No Tax Rate Hike Proposed By FISD

Aug 13, 2008 - 14:43:11 CDT.

BEATING THE HEAT during a morning band practice session, drum major Lindsey Crenwelge coaxes a summer serenade from her fellow musicians. The Fredericksburg High School band recently completed a five-day band camp at Angelo State University where they focused on marching fundamentals and learned music in afternoon master classes. Rehearsals now run Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. The band has begun learning sets for their 2008 halftime show and will continue to drill in the mornings before school begins Aug. 25. Standard-Radio Post Photo by Matt Ward

Trustees voted Monday night to propose no change in the tax rate for the Fredericksburg Independent School District for the 2008-09 school year.

Last year’s rate of $1.1462 will be presented when the board hosts a public hearing on the tax rate and the budget Monday, Aug. 25, at 6 p.m. in the FISD Central Office, 234 Friendship Lane.

Trustees and administrators have been working on the budget and the tax rate throughout the summer and will offer an explanation to the public at the meeting.

Helping Educate

Legislators

What school administrators would like state legislators to know about the impact of the laws they make in the areas of testing and school finance took visual form in a presentation Superintendent Marc Williamson shared with trustees Monday.

The problems inherent in statewide accountability testing and school finance were presented to state legislators by a group of school administrators at the Region XIII Service Center last week in Austin. Daniel Boone, Democratic candidate for District 73 state representative, and representatives of Republican candidate Doug Miller were present.

Williamson shared the presentation at Monday night’s meeting because of the clarity of the explanations, he said.

The portion on accountability testing, including the statewide TAKS test and federal No Child Left Behind (Adequate Yearly Progress/AYP) mandates, made the point that a school district “is only as good as its lowest group,” Williamson said.

He explained that on the multiple versions of TAKS that are given, scores are not only tabulated overall by grade level, but are also noted by subpopulation group (African Americans, White, Hispanic, Economically Disadvantaged).

In smaller schools, poor performance by a small number of students can significantly affect the overall rating of the entire campus.

The presentation also made the point that while students take the same test -- the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills -- federal and state standards are different and are sometimes set in opposition so that passage under state guidelines does not guarantee passage under federal guidelines.

He also noted that testing is becoming more stringent and the minimum passing percentage is also increasing each year, making it harder to achieve Recognized and Exemplary rankings.

This year, to be ranked Recognized, a district must have a 75 percent passing score on each test -- both overall and in each sub-group. The Exemplary cutoff is 90 percent.

While state standards are inching upwards, federal standards call for a 100 percent passing rate in Reading and Mathematics by 2014.

“We made a pitch for legislators to consider rating test results on a ‘value-added to students’ basis,” Williamson said.

School Finance Crunch

The presentation also pointed out problems that are occurring in local districts due to school finance legislation at the state level.

Because of current state laws, districts have little or no room for growth, the presentation explained.

Local property values have been neutralized, Williamson said, because additional revenue generated by increased property values goes to the state to reduce their share of educational costs.

The administrators’ contention is that, while the current school finance system grew from a desire to achieve equity in school funding, the result has been considerable inequity between districts.

In fact, Williamson told trustees, 98 percent of students in the state are in school districts that have not been able to increase their revenue levels since the 2005-06 school year.

“How many businesses do you think are still functioning on the same revenue level they had in 2005-06?” he asked.

Convocation Monday

Assistant Superintendent Linda Hicks noted that new teacher inservice will be Friday beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the central office and that the opening convocation for all FISD teachers will be Monday, starting at 8 a.m. in the Fredericksburg High School Auditorium.

Work Continues

At High School

Williamson reported that work on replacing the heating and air conditioning system at high school is continuing and will not be completed before the start of classes.

Four classrooms at a time will be rotated to portable classroom locations as the work continues.