The Willis ISD board of trustees voted on a handful of items during a Feb. 14 board meeting with an agenda that included topics such as teacher incentive payments, pre-bond services and volunteer chaplains.

The gist

First on the agenda was an item regarding the approval of a one-time retention incentive payment for district personnel.

The one-time stipends are similar to those the district approved in 2023.

• Teachers, professional employees and school resource officers will receive a one-time payment of $2,500.
• Hourly employees and nonexempt employees will receive a one-time payment of $1,500.
• Employees hired after May 1 but before July 1 will receive a one-time payment of $500.

All district personnel will receive their payments in August.

Trustee Cliff Williams said the board has made staff retention a No. 1 priority.

"To all the principals sitting out there, you have the commitment of this board," he said. "I promise we are going to do everything we can to make sure your staff is taken care of."

WISD Chief Financial Officer Garrett Matej said the incentives are funded by the district's remaining Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, which are now effectively closed out.

Also on the agenda

The board selected Huckabee and Associates as the architecture firm that will provide pre-bond services for the May 2024 bond referendum, which was unanimously approved in January.

The May 2024 bond includes items such as:

• Expanding the high school's ninth-grade campus
• Adding a new transportation center
• Building a new athletic complex and stadium
• Creating an aquatic center with a competition swimming pool
• A potential 120,000-square-foot indoor student activity center

Huckabee and Associates has completed several projects in K-12 education, including elementary, middle school and high school campuses, natatoriums, stadiums and fine arts centers across Texas.

According to the firm's website, designs have been completed for districts such as Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Klein ISD, Spring ISD and Montgomery ISD.

One more thing

Last on the agenda, the board voted unanimously against the use of chaplains in the district.

The vote satisfies the requirements of Senate Bill 763 passed by the 88th Texas Legislature in 2023 that requires all districts to take a record vote by March 1 on whether to adopt a policy authorizing the employment or volunteer services of chaplains.

Interim Superintendent Tom Crowe recommended the board vote against the policy.

"We've got licensed counselors at all of our campuses who are trained in dealing with the issues that the kids have, and they're not propagandizing," he said.