What happened
The board approved the measure by a vote of 6-1 with board member David Hamilton being the lone dissenter, based largely on the grounds that the board had already given one-time bonuses to teachers in FY 2022-23.
FBISD Chief Financial Officer Brian Guinn said the current rate of $0.9492 does not provide the necessary funding to match other districts in the region in hiring qualified teachers and staff as well as providing campus security as mandated by House Bill 3, which requires school districts to have an armed officer on each campus.
Guinn presented to the board tax increase options of $0.02, $0.03, $0.04 and $0.05 in addition to recommending raises, other staffing and security personnel, and other measures.
In particular, board member Kristen Malone led the charge for a $0.04 increase rather than the district’s proposed $0.05 increase. A compromise was then reached in the 11th hour as the board had only until midnight to pass the measure, finally passing the measure at 11:38 p.m.
For the district to gain access to $14 million in available state funds, the proposal must be passed by voters in November.
However, the last time the district held a VATRE in November 2022, the measure failed with 54% of respondents voting against the district’s effort to maintain a higher property tax rate and avoid a budget shortfall.
The details
The proposed rate increase would bring $35.2 million annually, of which 70% would go toward compensation for teachers, librarians, nurses and counselors. It would also provider the following:
- Increased starting teacher pay by $2,500 to a $62,000 salary
- Increased police officer pay by $5,742
- Increased pay for district professionals by 3%
- Increased nonprofessional staff, such as classroom aides and bus drivers, pay by $1.50 per hour
- Armed, uniformed security assigned to all district elementary schools
- Differentiated teacher step raises every five years of service
What’s next
The exact details would ultimately depend on the board coming to an agreement in a special VATRE workshop board meeting Aug. 25 from 4-5:30 pm to decide on the exact allocation of the proposed fund amount.
