Bandera school board adopts decreased tax rate
At the Sept. 11 school board meeting, the Bandera ISD Board of Trustees adopted a tax rate of .793 per $100 which is a decrease of 18.5 cents from last year’s tax rate.
The 2022 total tax rate went from .9784 per $100 down to .793 per $100. The total tax rate is composed of Maintenance & Operations and Interest & Sinking rates.
The 2023 M & O tax rate will be .6692 per $100 and the 2023 I&S tax rate will be .1238 per $100 for the 2023-24 school year.
The candidates for BISD School Board positions 1 and 2 were introduced.
Incumbent Casey Hauer is running uncontested for place 1.
Roger Byrd and Richard Mc-Carthy are squaring off to see who will take place 2.
Place 2 is currently held by long-time board member Laurie Neff. Mrs. Neff has been on the BISD School Board for over 20 years and has two sons who graduated from BHS. BISD Students of the Month freshman Jessi Battle and senior Tyler Quinn from Bandera High School were recognized.
Battle was described as a conscientious student with excellent time management skills, and Quinn was recommended due to his dedication and leadership skills.
Staff Member of the Month from Bandera High School is Ginger Frye.
Mrs. Frye is a BHS graduate, a member of the Social Studies Department, and is the sponsor of the National Honor Society. She was described by her peers as having a wealth of leadership skills and a willingness to help others.
Chief Academic Officer Laura Klein recommended that the Optional Flexible School Day Program be approved for renewal. She said that the program had assisted 34 students to graduate.
“These are students that would have ‘dropped out’ in previous years,” she remarked.
The program currently has 15 students enrolled so far this year. The board approved the program.
The board approved two Texas Education Agency class size waivers: one first-grade class at Alkek Elementary and another one second grade class at Hill Country. The maximum class size in grades K-4 is 22 students to one teacher.
The board approved the waiver to add one additional Foreign Exchange student at Bandera High School.
The board also approved a waiver for TEC 37.0814. which requires each campus in a school district to have at least a single armed Security Officer.
Director of Safety and Security Dayle Heiner explained the district had added two security officers but could not find qualified applicants for the other two positions.
He also stated that small rural districts all over the state were experiencing the same difficulties as Bandera ISD.
While the district continues to participate in the Guardian Program where trained armed staff members protect the campuses, Heiner did say that the district had a plan to adapt to having only two security officers in the district.
A motion to consider all matters incident and related to providing for the defeasance of certain currently outstanding obligations (bonded indebtedness) of the district was approved. The board says approval of this motion would save Bandera ISD $182,000 over time.