The Northside ISD Board of Trustees met in a called session to review proposed revisions to the board's operating procedures and the district code of ethics and directed staff to produce a draft for the Nov. 11 regular meeting.

Staff opened the discussion, noting the last review of operating procedures had been about a year earlier and reminding trustees that any substantive changes would require approval by four of the seven trustees. "We wanted to pick back up our operating procedures as well as our code of ethics," a district staff member said, adding committee-meeting guidance must be updated for recent legislative changes.

Trustees spent the bulk of the meeting on several clustered topics. On pre-election information meetings for candidates and officers, trustees said the district's long-standing practice has been to exclude trustees who are running for office so the session does not disadvantage challengers. Multiple trustees recommended specifying that no more than two trustees who are not seeking reelection should conduct those sessions. "No more than 2 board member designees not seeking reelection will conduct pre election information meetings," one trustee summarized, and staff was asked to draft language reflecting that guidance.

Board members also proposed editorial and structural edits: consolidating redundant subsections that describe the superintendent coordinating meetings for new trustees, shortening long lists of departments by referring instead to "senior staff or other departments upon request," and removing a fixed reference to "fourth Tuesday" for regular meetings because the calendar varies by month.

Trustees debated renaming a required post-election gathering from "retreat" to "team building" or "team training" citing public perception concerns; several members said they favored language that emphasizes professional learning and relationship-building over the word "retreat."

On public comment, trustees discussed language that would encourage groups of more than three people to appoint a single spokesperson. Some trustees argued that stronger wording could raise First Amendment concerns; others said a spokesperson can help the board hear the substance of a group's concerns without running past available meeting time. The board asked staff to review district local policy and return a recommendation.

Trustees addressed device use during meetings and public-record implications, noting that phones on the dais can prompt public-information requests and affect public perception while also acknowledging trustees sometimes need access to district systems or to be available to family members.

The board revisited guidance on vendors and conferences: trustees reaffirmed a prior practice to avoid participating in exclusive vendor-sponsored dinners while allowing attendance at general receptions at conferences open to all attendees. Trustees asked that language distinguish vendor or contractor-hosted exclusive events from receptions and other conference activities.

Several trustees requested clearer electioneering language and asked for legal review of scenarios such as endorsements or campaigning while acting in an official trustee capacity. Staff recommended cross-referencing the TASB model policy and the district's local policy on the issue.

Trustees also asked for explicit direction on how trustees should forward constituent emails (copying the superintendent) and for consistent follow-up to citizen comments; staff said the district has begun tracking follow-up in a Google document and sending periodic update letters after citizen comments.

Staff closed by saying it would prepare a consolidated draft reflecting the board's input and return it for review at the Nov. 11 meeting. The district also noted cybersecurity training resources and the contact who coordinates that training would be identified in onboarding materials.

The meeting did not include formal votes on the operating procedures; the session functioned as a working review and direction to staff to prepare revised language for the next regular meeting.