Calhoun County ISD board approves personnel recommendations, adopts T-TESS for principals

The Calhoun County Independent School District Board of Trustees voted July 21 to accept administrative recommendations on personnel and to adopt the Texas Principal Evaluation and Support System for principals for the 2025–26 school year. The board took both actions after a closed session that began at 6:28 p.m. and reconvened at 7:18 p.m.
The personnel approvals and evaluation-tool selection affect instructional and administrative staff across the district and set the framework for principal reviews next school year.
Board President Bill Shrader presided as the board approved the administration’s personnel recommendations. A motion to accept the recommendations passed unanimously, with all seven trustees voting yes. The board then voted 7–0 to use T-TESS for principals and a local evaluation tool for administrators and directors for 2025–26.
The closed-session agenda item cited Texas Government Code 551.074 for deliberations about appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, dismissal or duties of public officers or employees. The minutes record that the board accepted recommendations from the administration “including instructional personnel” and that a separate security item discussed under Texas Government Code 551.076 received no action.
Superintendent Evan Cardwell and board members remained the primary participants; the minutes reference an attached personnel list for the specific hires and resignations the board approved. The board did not take additional public action on the security-item discussion that occurred in closed session.
Board officials said the evaluation tools will be used for the upcoming school year; the minutes identify the specific selection (T-TESS for principals) and the alternative local tool for administrators and directors. The district will proceed with implementing those tools as part of its 2025–26 evaluation cycle.
The board adjourned at 7:22 p.m.