BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES LONGEVITY STIPEND

  

Brenham ISD teachers and employees can look forward to a extra check in the coming days.  The Brenham School Board approved a onetime longevity stipend for all the employees in the district at their noon meeting today (Monday). The salary supplements will be based on each employee’s total time in education, not just BISD.  The supplements increase in 5 year increments: First year employees will receive $200, those in education 10 years will receive $500 and those with 20 years of service $800.  Director of Business and Finance Kim Weatherby said the money was in the budget and that the supplements would be going out immediately.  Superintendent Dr. Walter Jackson said that he hoped the financial gesture will send a strong message that the district values all of the staff, and that longevity and commitment are important to the success of the school district.

Trustees also got a preliminary report on teacher salaries and benefits from Weatherby.  She stated that the district began working on getting the starting pay for teachers higher beginning in 2010 when in was $34,000.  It has risen steadily each year, thanks to pay increases approved by the school board, and now a starting teacher with the district receives $42,750.  Weatherby noted that the district has finally surpassed the starting pay offered by the College Station School District.  She also noted that teachers with a Master Degree receive a $1000 stipend and those that are bilingual receive a $3000 stipend.

Mark Strauss updated the board on TEA Accountability.  The entire system is being redone and this year the district, along with all those across Texas, will receive a letter grade assessment from TEA.  Based on last year’s scores, Brenham would have received a score of 45, but nobody knows yet where that would fall on the A through F scale:

School Board Secretary Susan Jenkins said that it would take a genius to figure out the scoring system put out by TEA and that it is a total waste of taxpayer’s money.

In other action, the board approved spending $31,000 to upgrade the wireless internet on the campuses.  Kim Strauss, IT director for the district said that the total cost of the project is $157,000 but that 80 percent of it is covered by a program offered by the US Department of Education.  The board also made a minor revision to its public comment regulations.  The amount of time an individual has to speak during the public comment portion of a school board meeting was reduced from 5 minutes to 3 minutes.