During the Sept. 18 Regular Board Meeting, trustees shared parting words with outgoing president Tiffanie N. Harrison. They then welcomed Fabian Cuero as the new trustee for Place 6 and elected new board officers. Trustee Alicia Markum will serve as board president, and Trustee Amy Weir will serve as vice president. Trustee Amber Landrum will continue as board secretary.
Additional highlights:
1. Agenda Items L2: Stephanie Inzana, Director of Library Services, provided an update on the district’s process regarding Senate Bill 13. The district is using Insignia as the library management system that families can access through eSchool.
2. Agenda Items O1: The Board unanimously adopted an overall tax rate of $0.8931 per $100 of taxable assessed valuation, which includes a maintenance and operations rate of $0.7101 per $100 of taxable assessed valuation and an interest and sinking fund rate of $0.1830 per $100 of taxable assessed valuation. This represents no change from the 2024–25 school year.
3. Agenda Items O4: Trustees gave authorization for administration to secure a Tax Anticipation Note of $79 million. This is a cash flow management tool and can be thought of as a short-term loan. Two recent changes from the Texas Education Agency and the state legislature have caused a cash flow gap for several districts throughout the state:
Over the summer, TEA reclassified the district to what it calls Payment Class 2. This reclassification means that the district will now receive only 40% of projected state revenues by October of this year. Previous years saw 80% of tax revenues received by October.
Increases by the 89th Legislature to the homestead exemption, which must be approved by voters in November, will delay tax offices in sending out tax bills.
In normal years, the tax rate is set by the district in September, and the tax office sends out tax bills in October. The district then begins to receive tax revenue in early November. This year, those tax revenues will not begin to arrive until December.
To review all agenda items covered in the Sept. 18 Regular Board Meeting, visit our Board Meetings Webpage or rewatch the meeting here.