Goodrich cancels upcoming election
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By Brian Besch
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The Goodrich ISD school board canceled the upcoming election, approved an employee compensation plan, and heard an update on a state-issued test in Thursday’s regular meeting for March.
The board approved the cancellation of the May election, as no candidate is contested. The May 6 election, if contested, would have included board members Rigoberto Reyes, Lidia Merino, Rosalie Blackstock and Julie Mack.
The board also approved the 2023-2024 compensation plan. That includes a salary increase for teachers to a starting mark of $45,000. Current teachers and the school nurse will receive a 5.7% increase from their current salary. There will be a 5% increase for support staff and a 10% increase for auxiliary staff from current salaries, while administrative staff will receive a 2% increase. Total salary increases are $109,005, while total projected salary increases with benefits totals $119,306.
The STAAR assessment has changed for the first time this year, and Goodrich Superintendent Daniel Barton said students will be graded in a new way.
“As a result, the accountability system is being changed,” Barton said. “In the month of May, kids are not going to know and parents are not going to know if they passed it or not. They are going to get a ‘they might have passed it or they might not have.’ Once they get all of their cut scores at the state level, they will decide where they want to move passing and not passing. Our district is rated on that, as is every other district in the state. It is everybody in the state that is going through this and I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of parents and kids wondering what is going on. This has nothing to do with us locally and we are just going to have to endure it and make it happen.”
While discussing curriculum, Barton said there is a possibility of the school moving from 26 credits to 28 in order to graduate. The superintendent said the reason for the change would be that Goodrich ISD is now on an eight-period school day. With the increase in classes, Barton said the 26 credits to graduate is not consistent with surrounding school districts. The change would impact incoming freshmen.
Goodrich ISD Business Manager Sarah Fulcher gave the board an update on taxes collected for the current year.
“Our current taxes, we are at 87.94%,” she said. “We are doing really well on our tax collections. When we talk about taxes, we usually don’t budget 100%, because you are never going to get 100%. We usually do about 95-97%. That is a more obtainable goal.”
There has been $1,663,369 in taxes brought in to this point, while $228,099 remains to be collected.
In maintenance, the district is still working to collect bids for doors. There is a $200,000 school safety grant that the school will put to use for the doors. Barton said a few different companies are working toward submitting a bid.
There is a leak in the old gymnasium and the superintendent has called both the roofing company and solar panel company to determine the source of the problem.
The school district is in search of a special education bus. Barton said he is in search of something that is 15 seats or less, as to not require a CDL to drive. He has looked into used vehicles as well as a new one, but the item has been tabled for now.
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