BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES EFFICIENCY AUDIT TO PROCEED WITH TALKS ON TAX RATE ELECTION
Spirited discussion about staff pay raises and Brenham ISD’s strategic planning efforts preceded a vote by the school board today (Tuesday) to hire a firm to conduct an efficiency audit as the district looks at the possibility of calling a tax rate election this fall.
The board selected Patillo, Brown and Hill LLP to perform the $15,000 audit, which trustees learned last week is a necessary step to continue with talks about a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) for the purpose of improving teacher and staff salaries.
While the vote was 6-0 in favor, Trustee Archer Archer said he struggled greatly with the decision and that it did not come without reservations. He criticized what he believes was “completely rushed” decision-making that led to this point, saying both he and Trustee Kyle Hafner, who was not present, feel the district has not discussed the VATRE thoroughly enough to make such an important call on it.
Archer argued that while the VATRE may not technically be permanent, since the board could choose to lower the rate, in practice, districts would never opt to decrease their revenue. He said he would feel much more comfortable with this decision if discussion started several months ago, and he stressed that while he has been “very frustrated” by this process, his vote of approval now is because the district staff deserves more pay, and because the community deserves to have a voice in this matter.
Trustee Shawn Koonce said Brenham ISD did not know what the state legislature would choose to do with school funding, and the hope was that the state would do enough to where the district would not need to make this decision. Archer said he understands the district is beholden to the state, but said “hope is not a strategy” and “proactive planning always wins.”
Board Secretary Kelvin Raven, replying to Archer, said it is “unacceptable” that Brenham ISD employees have gone nearly three years without a raise and that he is “100 percent” behind giving them extra support.
Trustee Justin Colley said based off of the strategic planning committee’s comments, the focus needs to be on getting teachers to want to come to Brenham ISD. He admitted that spending the $15,000 right now is “painful”, but said it is “an investment for the future of Brenham ISD.
Board Vice President Bonnie Brinkmeyer said it is very important for the district to communicate with the community and let people know that the goal is to “get everything that we need for our kids and our teachers.” Board President Jared Krenek said “this is a difficult decision for all of us”, but that he feels many more school districts will start looking into this avenue because there are not many options available to them right now for increased funding.
Superintendent Clay Gillentine said the district has made cuts to every budget that it could within reason, and that this path allows the district to continue exploring ways that the public can get involved with helping to boost the district’s revenue.
Gillentine said depending upon the recommendation from the strategic planning committee, the board could decide whether to call a VATRE at its August meeting.
Click here to listen to the livestream from Tuesday's meeting.
Click here for more details about Brenham ISD's strategic planning committee.
Here we go again…on one side, people saying “WE NEED A NEW HIGH SCHOOL!”—because Brenham Junior High is the hand-me-down campus of ALL things and not just buildings—and on the other side, “MUH TAXES!!!! VOTE NO, VOTE NO, VOTE NO!!!” You know who isn’t shouting from the rooftops on public forums like this one? THE TEACHERS, because they are ethically bound to not voice their opinions. To do so would put targets on their backs from administration. However, IT’S PAST TIME FOR TEACHERS TO BE SHOUTING. This community needs to hear and heed what teachers deal with on a daily basis regarding campus physical conditions, student behavior and lack of discipline, actual academic rigor (not what the report cards say). FROM THE TEACHERS THEMSELVES, NOT A SPECIAL COMMITTEE. Perhaps the district wouldn’t be in this mess if the public had a REAL clue, not the glossed-over CO version.
I find it amazing that my property’s valuation rises year on year the precise amount required to raise my taxes the maximum 10% allowed by law. This has gone on so long that now my valuation is $100k more than the property could ever reasonably sell for. This is corruption on display. It has to stop.
A could of years ago BISD put us through back to back bond elections asking for more than $100 MILLION each time. Now they want to add a VATRE so they don’t have to ask the taxpayers for bonds, they just set the rate and TAKE IT. This is handing them a check carte blanche.
Want voter cooperation? Fix the real problem, taxes are already too high. Pretty soon there will be nothing left to take.
Awwww….look. It’s another property tax hike being born. Who’d of thunk it? Greedy government voting themselves another raise on the taxpayers backs. VOTE NO. VOTE NO. VOTE NO. VOTE NO. VOTE NO. VOTE NO. VOTE NO. VOTE NO. VOTE NO.
So, do you not care about the condition of the schools that our children/grandchildren have to attend? These schools need to be repaired and or replaced and quick. All you care about is your pocketbook. I would rather pay a little more so my children would be safe while at school, unless you are volunteering to home school all the children in the district. Maybe you need to take a tour of the Jr High to see for yourself, make sure it’s a rainy day.
Brenham ISD doesn’t have a revenue problem—it has a spending problem. Over the past two decades, we’ve watched the central office grow significantly, with more and more “specialists” brought on board—many of whom spend little or no time directly serving students. We’ve also seen funds used with little accountability or restraint.
Now, the district wants to spend even more—this time on consultants to tell them where they’re inefficient? Isn’t that what we already pay administrators to do? If they need outside help to identify waste, doesn’t that raise serious questions about their leadership?
Brenham ISD taxpayers would be right to question any proposal for a tax increase. Yes, our teachers deserve meaningful raises—but that funding should come from eliminating unnecessary expenses, not by placing an even greater burden on citizens already struggling to make ends meet.
I agree with Let’s do better on it all. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians and the Indians you have are not valued. Something everyone from Jared to the Janitor should know this one fact There is no I in the word Team you are all a team with a goal give our students the best education we can with what we have and wasting money on a audit?? You folks are living in a bubble. Get rid of the fluff jobs Jared not that hard teach or find a job somewhere else if you don’t want to teach. You think it doesn’t matter to the teachers you have people micro managing them? You have these assist to the assist telling them there is a speck in their eye with a 2×4 in their eye stop the maddness do the math you can cut and cut you will cause a pig with lipstick is still just a pig. As Dr. Phil quotes how that working out for you? I bet you could have hired the EMS director for half of the 15 thousand and he would do better.
Wow, my vote will be a huge NO for an increase in taxes. The only way I will ever vote yes for this is when the current administrative team aka “cabinet” can manage a budget and make sound financial decisions. Prove to the community you are in fact in good faith, making sound financial decisions. Absorbing a Human Resources Director and a Maintenance Director are not sound decisions. Other positions that were cut last school year were teacher positions. Not one administrator or specialist position was cut. Actually, more were added. If they do not have the common sense to know where to cut spending, they have never had to deal with making ends meet in their personal lives. Why should tax payers have to pay an outside firm to conduct a study to tell them how to manage a budget?? The last time the district paid for an outside study, the information brought to the board was so inaccurate. As I recall, the study for the bond came back saying BISD was going to see a growth in student enrollment. This was so inaccurate. Enrollment has dropped significantly since that study. The studies do not guarantee the results will be accurate.
This so called “Strategic Planning Committee” is a joke. When and where did the district open up to the public that this committee was being formed and ask for volunteers?? I never saw it. I am pretty sure this committee was handpicked by the “Cabinet”. Where is the list of members for this committee? Transparency??
Transparency is always mentioned but it is a true joke. If the community honestly knew what goes on at CO behind closed doors, they would be appalled. They hide things from board members so they are forced to make decisions on a short timeline because there isn’t another choice. All I can say to the board members, do your own homework. Visit with all departments to find out what is truly going on.
As far as pay goes, teachers aren’t leaving only because of pay. They are leaving because they have better admin. support in other districts and aren’t micro managed. Morale is much better.
I certainly hope and pray the district employees that aren’t teachers will get some sort of pay increase.
Based on the legislature, teachers are getting a huge increase AND working fewer days. The remaining staff are required to work the same number of days as in the past with no raise. Teachers received step pay the last 2 years. The remaining staff got nothing. When insurance premiums increase, the staff receives a pay decrease.
Do I feel like Jr High needs a major facelift?? Absolutely! BUT until we have someone that will be vested in making common sense decisions leading this renovation with the support of the administration, it will be more wasted money. I feel like the main reason the Jr High is in such bad condition now is because they want a new building because the building has “expired.” Buildings do not have an expiration date as long as routine maintenance is done. But when funds are directed away from maintenance for other things, the buildings aren’t maintained. Perhaps a start would be to clean the gutters on the roof of the buildings to direct water where it is supposed to go.
There are lots of buildings that are much older than the Jr High around. What’s different is that the buildings have been maintained.
Any organization, public or private, has to have facilities to function. Grounds, buildings, utilities, etc. Well run organizations understand and take steps to keep facilities maintained through forward thinking, preventative maintenance programs and staying on top of issues when small and easily managed. All this is done in order that their organization has the proper facilities to provide the services they a charged with providing. But Public Schools are government. Government organizations don’t worry about those things. They find all sorts of “ Special” Programs and special staff positions to spend their money on. Not worry about those roofs, paint and the like. They let all that go until it’s beyond maintenance and has to be replaced. Then simply tell the tax payers to fork over their hard earned money. There are facilities all over the world that are much older and complicated than schools and they function just fine because they are maintained. Not gonna happen in Government institutions. Open your wallets…here they come.