Thorndale ISD proposes tax rate of $1.17 for 2018

The Thorndale ISD Board of Trustees will not raise the tax rate for the coming year.

A public hearing for the 2017-18 tax rate was held during the board’s Aug. 7 meeting. TISD Business Manager Rebecca Peel stated that the recommendation was to leave the tax rate at $1.17 for maintenance and operation with no tax levied for Interest and Sinking (bond service). The board then voted 6-0 to propose that tax rate to be voted on later in August.

During the budget workshop TISD Superintendent Adam Ivy and Peel explained that the state formula for 2017-18 would result in around $150,000 less in revenue than in 2016-17. They stated that they had worked to make the budget fit into that new revenue figure and that they were confident that a balanced budget could be reached. They stated that the general supply budgets line items were generally left the same as 2016-17.

Student handbooks were presented by the campus principals. They discussed the process and informed the board that there most of the changes were as a result of new recommendations from the Texas Association of School Boards. They talked about a few minor changes to clarify the grading policies. The principals also presented the student code of conduct. The code of conduct is a legal document that is essentially taken directly from a model sent by TASB, The board approved the Code of conduct with a vote of 7-0.

Ivy presented a resolution that would allow staff members to write grants for classroom and district funding and receive award stipends. The resolution allows employees to receive six percent of a grant award up to $5,000. There are specific guidelines on how this will work. The board approved this resolution 7-0.

The board also approved the employee compensation plan. The compensation plan is unchanged from 2016-17. Teachers and para-professionals that are on a pay scale will receive their annual step increase and those employees that are not on a scale will receive a 1.5 percent increase. Peel stated that the reason for the 1.5 percent is because that is the average of the step increases on the teacher scale. Those that are over the 30-year scale would receive $500 for full-time employees and $250 for part-time employees.