Trustees Adopt Budget and Decrease Tax Rate:
On the first day of school in Belton ISD, the board of trustees adopted the 2019-2020 budget and confirmed a decrease in the district’s tax rate as a part of their regular monthly meeting.
The board adopted a $119.7 million budget for the district’s 2019-2020 general fund. Salaries account for 81.4% of the district’s general fund expenditures. Earlier this year, the Board approved $4.8 million in raises for district employees. This compensation plan, which was approved in July, included an average 6.5% increase for teachers and a 6% increase for paraprofessional and auxiliary employees, such as custodians and school nutrition workers.
State funding and local property taxes make up the bulk of the general fund revenue. Historically, the share of state funding has been declining; however, this budget includes a significant increase in funding provided by the state through House Bill 3.
Local funding is generated by the district’s maintenance and operations tax rate, which will see a decrease from $1.17 per $100 of assessed valuation to $1.0683 for 2019-2020. In addition, the district’s rate to support bond payments, known as the I&S rate, was set at $0.3968 which is also a slight decrease.
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Texas Association of School Nutrition State Award Winners:
At the Texas Association of School Nutrition’s 2019 Annual Conference in July, two Belton associates took top honors, receiving state level awards. Pauline Siler, from Sparta Elementary, was honored as the TASN School Nutrition Specialist of the Year after being nominated by her supervisor, Sam Guajardo. From South Belton Middle School, Penny Bolen was awarded the TASN School Nutrition Manager of the Year following a nomination from Principal Kevin Taylor.
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Texas Association of School Boards 2019 Media Honor Roll:
Each year, TASB develops a “Media Honor Roll” to recognize members of the press who “(1) make the effort to get to know the superintendent, board president, and the District’s mission and goals. (2) report school news in a manner that is fair, accurate, and balanced, and (3) give a high-profile to good news about schools, (4) visit the schools, and (5) maintain a policy of no surprises by sharing information with school representatives.”
In March, the board of trustees nominated the following journalists for inclusion on this year’s honor roll:
· The Belton Journal – Tony Adams, Sports Editor
· The Temple Daily Telegram – Josh Weaver, Sports Reporter
· KWTX-TV News 10 – Chelsea Edwards, Reporter
· KCEN-TV – Emani Payne, Anchor/Reporter
· KXXV News Channel 25 – Olivia Levada, Reporter/Multimedia Journalist
All journalists nominated by the board were included on this year’s list, and this month, Tony, Chelsea and Josh were presented with certificates from TASB, which recognize their fair, accurate and balanced reporting of school news.
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Interim Superintendent Selected and Athletic Director Approved:
In light of Dr. Susan Kincannon being named the lone finalist for Waco ISD's open superintendent position, the Belton ISD Board announced during their regular August meeting that Dr. Robin Battershell has been selected to serve as interim superintendent of Belton ISD. Battershell retired in 2018 after a decade of service as Temple Independent School District’s superintendent. She also worked as superintendent of Salado ISD for 10 years.
During the meeting, the board also approved Kincannon's recommendation of
Samuel Skidmore as the district’s next athletic director. Skidmore will work in a dual role this fall, remaining the Tigers’ head football coach and serving as athletic director. In the spring, Skidmore will become the full-time athletic director and work exclusively to meet the needs of all athletic programs in Belton ISD, which will include leading the search to hire head football coaches at both Belton High School and Lake Belton High School. The district anticipates announcing those finalists in December
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Big Red Community Partner:
UMHB College of Visual & Performing Arts -
Dr. Kathryn Fouse and Hershall Seals
On Tuesday, July 23, around 150 Belton ISD campus and district leaders including principals, counselors and art instructors participated in a meaningful hands-on team building day to connect district priorities and work objectives with the school year theme and mission of the district. The “Design.Create.Build: A Master Class,” full day event was hosted by the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor’s College of Visual & Performing Arts and included speakers and presentations at the Mayborn Performing Arts Center, lunch at the Bawcom Student Union Building, and an afternoon of hands-on classes and a gallery walk at the Baugh Center for the Visual Arts. The nine classes, which were led by Belton ISD art instructors, challenged district leaders to embrace their creative side as they engaged in a variety of art projects including paper quilling, watercolor techniques, block printing, calligraphy, and faux ceramic mosaics.
Beyond efforts to plan for this special event and serve as the host, Dr. Kathryn Fouse, Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts and Art Department Chairman Hershall Seals shared their unique skills and inspirational insights as performers, speakers and facilitators throughout the day.
For their contributions to this year’s Administrative Team Building Day and ongoing support of Belton ISD, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor College of Visual and Performing Arts Dr. Kathryn Fouse and Hershall Seals are this month’s Big Red Community Partners.
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Superintendent's Report
First Day of School
We had a great first day of school. Staff preparation for the new school year was clearly visible with strong systems in place to ensure a successful first day and beyond.
There was great communication to families from our campus administrators through skylert messages and on social media, including videos that were posted by our schools to help parents with procedures.
Our schools were clean, neat and organized. There was evidence of our safety and security elements - classroom doors were locked and the Standard Response Protocol was posted. Local law enforcement was out assisting, ensuring that everything was smooth. And we thank them for their great communication to the public as well.
There was also lots of visual representation of our theme and district priorities for the year. It was clear that everyone understands the work that was designed for the year and the visuals clearly demonstrated what’s important. And most of all, the kids and teachers looked excited and happy!
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Enrollment
Today’s attendance count was 11,810. That’s 271 students more than last year’s first day enrollment. At the high school level, we had 3,496 students today. That’s 96 more than last year on the first day. At the middle school, there were 2,806 students today, an increase of about 77 students over last year.And at the elementary level, there were 5,508 students. That represents an increase of 98 students over last year.
Enrollment continues to grow for the first couple of months of school and typically levels off by the end of October as we approach the state's official snapshot day.
Dedication Event for Charter Oak Elementary
The Charter Oak Elementary dedication event has been scheduled for September 24 at 9:00 a.m. More information will be shared with the community through email and social media as the celebration gets closer.
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