Crockett ISD Staff Receives Good News on First Day of School
Board Holds Tax Rate at Current Level
By Will Johnson Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – The staff of the Crockett Independent School District received some good news following the first day of class in the new school year. During a regularly scheduled meeting of the CISD Board of Trustees, held on Monday, Aug. 22, the board approved the 2016-2017 budget which would make the CISD staff one of, if not the highest paid staffs in Houston County.
Before CISD Superintendent Terry Myers made the announcement concerning the pay hikes, he addressed the board on a different matter. He said, “The start date of the Serenity Place students will be Monday, Aug. 29. This was by agreement of the two parties (CISD and Serenity Place.) We simply couldn’t get enough of the educational records and all the orientations, staff introductions completed before today. By mutual agreement, we decided to start on Monday, Aug. 29. We will make sure they get the same amount of hours and training as the students over here (on CISD campuses.)”
As the meeting continued, the 2016-2017 budget was approved which included, “… a pay raise for all staff. This should elevate Crockett ISD to certainly one of, if not the highest paid district in the county. We have considered all of them (staff) and tried to make sure we were at or above the current levels of all the other districts in the county, as well as some of the other surrounding counties,” the superintendent said.
“We looked at every category we possibly could and every staff member in the district, from bus drivers all the up to the assistant superintendent and some principals, and wanted to make sure we were the most competitive district in the county. I’m pleased to be able to do this and I’m pleased with our board. They haven’t batted an eyelash. They have asked me the questions, ‘Can we fund this? Can we handle this? Can we propagate this if bad things happen to us in the future?’ And the answer is yes, we can right now and we’ve given ourselves plenty of time because we’ve been able to build up our fund balance over the last two and a half years or so. We’ve been able to do that and we should be able to propagate this into the future,” Myers said.
The approved budget for the 2016-2017 school year is for $15.9 million, with $12.9 million on the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) portion. Myers added, “That $15.9 million total includes all of our grants.”
To support the budget, the trustees adopted a tax rate of $1.25 per $100 of property valuation. “This has stayed the same for the past five, maybe going on six years. It will stay at $1.04 on the M&O side and 0.21 on the I&S (interest and sinking).”
Following an hour long executive session, the board approved hiring three certified personnel and six non-certified personnel. The three certified personnel are: Connie Pasho, Lisa Long and Starlyn Carter.
The non-certified personnel are: Sholanda Brown, Quantrina Williams, Jalen Claiborne, Mildred Robbins, Clyde Franks and Frank Lucas.
In other matters brought before the Board of Trustees:
- A public hearing on the 2016-2017 budget and tax rate was held with no one speaking for or against the two items.
- The consent agenda (minutes, bills and investment reports) was approved.
- The 2016 certified tax roll was approved.
- The 2016-2017 campus and district parent involvement policies were tabled for further deliberation.
- The 2016-2017 teacher appraisal calendar was approved.
- The continuance of an existing resolution regarding the extracurricular status of the 4-H organization and adjunct faculty status granted to all eligible county extension faculty was approved by the trustees.
- Approval was given by the board for TASB Policy Update 105 as well as Local Policy EHBAF.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].