BURTON SCHOOL BOARD HIRES NEW VOLLEYBALL COACH
There was very little discussion about the Master Facilities Site Plan during Monday evenings Burton School Board meeting. The board did discuss setting up a workshop session on it and forming a committee of community members to look into options, but no action was taken. The Burton School District has seen a 58% increase in enrolment over the past 10 years and is looking at ways to increase the capacity of the schools. Burton voters rejected an 18 million dollar school improvement bond issue last November. New board member Linda Hasten stated that she would oppose presenting any new bond issue and would like to explore ways of reducing the tax burden on those is the district.
In other action, the board voted to hire Jessica Parish as the new Burton Volleyball coach and assistant softball coach. Parish is coming from the Giddings School District where she was a PE assistant. The board also hired Shawn Turner as a Special Education instructor and accepted the resignation of Junior High coach Bonnie Kunkel.
The board also voted to update the districts policies as recommended by the TEA. Another update is expected in the fall incorporating changes made by the State Legislature. After a brief Executive Session, the board voted to continue to keep the district’s deposits with Burton State Bank. The next Burton School Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 17th.
So many comments on here!! Bottom line-taxes keep going up!! That’s a given. Some of you saying it’s the appraisal districts fault because of raising property values, so go fight them. You cannot fight them any more than you can fight the federal government because of income tax and obamacare!! Bottom line, you pay what they tell you, or lose your property. And, taxes frozen at 65 does not freeze values, so everybody’s taxes go up. I know there has to be a better solution than an 18 million dollar bond. Again, bottom line, taxes will go up astronomically, and very few can afford it!! Many living on fixed income and there is no more extra to pay any increase in anything!! Do the academic portion. Forget the athletics portion. Would all of this new proposal be nice? Sure it would!! Is it a dire necessity? Absolutely NO!!
As for the teachers/coaches leaving, talk to them. Find out where the main problem lies, and fix that problem. One family should not be allowed to run the school, and if the superintendent keeps allowing it, maybe we need a new one that can actually do their job. If the school board refuses to do the job they were elected to do, which is what’s best for the school, students, and citizens that voted them into office, maybe they need to be replaced as well. I mean, this past election spoke volumes. If a woman that no one ever heard of before ran and got top votes, I think that’s a pretty powerful message being sent to the current board. Get off the good old boy band wagon, stop playing follow the leader, grow a backbone, and do what you were elected to do!!
Thank you for speaking up Mrs. Anders. One correction, after age 65 your TAX RATE is frozen, not property values. So why are we paying more property taxes?
One reason would be if your land is improved. Adding a barn, garage, deck, cattle guard and gate or pumphouse increases the value of property. Parking a mobile home on property adds value. That generates more taxable property.
A second reason would be if property around you is improved or sells for more than it eas valued. The County Appraisal Board looks at comparable values in areas. If your neighbors are adding buildings or adding on then your neighborhood gets upgraded.
Your response should be to appeal increases to the appeal board, not the school. The school does not have any say on property values.
I believe Mrs. Hasten is a reasonable person. As Mrs. Anders stated, once you become a Board member and attend workshops explaining school finance you discover that many of the problems districts face are due to politics in Austin. Local taxing entities like cities and school districts are being used for political gain.
A good example of this occurred in the last regular session. A state representative had done a great deal of listening to all sides about school finance. He wrote HB 21. It called for the state to increase school funding by enough to keep it at the same level for the next two years (the state student population increases by almost 100,000 additional students each year), a $1000 raise for teachers and other changes. This bill was changed by the Senate to include funding for vouchers to support private schools for special needs students. The Senate was trying to force funding for public funds to be diverted to private schools. The House if Representatives opposed public funds for private schools and the bill died. Privatization of public school funds is a political ploy to lower state funding for public education. The Senate voted AGAINST additional support for public school.
This vote is going to have an affect on Burton ISD taxpayers. Burton ISD is going to lose at least $130-150,000 in state funding.
The only way Burton ISD makes up for that loss in funding is IF property values are up. If so, the same tax rate Burton ISD has had for several years will bring in more funds. If not,
It means cuts on services provided for local students. Since Burton ISD is already at the $1.04 cap set by the state, raising taxes is not an option.
Jim, a few points:
The School Board can and should lower the tax rate to compensate for the elevated appraisal value that is market based. Not doing so means that people are taxed more by the school board or any local elected official such as county commissioner or city councilman.
The state school funding would have been approved but was stopped by the House. Many in the House did not want parents to have a choice of how to spend their property tax payer money (about $8500 per year per Texas student) to educate their own children. Seems the House thinks the state knows best, not the father.
As a property tax payer it would be nice to use those $$,$$$’s I put into to school funding over the years and see that $8500 a year per child given to my children for what will afford a very very good education. That’s money spent focused on education and training. Not money side tracked to transportation, year-round feeding programs, indoctrination of secular values and biased thought (aren’t you a former administrator and educator), bloated sports programs, day care and babysitting and I’m sure I missed some social programs that used to be provided by Mom and Dad. But it seems the $8500 per child is just not enough for the public-school system to just meet the basics.
TEA numbers have the population of Burton schools at an increase of 18 students from PK- 6th grade. That’s based on the difference between 2012 and 2017 years. Most have probably not seen that fact as it doesn’t fit the high growth and funding emergency narrative that has been spun. The higher numbers seen in the 7th-12th grades have not been sustained.
Maybe we should be looking at some major taxes on things like the easy cash stores, rim and tire and body shops, even more on booze and “smokes”, international wire transfers, smart phones and some of those other trends that the parents of the 100,000 per growth population likes as most of them don’t seem to value land and home. Maybe asking more from property owners is not the answer at all.
Why didn’t Ms Hasten look into this prior to getting elected? I’m betting her next move is to methodically pick apart the budget. Which I’m also betting has already been done by current and past boards. Let’s reinvent the wheel, again! This is nothing more than a stall tactic. This will slow any progress the board is/has/was making on the building plan. Meanwhile, everything stays as is and our kids suffer. I’m all for lower taxes, but I have yet to see the cost of things go down! Our State addresses prison over crowding and does nothing for our schools.
As stated previously, this is nothing more than her own self interest. Seems she’s trying to run the entire board. The only reason I did vote for her was I would not vote for the other guy that did get elected. I have yet to see him do anything positive and yet he got reelection? Some of the comments just don’t make sense.
This is our school! I graduated from here and grew up here. These two moved in and are trying to take over because of self interest. Not what is best for our school, but there pockets. I can’t wait to see who runs for election the next go round.
Advertising our small town on a billboard and how great it is only invites people to come live here, thus increasing the population. It’s cause and effect! I can’t believe the original locals can’t see that.
I hate to see our school head backwards after all the progress that was made… Our Band is in a portable building that should be condemned! Our kids can’t finish their lunches! Think about that!
As a former board trustee and officer I’m concerned in hearing the comments above. Before the first bond was passed, a Master facility Plan WAS done. At that time the board DID discuss future projects and possible issues the district might face as enrollment increased, new football facilities, etc. There were LOTS we wanted done… but it has to be done in phases. We knew it was a possibility we could outgrow the new elementary school in the future. All these issues were presented to the voters of the district in several informational meetings. The bond which passed at that was not enough to do everything we would have liked to have done… but it got Burton moving forward in a great direction. I could go on and on as to the things we thought of. But in REALITY you can’t always make the changes you want when you want them. I AM a taxpayer in the district too. Im tired of hearing people gripe about taxes!!! The school tax rate has not increased in several years, to my knowledge so if your property taxes went up – you should have a visit with the tax appraisal office , as evidentally your property values have increased. If you are over 65 or disabled… your taxes should not increase, as they are capped.
If you’ve never served as a school board trustee, been an administrator or been involved with TEA, then you probably don’t realize the do’s and don’ts that MUST be followed. Some call it “politics”, “procedure” “rules”…. call it what you will – Once you’ve went through the mandatory training required by TEA, you will understand why things are done a certain way or why you werent given an explanation or answer immediately. TEA has firm guidelines for districts that must be followed.
I’m not saying anything about anyone’s comments here…. only stating the fact that things sometimes appear to have an easy fix and parents get upset and before you know it all the positive and great things we worked so hard for are lost under the negative.
If you want to provide input to the district, run for the school board… volunteer to serve on committees.
The very last thing I want to see is Burton ISD close. If you think Bellville, RTC, Brenham etc are perfect schools and that they don’t have their own set of challenges, you’re misled. Remember the grass is NOT always greener on the other side!
Question? Does anyone in the comments listed above have any kids in the school? The school was just enlarged but the athletics program, cafeteria, and band hall were left out of that expansion. We have a small school; therefore, most of our students either play a sport, or are in the band, (they all eat lunch). WE NEED A NEW FOOTBALL FIELD, EQUIPMENT, GYMS, TRACK, and SPACE in general. Think about it for a second…. If we had a better football field, better gymnasium, and a track we could rent those out for playoffs, for all of those that play extracurricular sports, the community, etc. This is a money making thing for our school.
AND YES some of you are saying well it was good enough when I played on it, it should be good enough now. Did you have air conditioning or running water in your house growing up? If not I bet you do now. IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP! Stop your moaning and groaning and lets do what is BEST FOR OUR KIDS – your GRANDKIDS, etc.
So glad we have a school board member who is willing to look at other options to raise money other than immediately proposing a huge bond. I agree that the Burton ISD needs upgrading but instead of spending money on athletics the money should be spent on academics. Schools should focus on teaching our children first and makes the importance of sports second. If this was done would consider voting yes on a bond election that provided honest and correct tax increase information for every home owner in the district.
Outstanding Ms. Hasten!!! It won’t take long to find waste and find priorities that work within a budget for the sake of property tax payers. Sometimes all it takes is one person with a backbone to finally say NO and keep the priority spending and focus on education.
Some schools in Texas have gone to a bus fare system. That is, parents take their kids to school or pay to have them picked up. District saves money and can even pay their math, science and English teachers better, parents are more involved with kids and in turn our kids are better educated, and property tax payers are funding education instead of social services (which we’re already taxed for). One other positive is that the leaches leave the district as well to find easier freebies. Bussing is not the only thing this can be done with.
Strongly agree with Mrs. Hasten!! Let’s figure out a way to cut taxes!! So tired of people in positions coming up with half baked ideas and justifying it by raising the taxes!! And, majority of the 18 million dollar bond was going to athletics. Let’s focus on academics. That should be the main priority of our schools, educating the children. Let’s also focus on cleaning up the problems on the inside of the school instead of focusing on the outward appearance. Why are we loosing so many teachers/coaches? Where is the main source of problem there? Still not quite sure where this 58% increase in enrollment comes from. Graduating class numbers have not reflected this increase.
Is this for real?
Maybe I’m wrong here, but it seems logical that if you put 13 or more eggs in a 12 egg carton, it doesn’t have a good outcome. You have to get a bigger box! Or, reduce the amount of students which reduces State funding.
Sounds like this school is about to take another 20 steps backwards! I thought the board members helped the school? Sounds like self interest to me. This was not a good choice for our school.
Maybe we start having yet another drive through dinner each week to raise the funds! Or wait, let’s bring back lemonade stands!
State level is where her focus should have been! Not our school!
I just can’t believe this. How disappointing….
If the administration was more efficient, they wouldn’t need more classrooms. Because they don’t want to split classes up they have to actually add different subjects for the teachers to teach because they end up with open class periods. Seems to me they could split these kids into smaller class sizes and ease the burden of teachers at the same time, all without needing new classrooms. If you really want to know how to solve the problems of a school, ask some teachers. Meanwhile, how can you ask a taxpayer to pay so much that they end up being taxed right out of their homes? I’m all for school improvements, but not if it means I can’t afford to stay in my home. That is just asking too much.
You can’t be more efficient if there is no room. Have you been to lunch with your child lately? Did you stand in the lunch line that goes OUT of the lunch room and halfway down the classroom hallway? Did you have to watch your child quickly eat their food because they had already used 1/2 to 2/3 of their lunch period just WAITING to get their lunch?
How about football games? Did you have to park in the street or in front of someone’s house because the parking lot at the football stadium is full? How about finding a seat in the stadium? I imagine if you didn’t get to the game 30 minutes early you were probably standing next to me in the grass areas to the left and right of the stands.
This is not the little small school district it was even 10 years ago, it has grown exponentially. However, the facilities haven’t.grown. I understand that no one likes paying taxes, but if this is what it takes so our kids are not sardines in a can, then I can accept that. Also, I think it was very dishonest of some to use scare tactics on the elderly of the community during the last bond vote telling them that it was going to make their taxes go sky high. Their taxes are capped. If you are going to be opposed to something, at the very least be honest in your opposition.
1. Bring your lunch if you don’t want to stand in the lunch line.
2. It’s a football game.
1. The point being sir, which you missed, is that there are so many children in line that the cafeteria can’t serve them lunch in a timely manner. This is because the size of the student body has exceeded the facilities. And the long line is with usually half of the students bringing their lunch, so imagine if more didn’t bring their lunch…the line would be out of the classroom hallway.
2. Yes, it is a football game, but the same applies to other school functions such as concerts, drama class plays, and practically any other function the schools have. And, there isn’t enough seating in the auditorium OR the gym to accommodate everyone who tries to attend either.
Burton ISD Enrollment
’17 – ’12
PK 13 – 8
K 18 – 18
1st 25 – 20
2nd 35 – 19
3rd 22 – 35
4th 31 – 12
5th 26 – 26
6th 24 – 38
From PK to 6th Grade Burton ISD has a growth of 18 students total as of 2017. Does not seem like the kind of growth that demands a new facility to me.
Many are only looking at the short term numbers, from 7th to 12th, as justification for new spending on a school but the growth is just not sustained in the future classes.
7th 34 – 23
8th 32 – 10
9th 28 – 14
10th 31 – 29
11th 40 – 29
12th 34 – 25
Numbers are from TEA.
I know a great deal about what goes on in this district. The teachers have solutions to some of these problems, but no one asks their opinions. We really don’t need more classrooms. We do need a bandhall. We also need someone in charge who can work the budget efficiently. We really need someone to come in and clean up the politics. Apparently the new superintendent fell right in where the last one left off. Many good teachers and coaches really have been run off. You’re right about cafeteria lines, but they just added onto it. Elementary should have built their own cafeteria under the last bond. More inefficiency. I wonder Mr. Tavary if you are even a taxpayer. If you had to choose between paying your property taxes or providing food, health insurance etc. for your children, which would you choose? Thank you Mrs. Hasten for being one of the few board members to listen to the taxpayer.
Agree with “concerned” I am fixing to be taxed right out of Burton if these tax increases do not slow down. Washington county all together needs to get over themselves charging taxes like this. As far as the school goes I feel like they want to improve athletic program and that does not serve the larger purpose of children going to school and I do feel its self serving. They are always trying to make Burton something its not. Now we have a huge billboard on 290 advertising Burton. Burton is a small town and thats the reason alot of people live there. They will never get my vote for this project
If you are being taxed out of Burton it is not because of the school district. Burton ISD has not raised their tax rate since 2011. That year the tax rate went from 1.16 for 2010 to the tax rate of 1.17 which is still the tax rate. If you’re taxes have gone up it because you’re property valuation has gone up. That issue has to be addressed with the County Tax Appraisor. The school district has no input on the value of your property, only the tax rate. In other words if you’re taxes have gone up in the past 6 years the County Tax Appraisor is to blame not the school district since they have not raised their rates in 6 years. If you want your taxes to go down then you will need to allow a broader tax base to develop, meaning businesses and growth. So continue to vote no against growth and yes you will find yourself taxed out of Burton, but not because of a school tax hike, but because fewer people/businesses paying taxes means we have to pay higher taxes to maintain things. Let’s face it the price of things never goes down it just goes up. In case you’re wondering if it’s true about the tax rate go to the County Tax Appraisor website and look up the historical tax rates.
Also that 18 million dollar bond issue wasn’t just for the athletic program. It was for new classrooms (to be built where the stadium is now), band hall, an expanded cafeteria, and science lab, and to fix drainage issues in the parking lots. So how does those things not serve the purpose of children going to school?
Thank you, good info to know and share.
Burton Tax Payer, that’s just not true.
The tax rate should be going down (this is the responsibility of the school board) if the appraisals are going up (driven by the market) so that the ISD does not exceed the year to year inflation adjusted revenue.
Worn Out Tax Payer is right, he’s not seen the school board actually reduce the rate as the appraisal has gone up with a constant tax rate. The rate should have been going down to deliver the same revenue. What’s not been transparent is where the additional revenue in excess of inflation is going. Which makes people like you, Burton Tax Payer, think the school board has being doing a good job.
Then move already
Christopher,
You do realize that while our property values have gone up, the funding the schools get from the state, that’s all schools by the way, has gone down. So the rate has to stay the same to make up for the short fall from the state. Burton still has to also send funds to the state since it is considered a “rich school district”. Yes that has been ruled against but no other funding has been put in place so they still have to send the funds. That amount is based on student enrollment so it only goes down if student enrollment goes up. Which is why several students that are in Burton ISD are able to go to Round Top and not pay the transfer fee, because Round Top is in the same boat as Burton. Burton is also still paying on the last bond that built the new elementary, AG building and some upgrades to the high school. Also that extra income allowed the school to redo the junior high and high school auditorium without raising the tax rate. If you attend the meeting where TEA was at in about 5 years Burton will be required to upgrade their facilities if the school wants to stay open. At least is operating in the black. Apparently the City of Burton is operating in the red to the tune of $18,000. Now that is where I would like to know where my tax money went!
I am a teacher and I will tell you we can not just make class sizes smaller and have teacher teach only one subject. We certainly could not accomplish this without and adding more classroom and more teachers. I have had classes as small as 5 and as large as 25 ( same subject same year). You have to take into account all of the core subjects for each grade level then throw in band, athletics, electives, students that take dual credit courses at Blinn, all of the different designations kids can graduate with and don’t forget that we have teachers that teach both high school and junior high classes. Scheduling would be impossible. So I can not see how you figure we can just make classes smaller without adding teachers and classrooms.
Self interest is running rampant in our little school. We got rid of, or excuse me, ran off coaches because of one’s personal opinion of them, and so that the same person could make themselves look good. It’s a joke. We are hiring people with sketchy pasts just to fill positions that were vacated because we can’t get anyone to stay. I once had so much pride in our school and its gone. We should all take our kids to Bellville – that’s where all of our good staff is going!
Poor Bellville. I doubt they will put up with what Burton did though.
Me personally, There’s only one of the coaches that left, that was good.
I feel sorry for Bellville! Everytime I walked into the elementary PE class there was only one coach that actually worked! Sitting in a chair and yelling is not productive. I witnessed this regularly, the other coach, he was good with the kids!
Not to mention, we had girls in Jr High Basketball players that couldn’t dribble a ball!
At least now the tax payers will finally get what they pay for! You don’t do your job, you shouldn’t get paid!
Glad to see some well needed changes!
Maybe these are the cuts Mrs Hasten is talking about.
I beg your pardon, Happy Panther, both of Burton’s Elementary PE teachers are awesome. The kids love them and all they do for them. I guarantee you the PE program will decline. You are crazy to think that either of those teachers sat and yelled at children. And, have you ever tried to teach a child to dribble a ball when they just couldn’t? That coach still stuck with those kids and tried to help them increase their talent the best they could. There are some things children just can’t do. I know my child is not capable of doing everything he would like to because he doesn’t have the talent to perform well in that sport. The good thing about Burton and that coach you are talking about, is they do believe in each student and try to make them feel like they are a part of a team and boost that student’s self esteem. If at the end of the day one student is uplifted, that coach did their job. And if the coaches had all of the capabilities to do their job so well but didn’t perform, then why does Burton not have top notch coaches beating their door down to coach at Burton? Why are they hiring a first year teacher to coach Head Volleyball when there are a great group of girls there to coach? Really not fair to the girls. The reason being is because other districts have heard about the bullying and cursing the coaches have to put up with from the person they answer to.
I am confused about the Very Concerned Parent’s comment. Just because you may be friends with these coaches and not others doesn’t mean that there is bullying going on. If you don’t know all the facts then don’t comment. I assure you that is not what goes on. Just because a few had their feelings hurt doesn’t mean they were being bullied. Besides remember these decisions are not made easily and do not come from just one individual. There is the school board, principals, parents, teachers, and other faculty that weigh in on situations. Not all is it may seem. It is time to grow up and act like adults in this situation. If I come to work and do my job have way then I will be reassigned if not fired. So before you comment on what happened, should have happened, or what anyone may think what happened know ALL of the FACTS not just one side.
Well, Very Concerned Parent, I will agree with half of what you said. One is awesome the other just rode his coattail. As a parent I was applauded of what I saw. When a coach shows up to work without their equipment needed to do their job, there is a problem.
And a boss that points out things like that is not bullying, that’s a bosses job!
The problem came because the prior superintendent would not let the AD do his job! Some people were just not use to that. Like I said, I doubt Bellville will put up with it either.
If you are a friend or like this coach it might be in their best interest to stop commenting on this. Someone from Bellville might read these. Just saying…
Well they are doing all they can to run off that good coach too. Bellville is likely to get him too!
I agree with Panther Parent!! All of our good staff are leaving just to satisfy the needs of one particular person. It is crazy how many staff members are leaving this small school. Why does one particular person have so much control over an entire school district? The parents in the community are complaining but they are not complaining to the right people. Why are we changing things in this district that have been working just fine? I am all about change, but the district doesn’t seem to be getting better, it seems to be getting worse. We’ve had some pretty respectable, hard working coaches leave, not because of the kids, but because of the person they have to answer to. So, do we not care about the good group of volleyball girls that we have to play for Burton? What kind of credentials does this new coach have? Also, you are going to hire a PE assistant for girls softball? Do the girls sports not matter? Burton has some pretty athletic girls. One person has their own agenda and the district is letting that person do what they want….It is time for a new set of school board members….the morale of this community is terrible. It’s quite depressing.
You are right the girls we have now are good but due to the lack of a strong junior high girls coach we don’t have many coming up that have the experience our current girls have. It was time for a change. I look forward to seeing what our new coach can do.
If you have so much pride at least spell Panther right. Our school is great! But it has needs and those needs go far beyond rearranging students and classrooms. Only so much can be done with the number of teachers and number of classrooms we currently have. Scheduling is a nightmare, the state mandates that all students have certain courses and often they have to be completed in a particular order. I don’t know how many graduations you have attended but the numbers have increased, the numbers of upcoming class have increased and continue to increase every year. And Christopher not ever have I ever considered one of my students a LEACH! You are mistaken to think that any of the problems our wonderful school faces have simple solutions! It is going to take $$$ and we missed an excellent opportunity to start this process the longer we wait the worse it is going to get. As far as the teacher that have chosen to leave that was their choice they were not run off. Ask any teacher in any school you might have a job the next year but it may not be what you want to teach, if you don’t understand that you should read the contract you sign every year! Panther Parent If you don’t like Burton maybe you should go to Bellville.
“Leach” does not refer to kids but to parents. Simple works, it always has. The more complex something the more likely it is to fail.
Perhaps you misread the argument; there are NO simple solutions presented thus far to the complex problems this school district faces. If YOU have simple solutions, then by all means, present them. We’re all ears…
You need to know all the facts before making comments like this one Panter (not Panther) Parent. If you are so smart and Bellville is so much better then move and pay the taxes there.
Former employee of Burton ISD to all of you who haven’t worked here you wouldn’t believe all the politics that goes on one person gets to do whatever they want on the field and in the classroom and the superintendent goes right along with it she has brought so much division to the school .They do what ever they want and nothing is ever said. The school board has been notified many times but still nothing. People are getting tired of all this mess that’s why so many have left. TEA needs to get involved . School Board wake up and do the right thing.