I hope everyone is having a great week. We are continuing to prepare for a great school year. The district administrators had their first organizational meeting, and it was a very positive one. As many of you know, we’ve had a couple of changes in our principal positions, so I wanted to make sure everyone knows our campus leaders. The following is a list of our campus principals and their contact information:

1.Marble Falls High School - Mr. Allen Roberts (830-693-4375)
2.Falls Career High School - Mrs. Peggy Little (830-798-3621)
3.Marble Falls Middle School - Mr. John Schumacher (830-693-4439)
4.Colt Elementary School - Ms. Linda Romano (830-693-3474)
5.Marble Falls Elementary School - Mr. Andy Reddock (830-693-2385)
6.Highland Lakes Elementary School - Mr. Keith Powell (830-798-3650)
7.Spicewood Elementary School - Mr. Michael Pittard (830-798-3675)

The main purpose of my article this week is to provide information on our proposed budget. The MFISD Board of Trustees will meet on Monday, August 18th, and formally adopt the 2008-09 school district budget and the tax rate to support that budget. The following is a summary of the budget being proposed to fund the district’s campuses and programs for the new school year:

*Using appraisal rolls from both Burnet and Travis Counties, the school district will have appraised values of $2,399,035,246. This is up about $380 million from last year.

*The board will be asked to adopt a total budget of $38,617,297 for 2008-09 school year. This is an increase of $3,924,338 from the 2007-08 school year.

*There are two main reasons for increase this year: (1) the district’s Robin Hood payment to the state - to comply with the state finance laws - has increased by over $2.2 million this year. Last year’s Robin Hood payment was $2,487,700 and this year’s is estimated at $4,722,003; and (2) the district is spending over $2.6 million on Year #2 of the salary initiative. All teachers will get an increase in their salary steps and we are also adding two new steps for the most tenured teachers. We will also be raising the pay rates of our paraprofessionals and auxiliary staff as well.

*The M&O expenditures are broken down as follows:

1)Instructional Expenditures:$18,224,994
2)Media Expenditures:$514,935
3)Staff Development:$201,631
4)Instructional Leadership:$728,407
5)School Leadership:$1,958,083
6)Guidance & Counseling:$1,050,054
7)Health Services$384,912
8)Pupil Transportation:$1,742,346
9)Co-Curricular Activities:$1,403,151
10)General Administration:$990,474
11)Plant Maintenance:$4,729,965
12)Security & Monitoring:$87,630
13)Data Processing:$989,783
14)Community Services:$278,929
15)Construction Costs:$10,000
16)Student Attendance Credit:$4,722,003
17)Governmental Charges:$600,000

*The tax rate that is being proposed to fund this budget is as follows: (1) the total tax rate that is being proposed is $1.255. This is a two cent rise from last year’s tax rate; (2) the $1.255 is broken down into a $1.04 tax for the M&O budget - this is the same M&O rate from last year. Even though we have seen a rise in costs (mainly due to Robin Hood and our salary initiative), we feel we can continue to fund quality programs with the same tax rate; and (3) the remaining portion of the $1.255 rate is a $0.215 I&S tax to support the Interest & Sinking (I&S) budget for our bonded indebtedness. We have sold about $50 million of the bonds from the 2006 election. The $0.215 is a rise of two cents from $0.195 from last year.

As stated, we did include new funding for a salary initiative that will impact most employees of the district. During our budget development work two years ago, we conducted an analysis of the salary patterns of school districts in our area and in districts around the state that were comparable to our size. We found that many of our staff groups were falling behind on those salary scales with other school districts. The school district has developed a four-year plan to address these deficiencies in order for our salaries to stay regionally competitive. A summary of the salary initiative is as follows:

Year 1 (2007-08)

1)An additional step was added to the professional pay scale (teachers, counselors, librarians, and nurses). Step 23 was set at $53,456 for those employees at that experience level. This was a cost of $96,661 for the employees we have in place at this time.

2)The district administrative staff received an average overall raise of about six percent. This puts district administrators in line with other regional school districts at a cost of $134,328.

3)The district auxiliary staff (bus drivers, custodians, & maintenance staff) was given hourly increases to their pay scales. District bus drivers’ salaries were increased $2.00 per hour, and district custodians and maintenance staff were increased $1.00 per hour. This brings those groups into pay scales comparable to regional districts, and the cost to MFISD for these increases was $263,694.

4)The district’s special duty stipends were studied, and athletic stipends were seen to be much lower than other area schools. Some of our stipends were up to thirty percent lower in areas. Athletic stipends were raised to be comparable with other schools, and this cost to the district was $72,485.

Year 2 (2008-09) - Current Year

1)The first goal for year two of the salary initiative is to finish the auxiliary salary increase. A regional study will be conducted for instructional aides and office positions, and their salary schedule will be adjusted accordingly.

2)The second goal for year two is Phase 2 of the professional salary schedule. Our goal is to raise beginning professional staff pay (step 0) from $33,310 to $36,000; and we also want to add two more steps to the end of the scale - step 23 to step 25. This would bring our most tenured professional staff members from $53,456 to $55,000.

Year 3 (2009-10)

1)The goal for year three is to continue our adjustment of the professional pay scale. Our goal is to raise beginning professional staff pay (step 0) from $36,000 to $38,000; and we also want to add three more steps to the end of the scale - step 25 to step 28. This would bring our most tenured professional staff members from $55,000 to $57,000.

2)The second goal for year three is to continue to analyze all salary issues to assure we are staying regionally competitive in all areas. Special duty stipends will be reexamined and other positions in the district will be scrutinized.

3)The third goal for year three is to address our substitute teacher pay scale. This is a very important group, and we want to raise our base pay for substitute teachers.

Year 4 (2010-11)

1)The goal for year four is to complete our adjustment of the professional pay scale. Our goal is to raise beginning professional staff pay (step 0) from $38,000 to $40,000; and we also want to add two more steps to the end of the scale - step 28 to step 30. This would bring our most tenured professional staff members from $57,000 to $60,000.

2)As with year three, we will continue to analyze all salaries after year four to make sure MFISD stays competitive with salaries for all district employees.

Thank you for this opportunity to provide information concerning this year’s budget and beyond. The beginning of our school year has been very exciting, and I am very pleased and proud of all the efforts by our children, our parents and caregivers, and the school staff members. We all need to work together to assure our children get the very best experience this year. If anyone has questions about anything contained in this article or about anything else, please do not hesitate to call me or come by my office. Thank you for the support of our children and of our schools.