Passage of the proposition will provide funding for the district to comply with the state mandate to have armed security personnel on all FBISD campuses. It also means the district qualifies for additional state funding as a result, which will allow for more competitive staff salaries.
The results
Board President Judy Dae, board Secretary David Hamilton and trustee Rick Garcia canvassed, or certified, the election returns to meet the legal requirements for the district and concluded that the official results were as follows:
- More than 46,000 total votes were cast.
- 57% of votes were cast in favor.
- 43% were cast against.
According to a FBISD news release, the passage means FBISD will have the lowest district tax rate in its history of $0.9892 per $100 valuation for fiscal year 2023-24.
Passage also qualifies the district to receive state funding to help retain its 12,000 employees with competitive salaries. Raises will be retroactively paid Dec. 15.
According to Deputy Superintendent Steven Bassett, the proposition's passage means FBISD can eliminate the salary deficit that previously existed in the budget.
“We have a gap of $3,000 per teacher, so that's a tough way to do business. ... You know, it's a people business,” Bassett said in previous reporting.
In other news
Also as previously reported, prior to the Nov. 7 election the district was criticized by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, for encouraging their employees to vote, claiming that by offering nonmonetary incentives, such as “wear blue jeans” days, the district violated state law.
The accusation prompted the district to respond in a statement released the following week: “FBISD adheres to the highest standards of integrity. It is not a violation of law to encourage voting, a cornerstone act of American civic participation that is embedded in our society. Nonetheless, so that there is absolutely no confusion or misunderstanding whatsoever, we have pivoted away from encouraging the act of voting through nonmonetary incentives.”
