The Bandera ISD Board of Trustees met in their Regular Meeting for June to adopt a new district budget and listen to a report on the District’s STAAR/ EOC scores.
Before the regular meeting, the board held a public hearing at 6 PM on the new budget.
During the public hearing, Chief Financial Officer Mike Neuman briefly reviewed the high points of the 24-25 budget and emphasized Bandera was submitting a balanced budget for the coming school year. This means that revenues and expenditures were equally balanced.
Neuman also said that 75% of the Region 20 districts were submitting “deficit budgets,” meaning district revenue would not cover their expected expenditures for the new year.
Bandera’s new school year budget is $2.5 million dollars lower than the 23-24 budget.
Neuman said he expects the tax rate to drop from 66.92 cents per hundred to 66.69 cents per hundred-dollar evaluation, though he remarked he felt that the Property Tax Study in February 2025 might change the final outcome of the budget.
Furthermore, Neuman stated that he expected property values to remain high, but the district was at the lowest level of tax rate to guarantee a balanced budget.
There were no citizen’s comments during the Public Hearing or the Regular Board Meeting.
The regular meeting convened shortly after the public hearing adjourned at 6:10 p.m. The lengthy Consent Agenda passed without discussion.
The new school year budget was the last item on the agenda. The four board members present passed the budget unanimously.
Superintendent Gary Bitzkie reported the district ended the year with 2,255 students enrolled. The average daily attendance for the year was 92.6 percent.
Bitzkie also reported on the calendar for the November 5 school board election. Two places are up for re-election: Place 3, Tiffany Hayes; and Place 4, Bo Mansfield.
The first day to file to run for those places on the school board is July 24.
The canvas of votes from the November 5 election will be on November 18. The Board approved the calendar and also voted to contract with the Bandera County Elections Office for election services.
Director of Accountability and Assessment Brittany Timmons gave a detailed report on the STAAR (grades 3 – 8) and End of Course (grades 9-11) testing results. She emphasized how the district used predictive software to measure student growth, which is a strength area for Bandera.
While the district kept on-track with previous years’ scores, some grades were being targeted for further study as they showed significant drops in specific subject areas. 2024 state results showed that scores declined statewide in grades 3 through 8.
Each STAAR test has a portion that is a short, written answer rather than multiple choice response. Timmons reminded the Board that 100% of the student written responses are being graded by “artificial intelligence (AI).”
Only the bottom 25% of the responses are then forwarded to human graders for a check and balance system.
Timmons recommended that the board approve the purchase of NWEA MAP software for the 2024-2025 school year. The software would be purchased for $34,435 from federal ESSER grant funds.
The board approved the purchase of NWEA MAP software.
Timmons also reviewed predicted school scorecards (A-F rating system) which will be officially released on August 15.
Superintendent Gary Bitzkie commented, “It’s all about the growth.”
Chief Academic Officer Laura Klein spoke about the Edgenuity software program which assists in tutoring underperforming students and in credit retrieval at the middle school and high school levels.
Federal ESSER grant money would cover the purchase of the $29,850 software package.
Klein also noted that the 2024 Teacher Incentive Allotment would be paid to teachers on August 2.
This “bonus” is based on high student performance, extensive teacher training, and high-level classroom observations. Three cohorts of teachers have gone through this program in BISD.
The district will be reimbursed by the state in September for the $304,000 expenditure. Klein reminded the Board that teachers who earned the TIA in Bandera would be able to carry that status with them if they changed districts.
The Board Calendar for the 2024-2025 school year was adjusted to include a late June Board meeting on June 23, 2025, and a cancellation of the July meeting.
Director of Operations and Safety/Security Dale Heiner proposed a continuation of the Interlocal Agreement with the Bandera County Sheriff’s Department to provide school resource officers.
Heiner explained that two positions had yet to be filled. He also reminded the Board that the costs were split 75/25 with the Sheriff’s Department.
The Board approved the updated Interlocal Agreement.
The purchase of services for the personal panic buttons for staff and substitutes was approved by the Board at a cost of $63,880 for a five-year contract.
Heiner remarked that in five years technological needs may have changed, and he hesitated to recommend an extension to that contract at this time.
The campus classrooms would be updated for this safety plan from July 9 through July 12. The Board approved the purchase of these services.
Heiner also explained that the purchase of VHF Emergency Responder Radio Coverage Systems for each campus was important to maintain radio coverage on all four campuses.
After an extensive walkthrough, it was necessary to install coax lines through the ceiling of each hallway to a system that would essentially “boost” signals from responder radios. Heiner noted that this had been a “long-time problem” and that the expenditure of $330,000 was necessary to ensure school safety.
The Board approved a low attendance day waiver for January 16, 2024, when bad weather was expected.
Low attendance waivers are available from the state if attendance is more than 10% lower than the attendance on that day in the prior school year.
CFO Neuman proposed the final budget amendment of the fiscal year. (July 1 through June 30) Neuman remarked that this budget amendment moved small amounts of money around to bolster accounts which were running low on funds. Most were routine accounting adjustments. The Board approved Budget Amendment #8.
Neuman also presented the 24-25 BISD Compensation Plan. He noted that stipends did not increase. The salary schedules for teachers and administrators were approved earlier in the school year. The Board approved the Compensation Plan.
The July meeting of the BISD School Board is cancelled and the next meeting will be on Monday, August 12, at 6 p.m.
