BRENHAM ISD EXPLORING TAX RATE ELECTION FOR STAFF PAY RAISES, BOND ELECTION FOR FACILITY ISSUES
Brenham ISD could ask the voters for help with teacher pay raises and urgent facility repairs.
Members of the Brenham School Board received a recap today (Wednesday) of recent discussions by a strategic planning committee comprised of district staff, administrators and community members, exploring how to handle the priorities of addressing teacher retention and taking care of critical needs on campuses.
One of the options being considered is a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE), which could increase the maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate by 3 cents per $100 valuation. Chief Financial Officer Darrell St. Clair said between increased state revenue approved by legislators and the added local revenue from the higher tax rate, the district could get roughly $2 million extra for the purpose of improving teacher and staff salaries and funding day-to-day operational costs.
Another potential avenue is a bond election to fund large-scale maintenance and capital projects; Superintendent Clay Gillentine said thanks to early debt repayment, the district could propose a bond of $36 million or more without raising the interest and sinking (I&S) tax rate.
Gillentine stressed that with the increased homestead exemptions that will likely be passed in November’s constitutional amendment election, voters would not see a negative impact to their taxes.
Katie Burch, one of the facilitators for the strategic planning committee meetings, said while there are pressing issues with district facilities that will need to be resolved, some within a year or sooner, the committee has expressed that its most critical concern is giving teachers, staff and paraprofessionals the resources and support they need in order to help reduce the number of employees who leave for neighboring districts. She said their wellbeing directly affects the academic success of students, adding, “If you’re going to make a bet, bet on our teachers.”
Much of the board’s discussion revolved around the VATRE, as trustees are weighing whether the increased state funding on its own would be enough to provide for meaningful pay raises and also take care of facilities. Through St. Clair’s preliminary calculations, the district could see around $943,000 in new funding, and if the district proceeded with a 3 percent raise for non-teachers, a step raise for teachers, and associated benefits, the cost for that would be right around the amount of the new funding coming in.
That would mean very little of that money could be put back into the district’s fund balance, hire new teachers to help with classroom sizes, or go toward facility needs. St. Clair noted that teachers would still receive raises of $4,000 to $8,000 from the state, based on their level of experience.
Adding to the decision is that the district is nearing a deadline to conduct an efficiency audit, which costs $15,000 but is a necessary step to continue with talks about a VATRE.
Trustees Kyle Hafner and Archer Archer were against proceeding with the VATRE and the audit. Archer said he understands how important it is to make staff feel valued, but even with the expected homestead exemption increase, the VATRE is permanent, so he wanted to continue exploring alternate funding options. Hafner said property appraisals are still going to increase, which might soak up what homeowners save with the new exemptions, and that he does not consider it wise to spend $15,000 just to turn around and ask to raise voters’ taxes, especially with as many facility needs Brenham ISD has.
Trustee Justin Colley said he wants to do more than just the bare minimum for pay raises, and that the district needs to “make up for lost time.” Trustee Shawn Koonce said the cost of losing good teachers is not fiscally responsible for the district in the long-term, so the district needs to do something now. Board President Jared Krenek said even if the VATRE passes, Brenham ISD would still have one of the lowest tax rates in the state, and he rhetorically asked what type of message would the district be sending employees if it did not try to do everything it could to support them.
The board is preparing to meet again on Tuesday at noon in the Brenham ISD Administration Office to vote on moving forward with the efficiency audit.
Click here to view the livestream from Wednesday's meeting.
Click here for more information about Brenham ISD's strategic planning committee.
Teachers lifetime retirement benefits are based on their annual income over the last years of employment. It is no wonder why good teachers leave Brenham at the end of their career in order to finish out their employment at a higher paying district. Teachers who remain in Brenham end up with lower retirement income for the rest of their life and this should not occur because they work for the Brenham ISD.
As for board members Hafner and Archer, it appears they are unable to think
independent of each other or work with other board members as a team. Their performance should be under the microscope when election time rolls around. Plus, neither have children attending BISD.
Lucky to have responsible and dedicated board officers working with the other dedicated board members.
the same is true for the city of brenham workers. both the school district and city government have lied to their workers on more than one occasion and knowingly made retirement more money promises that they intentionally brake. workers deserve more than these lies from the school district and brenham government!
So your answer is to continue to trust government run institutions to take care of our needs? Raise taxes over and over? Allow stupid policies that create an atmosphere that doesn’t provide the basic needs of children? Allow government institutions well beyond our local communities to dictate how our system functions? Certainly teachers need to be paid well. How much is that? Are those who ran to Waller, Cy Fair, etc really better off and happier? I’ll also ask you this question…are the students in those districts really better off, better educated, better behaved? The answer is no…they have all the same problems and in many cases are worse. The problem is not teacher pay. The problem is a society that has digressed to a point where there may not be any return. Way too many people think Government is the answer to our needs…so go ahead, attack the two board members who are trying to apply practical common sense to running a school. But money is not the reason our system is not working. So, provide real solutions to problems where your mouth is!!
If you have to deal with a C level performance in Brenham, or a C level performance in Waller with nicer facilities and $10,000 a year extra in your pocket, which would make you happier? I don’t believe that government is the answer to our needs, but I believe the only way to provide PUBLIC GOODS, i.e. fire departments, police departments, EMS, road and bridges and Public Education is through some form of tax so that the burden and therefore the benefit is shared by all. Call me an idealist but an uneducated society is not a society I want to live in. Wake up and realize that we are all part of the same society, we are all running the same races, and our children and our teachers deserve our support.
I’ll flush that idealistic notion out of the can. The can that has taken to much and wasted it to the point that the sewer pipes are backed up from over-gulging and over-taxing. If you passed your economics class with at least a C, you would know that the tax base in Washington County has at least doubled with all the new construction in the past ten years. Bad money management of tax dollars by the X Gens should not cost us more money. It’s time for all of the overpaid so called X Gens to take a ten percent pay cut. If they don’t like it, leave the county. That makes economic sense.
Brenham ISD will continue to lose amazing teachers because they are not valued and leave for districts that do value teachers. Look at how many have left this year and there will be another mass exodus if the Board members don’t get their act together and open their eyes! Central Office is so top heavy, they’re who is taking down this district! Brenham ISD stop being cheap with your teachers and paras and pay them what they deserve. Quit increasing CO pay when they are next to never step foot INSIDE the schools! Ask teachers how many times they see a CO admin come into their classroom! Pay your teachers or you’ll keep losing them to Hempstead, Waller, Cy-Fair, Navasota, etc!
Hafner and Archer get to keep taking the easy way out and saying no to everything because they know we have enough responsible board members that will out vote them. I’m sick and tired of hearing we need to keep and attract great teachers and no one being willing to foot the bill. The system is set up that property taxes pay for public goods, like schools, fire, police and EMS. Until it’s changed, that’s what we have to deal with. We have the lowest tax rate around and people wonder why our teachers run to Waller. They build good facilities and pay teachers like they value them. This community keeps kicking the can down the road because a few naysayers yell the loudest. Time to quit kicking the can down the road and show up for this community that you all profess to care about. Put your money where your mouth is.