Trustees plan for next school year
É«ÎÑÎÑÎÞÂëÒ»Çø¶þÇøÈýÇø’s Board of Trustees meeting on May 16, 2024, is in the books, and here are a few of the highlights.
The evening started by administering the oath of office to the newest trustee, Larry Mike, and to two trustees who were reelected earlier this month, Melody Fowler and Sarah McMurrough.
As this school year comes to a close, the board is already planning for next. Last night, the board approved updates to the Student Code of Conduct for 2024-2025. The changes in the code came from a committee consisting of students, parents, community members, teachers and administrators who met this spring to review the code and make recommendations for additions, deletions and revisions. The revisions approved yesterday include departmental name changes and updated procedures for student use of district technology.Â
Continuing to look ahead to next year, the board received two presentations from senior staff to help the board plan ahead. First, Darla Moss, É«ÎÑÎÑÎÞÂëÒ»Çø¶þÇøÈýÇø’s chief financial officer, presented the preliminary budget for 2024-2025. The fiscal year starts July 1, but planning the budget is complex and starts months in advance. The budget requires a lot of careful development and is tied to projections for next year’s student enrollment.
Then Scott Kahl, É«ÎÑÎÑÎÞÂëÒ»Çø¶þÇøÈýÇø’s assistant superintendent of human resources, gave a compensation analysis and market review – explaining how É«ÎÑÎÑÎÞÂëÒ»Çø¶þÇøÈýÇø’s pay rates compare to competitors. He also discussed options for raises along with changes coming next year to the Teacher Retirement System medical insurance rates.
The whole meeting wasn’t all about next year. The board also approved the monthly financial report on operations and the district’s investment activity report through March.
Finally – back to focusing on the future – the board approved a memorandum of understanding – or MOU – with to establish a recruiting pipeline of UTA students for entry-level teaching positions and provide mentoring support to new hires. The MOU will assist UTA students with applicant fees for the alternative certification program in exchange for their commitment to teach in Arlington for at least three years after they complete their intern certification. UTA will also provide additional support and courses for their students hired to teaching positions.
Those are just a few of the highlights from tonight. If you would like more details on any of these, or any of the items not covered in this Board Brief, please click to watch the entire meeting.