Before opening their regular meeting, the Johnson City School Board held a Public Hearing for the 2018-2019 proposed budget and tax rate.

Public Hearing

Assistant Superintendent Erin Fasel presented the tax rate for the upcoming year. The total tax rate was proposed at $1.1339. Maintenance and Operations tax was proposed at a rate of $1.04 and Interest and Sinking tax was proposed at $0.0939.

With no questions from the public the board closed the public hearing and opened their regular meeting.

2018/2019 Budget and

Tax Rate

The board discussed and approved the budget and tax rate in regular session.

Assistant Superintendent Fasel reported that revenue for the 2017/2018 budget year is higher than expected at $998,189.58. She then broke down the details of the 2018/2019 budget.

They were able to cut costs in several areas. Instruction costs went down by $285,440. Library and media costs went down $5,567 which includes funds for the “Gifted and Talented” program being reclassified to Instructional administration which went up $922,000 to accommodate GT Personnel. School administration was reduced by $172. Counseling funds were reduced by $52,649. Health services went down by $13,291.

However, transportation costs went up to $674,677 an increase of $202,217. Fasel reports this is due to their oil and gas contract transferring to another company which is further away. JCISD also has four new buses scheduled to be purchased this year. Throughout the past several years, administration has stated several district buses are past their prime and are now starting to need frequent maintenance and repairs. The costs of buses are included in the bond package up for election in November.

Costs for Co-curricular activities rose by $116,906 due to a reorganization of salaries and rising costs of UIL officials. General administrative costs are up by $3,286 due to an increase in professional service costs and the upcoming elections. Due to insurance and other fees rising the district’s Plant Maintenance costs are increased by $14,427.

With a Chapter 41 payment to the State of Texas of approximately $2,200,000 expected, an increase of $700,000. The total expenditures of the district are proposed at $11,362,492, a $773,905 deficit despite revenue increasing to $10,588,587.

“This is year five of adopting a deficit budget,” said Superintendent Richard Kolek. He reported that without the Chapter 41 payment the budget would have been almost balanced.

Brit Odiorne moved to accept the 2018/2019 budget as presented. Cristol Corpus seconded the motion which was approved by the other trustees.

The board also approved the tax rate as presented. Maintenance and operations tax rate was set at $1.04 and Interest and Sinking tax rate was set at $0.0939 to total $1.1339. The same rates as last year.

Superintendent Kolek reports the tax rate is lower than all districts in the area. He stated that the average for districts across the state is $1.32.

Budget and tax rate figures are available on the Johnson City ISD website.

Bond Election

The board voted to call for a bond election. The bond amounts to $10.86 million. Some of the items included in the bond package are new buses, maintenance and repairs to pavement and drainage, technology and hardware updates and campus security.

Board trustee Matt McKennis moved to approve the bond, Trustee Amber Fry seconded. The bond was unanimously approved.

The board next voted to approve a reimbursement resolution which would allow the district to reimburse itself for items purchased prior to the Bond Election.

Public Comments

One community member spoke during public comments.

“We’re all here for our children’s education,” she began before expressing a concern she had for the district’s budget.

She reports technology funds were used to purchase TV’s for the athletic program. With funding on a need basis in the district she stated her opinion that these technology funds would have been better used towards teacher computers or something that benefits all the students.

New Business Items

The board approved 4-H to continue to be considered an extracurricular activity. The board must vote to approve 4-H sponsors as adjunct faculty, so students may receive excused absences for 4-H events.

They approved the resignation of one personnel member. The employee accepted another position within JCISD. The board approved two elections of personnel one for a special-education teacher and the second was for a special-education coordinator.

Kolek presented some changes to the district’s student drug testing policy but recommended no action be taken until they can finalize the changes.

His proposed changes were to expand the range from grades 9-12 to 7-12 to eliminate confusion in the wording of the current policy. If a student tests positive for drugs, the current policy states the student is suspended from activity for thirty days and may not return until they receive a negative test. This requires the drug testing company to come to Johnson City for retests. Kolek proposes to change the policy so students are suspended from activities for thirty days but instead of requiring an immediate drug test, they are added to the next two testing cycles.

Under the current policy if a student tests positive three times they are removed from activity for their entire career with JCISD. Kolek recommends amending this time frame to a calendar year. He also wants to add access to help for students who test positive such as professional counseling at the student’s or parents’ expense.

District Improvement Plan

Superintendent Kolek presented the district’s 2018/2019 improvement plan.

In his comprehensive needs assessment, Kolek identified school safety and climate, academic performance, effective communication and financial stewardship and operational excellence as priorities for the district.

His goals for the upcoming school year are to promote the Eagle Tip line and Crime Stoppers to help stop bullying and illegal activity at school.

He also wants to improve staff morale stating, “when you’re in a salary freeze, no body likes that.”

For student success, Kolek wants to increase school attendance to 97 percent and reduce teacher absences. He also wants to increase the number of students who “meets” or “masters” their grade level on the STAAR test. He later cited last year’s fourth grade STAAR results were low in reading and writing.

In the high school, the goal is to have 95 percent of graduates meet college, career or military readiness.

Across the district he is working to implement instructional rounds by teachers so they may learn from each other.

To improve communication with stakeholders, Kolek recommends the district’s website remains updated. The goal for the website include teacher and activity pages being updated weekly. He also wants to improve awareness of the “State of the District” especially with the bond election coming up later this year. He states he wants to keep people informed. Other changes may also include a JCISD Facebook page.

Superintendent Report

Superintendent Kolek presented transfer numbers before the start of school. For the school year that begins on Aug. 20 2018, the district expects up to 11 transfers; four in the elementary school, two in middle school and two in high school. Three are pending transfer into the elementary school.

The campus principals reported most of the transfers are from Blanco, Fredericksburg and Marble Falls.

Closing

Board President Shelly Wenmohs reviewed the calendar. The first day of school is Monday, Aug. 20, 2018. Other dates include their next special board meeting on August 27, their regular meeting on Sept. 10 and a Board Workshop on Wednesday Sept. 19, 2018.