers. One reason I supported him was his position was that vouchers were racist. (They are!) Another reason I supported him is that he opposed Gov. Abbott’s using teacher pay raises as leverage to win vouchers. (Teachers should not have been pawns.) Darby won that primary, which was hotly contested by a primary opponent well funded by Gov. Abbott's machine. Darby subsequently buckled to Gov. Abbott and the Republican state leadership (and President Trump who also weighed in), and voted FOR vouchers during the 2025 legislative session. Vouchers are now allowed in Texas. My photo at the top of this page is making a valid point. I do not agree with rural Texas' endorsement of the current conservative leadership in Austin and Washington, especially since it is that very leadership that is making it impossible for public education to do its job. Public education is the lifeblood of Irion County, as it is in most of rural Texas communities, yet public education is being prostrated by conservative leadership...who is being controlled by big money. As I’ve said elsewhere, the stakes are high enough for us all to dispense with party affiliation in times like these. Don't be a D or R, don't be blue or red. Just be a Citizen.
   

2. Published on the date of this meeting, October 27, 2025: Being Latino in the United States Should Not Be a Crime, the Editorial Board of the New York Times. (May be behind a paywall.) Pay attention. This article points out that the US Supreme Court has recently changed the law and made racial profiling legal. This means that, yes, any of us can be stopped on the street by law enforcement and, based solely on the color of our skin, can be made to show proof of citizenship!
   

3. Flood control issues: Your 1st Amendment rights afford you free speech rights with not only your government, but also with your government's agents. So, during a transition at this meeting I initiated a meeting with the current Gallagher site superintendent outside of City Gym so that I could personally point out to him the growing piles of caliche that were washing into the streets (4th and Fleming streets) and onto my property each time it rains. I won't detail that discussion here, except to say that the last person who tried to convince me that stormwater flows uphill was former IC ISD superintendent Ray DeSpain, and I'm not buying it. All I'm asking is that Gallagher be a good neighbor and clean up. Advocacy tip: When there is no regulatory pressure whatsoever on construction management companies to comply with the law, as is the case with this bond construction, it is up to the individual citizen/landowner to speak up. Silence in this situation is equivalent to throwing away your rights.

“Only You Can Prevent Oligarchy” and “ I Didn’t Recite it for 12 Years at 8:00 AM For Nothing”

“Congress Do Your Job! Your Oath is to the Constitution”. The most obvious signal that we are in a Constitutional crisis is that Congress has prostrated itself and turned over the “power of the purse” to the President.

Making a point that MAGA means “Mexicans Aren’t Going Anywhere”. In 2022, Latinos became the largest ethnic group in Texas. In the background is a sea of protesters marching down South Congress street. An estimated 10,000 people were protesting. There were no protest related arrests.

This sign reads “This is the Gov’t Our Founders Warned us About”. Numerous accounts about the drafting of the US Constitution in fact tell us this.

Here’s more: Voices of Austin’s No King’s Protest is an Instagram video by the student newspaper at UT Austin. I have also posted a few more photos on my page for the Mertzon City Council meeting this week.

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Copyright 2025 G. Noelke