TISD board OKs tax rate, trained teacher appraisers

TEXARKANA, Texas — Texarkana Independent School District Board of Trustees reviewed, considered and approved the following during its regular meeting Tuesday.

Approved yard maintenance vendor. Taylor Lawn & Landscape was approved as the vendor for the period Sept. 1, 2019 to August 31, 2024;

Approved T-TESS Appraiser List for 2019-20. TISD chooses to use the Texas Education Agency’s Commissioner’s recommended teacher appraisal system, the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS), which was developed in accordance with Texas Education Code 21.351. In doing so, TISD annually adopts a list of approved appraisers within the district who are certified through a uniform appraiser training prior to conducting teacher appraisals. A listing of 59 trained appraisers were reviewed and approved;

Approval of 4-H Adjunct Faculty Resolution & Agreement for the 2019-20 school year. A routine item recommending the approval of the Bowie County Extension Office (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension) staff (Cherrie Curtis and Brandon Hawkins) as adjunct faculty;

Approval of 2019-20 school calendar for eSchool Prep. TISD’s newest online school, eSchool Prep, will operate on a different calendar from all other TISD schools. The school year will be Aug. 20, 2019, through May 21, 2020. The school will meet the TEA calendar requirement of 75,600 minutes. Staff development days have been set to coincide with K12 trainings;

Approved adoption of tax rate for 2019-2020 and Certified Values. TISD’s tax rate for 2019-20 will be reduced from $1.425 to $1.3233 because of Texas House Bill 3. The new rate will be represented by $1.0683 for maintenance and operations and $0.255 for interest and sinking funds, which is used to repay bonded indebtedness and other debts. Certified appraised values via Bowie Central Appraisal District were at $2,205,526,373.

The next meeting for the TISD Board of Trustees will be Sept. 17.