Tioga ISD's upcoming budget and compensation plan will likely hinge on what happens with the lawmakers in Austin.
Texas Education Agency Conservator Dr. Karen Wiesman, in her report, spoke about the budget process for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1 for Tioga ISD.
'I would caution you on making any major decisions until after the legislative session,' she said.
She has previously approved a basic budget to meet the deadline with a subsequent major budget revision before the school year begins that was informed by the decisions made by the Texas Legislature.
One big piece of that puzzle is how to adjust faculty and staff compensation because legislation regarding that is still up in the air in Austin.
Making changes to the professional pay scale will also wait, as there may be a mandated increase across the board that would affect how Tioga approaches its compensation plans.
The rates for both the Tioga Early Childhood Development Center and for the school-side pre-K program were approved at the Monday school board meeting.
Superintendent Josh Ballinger and the four board members present straddled the line between trying to keep both programs affordable and trying to cover the district's costs better.
Ballinger brought up how having the Early Childhood Development Center is a nonsalary benefit that helps retain many quality teachers year after year.
'I really truly believe that's kept a lot of our really good staff here,' he said.
Trustee Brandon Miller agreed that it is worth some expense to give teachers a half-price break on the cost to aid in teacher retention.
'If their child care cost is only going to be $4,000 versus $9,000 somewhere else, they're going to count that as part of the compensation package,' he said. '… I don't think, especially for that $50,000, should be looked at as a complete total loss, because really, that's just a part of your compensation that, if it weren't there, you'd probably have it in Function 11.'
The board voted to keep the employee discount and to raise rates overall by $15 for the infants and toddler 2 and 3 ages, $10 for the 4-year-olds and $5 for afterschool care.
On the pre-K school-side program, the board voted to raise the rates by $360 to a total of $4,860 for the year.
Also in the meeting, the board voted to approve the revised audit reports for 2021 and 2022, with the note that the 2023 and 2024 audits may be changed as well and that the 2025 audit process is starting.
The board also voted to accept the contract for Jesse Speer, who will serve as director of the band program starting July 1.
'I want to be a part of a small school,' he said. 'I like the small school setting because you get to develop more relationships with the students and it gives you the opportunity to wear a couple of different hats.'
