Fort Bend ISD board members will vote on multiple proposals and resolutions related to academic personnel, waiver to Texas Education Agency requirements and the possible addition of budget limits related to bond and debt services in a regular meeting Sept. 18.

Zooming in

The following consent agenda items related to teacher evaluation and apprenticeships, student-to-teacher ratios and Texas Education Agency waivers will be considered:
  • A new Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System, which allows the district to train campus personnel to become certified appraisers of teachers and instructional quality
  • A new TEA-sanctioned waiver to allow pre-K through fourth grade classrooms to exceed the student-teacher ratio of 22-1 in an effort to enable the district to alleviate teacher shortages and increase enrollment in those grades
  • A TEA-approved waiver to allow noncertified classroom instructors to apprentice on a full-time basis to become certified teachers for the district
  • A resolution calling for approval of a good faith exception to the House Bill 3 unfunded mandate to have armed personnel on every campus in the district, as the district lacks the funding to comply


FBISD is also holding a career fair named “Touchdown for Talent” on Sept. 19 to fill multiple positions in the district, including certified teachers and apprentice teachers.

FBISD has 15 police officer vacancies.


Budget explained

The board will vote on the following finance-related measures to enhance the budget position of the district going forward:
  • A finance measure to remove a 20% paydown requirement of the district’s debt to keep the lowest tax rate possible for residents
  • A not-to-exceed limit in the amount of $15 million on bond services and a $3 million limit for nonbond contracted services
  • A resolution approving the 2023 tax year tax roll, per the certified 2023 values from the Fort Bend County Central Appraisal District
In addition, the board will likely vote to approve the proposed budget items that will provide funding for new school bus purchases, fine arts department needs, and demographer and long-range planning services to provide strategic input to future board decision-making processes.

What else?

In addition to the items listed above, the district heard reports in a previous Sept. 11 meeting related to student feedback on campus environments and the new TEA A-F Accountability requirements.


However, the district chose not to pursue litigation against the state agency as some other Texas districts have recently, according to an email from FBISD Director of Strategic Communications Sherry Williams.

On Sep. 12, the TEA announced a delay in the implementation of the new rating system, which was slated to take effect Sept. 28.