Board President Cecil Bell, Jr. said members are working on cutting the budget where they can, while still maintaining a high level of education.

“We have certainly been forced by the tough economic times to scrutinize our budget and tighten where we can tighten,” said Bell.

He added that the district’s Maintenance and Operation tax rate is capped at $1.04 and therefore cannot be changed.

“If you run the math, it would imply that our I&S (Interest and Sinking rate) will have to move up a penny higher,” said Bell. “That’s not the final decision, it will have to be voted on. But right now we anticipate we could see a penny increase, from 34 cents to 35 cents.”

Bell said the board has held numerous workshops and invested a significant amount of time in scrutinizing the budget to see what could be tightened “without sacrificing the quality of education.”

The board had originally planned to buy a new school bus but have worked their transportation needs around not adding the bus. The board has also re-worked its contract with energy provider TXU that will save money.

“It’s a rough climate for all school districts in Texas,” said Bell.

Maintaining a small student-teacher ratio is also a high priority to the board.

“One of the things we believe is important to maintain is a student-teacher ratio as close to where they are as we can,” Bell said.

Last year’s Maintenance and Operations rate was $1.09 while the Interest and Sinking was set at $0.29, together creating a $1.38 total tax rate

Last year’s total budget including the general fund, debt service fund and food service fund was $100,724,743. The budget was the largest in the school district’s history.

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