BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD HOLDS BUDGET WORKSHOP
After a 1 hour and 10-minute executive session, the Brenham School board at their noon meeting Wednesday reconvened in open session to pass a resolution addressing the lack of funding for public schools. The resolution said that the last time the school district got an increase was in 2019 and inflation has increased over 19 percent since then according to the Consumer Price Index. The executive session was for the superintendent search since Dr. Tylor Chaplin announced his retirement at the last school board meeting.
The School Board finished with their third Budget Workshop session. Thad Lasater, Chief Financial Officer for the District presented a budget with an almost $4.6 million deficit in the General Fund. He said that the new budget contains no pay raises and it contains an SRO increase of $683,000. Dr. Chaplin said that starting in December, all positions with the school district are monitored to make sure they have to be filled. Trustee Kyle Hafner asked about grants for the district. Dr. Chaplin said that the school district does not employ a full-time grant writer, that is an area that needs to be looked at. The next budget workshop will be Tuesday, August 8th at 12:00 noon at the Central Office.
In other action, the Brenham School Board approved the Optional School Day Program for PRIDE Academy. The program allows students to take 4 hours of school and then leave for work anytime during the day. School Districts must reapply for the program each year.