August 19, 2024 at 7:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:  Announcement by the Board President whether a quorum is present and that notice of the meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551 as required by law.

Description:  "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Description:   "Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible." 

Description:  FES Honor Choir
FFA:
State Champions Ag Science Fair
Plant Systems - Mackenzie Atkinson and Valerie Suarez
Food Products and Processing - Sofie Ginsburg and Faith Crow
Environmental Services and Natural Resources - Sterling Arldt and Lilly Fisher
State Champion Runners-Up:
Food Processing Systems - Brynlee Cody and Brody Fisher
Power Systems - Colton Fisher and Hunter Butler
Power Systems - Kynslee Cody and Cheyenne Elmore
Environmental Systems - Celeste Bradford  and Betsy Bradford
State Speaking Finalist - Animal Science Category - Brody Fisher

FHS Band - 5th Place in Texas for their performance of The Tahoka Gallop in the Texas Association of Small School Band State Outstanding Performance Series. Drum Majors Trinity Rashid and Braeden Seaboch

Description:  The Board encourages comments about the district from members of the public.  Anyone who has signed up to speak in advance of the meeting in accordance with the Board procedures may do so at this time.  The Board asks that each participant's comments pertain to district business and be no longer than 5 minutes.  For any member of the public who is accompanied by a translator, your time will be doubled as required by law.  Remember that the Board may not discuss or act upon any issues that are not posted on our agenda.  In addition, the Board has adopted policies to provide prompt and equitable resolution of complaints and concerns for employees, students or their parents, and the general public.  Copies of our district policies and procedures on public comments and filing complaints are available on the district website. 

Description:  Adult meal prices are calculated annually to ensure the price meets Federal requirements. Last year, adult lunches were $5.00 and they will remain the same for this school year. Breakfast prices for adults were $3.29 and they will increase to $3.50.

Description:  Dr. Avritt will provide a summary of assessment results for the 2023-2024 school year.

Description:  The Safety and Security Committee met on Wednesday, August 7. Mr. Birch will provide an overview of the meeting as required by law.

Description:  The Florence Education Foundation has donated up to $30,000.00 to be used for teacher grants. Teachers and staff apply for grants which are reviewed by principals before going to the Florence Education Foundation for scoring. If the grant is approved, the money is deposited through FISD and the recipient can spend the money per the grant.

Description:  This quote covers all the security cameras, cabling and installation of items at the new field house and band hall.

Description:  The 2024-25 budget is presented for your consideration and approval. The budget is adopted at the functional level for the General Fund (Maintenance and Operating), the Child Nutrition Fund, and the I&S Debt Service Fund.

The following schedules are included:
• Combined Functional Summary of the Proposed Budget for Adoption
• Tax rate forms (new) used to calculate the required Truth In Taxation tax rates. 
• Other Summary Tax Value and Budget Schedules are included in the Hearing presentation.

Upon adoption of the budgets at the functional level, the Board is required to approve any transfer reallocating funds from one function to another or to decrease or increase the budget totals for these funds.
 

Description:  The District adopts a tax rate each year according to the State Comptroller’s Truth in Taxation guidelines.  The tax rate is adopted after the budget is approved.  The District has published its proposed tax rates in the required meeting-notice and the hearing has been held.  The Ordinance To Set Tax Rate is a recommended method to record the Board’s decision and it will be referred to in the minutes of the meeting.

The Maintenance and Operating tax rate is proposed at $0.7552 and the Interest and Sinking tax rate is proposed at $0.3490.  The total proposed tax rate at $1.1042 is a decrease from the prior year’s rate. This is due to a slight tax rate compression.

The Truth in Taxation notice calculates an increase of $388 in taxes on the average taxable value of residences in the District, a value of $228,760. The average taxable value of residences in the District last year was calculated at a value of $193,201.

Description:  This MOU sets forth the terms of sending our students to the Bell County JJAEP for mandatory and discretionary reasons. The primary change is the cost to send a student to the Bell County JJAEP for a non-mandatory placement. That cost has increased to $370.00 per student per enrolled day. Bell County says this is the actual cost they incur for each student in the program, and they have been losing money in past years. The previous year's cost was on a graduated scale depending on the length of placement starting at $103.00 per day up to $178.00 per day for year-long placements.

Description:  Texas Administrative Code §74.30 identifies as honors classes courses that meet the requirements of law (Texas Education Code §33.081(d)(1)  in English Language Arts, Languages Other Than English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies and may be exempted from No Pass No Play requirements. The attachment lists the courses that qualify for the exemption offered at Florence High School.  Students must earn a 60 or higher in these courses to remain eligible.

Description:  The Florence Elementary Honor Choir has been invited back to perform at Carnegie Hall this summer. The dates of the trip are June 22-25, 2025, inclusive of travel days. Funding for the trip will be raised by the students in the Honor Choir. 

Description:  Each year, the District signs retainer agreements with two law firms. Walsh Gallegos costs $1000.00 per year, which allows for telephone consultation on day-to-day general and special education matters, reduced rates for legal work, reduced rates for inservices, and reduced rates for legal publications. 

Description:  This agenda item is similar to the Walsh Gallegos Retainer Agreement. We are allowed free telephone consultation with the attorneys from Eichelbaum, Wardell as long as the call does not extend past 20 minutes. In addition, we receive reduced rates on legal work beyond the initial telephone call. The cost is $1000.00 for the 2024-2025 school year.

Description:  As with other projects involving Mechanical, Electrical, and/or Plumbing, we are required by law to commission them. O'Connell Robertson is doing all of our commissioning work and this proposal is for the Field House and Band Hall. The total cost for all commissioning is $69,800.00.

Description:  Any changes will be provided at the meeting.