Collins named new Warren HS principal

New Warren High School Principal Keith Collins introduced himself to the WISD Board of Trustees at the board’s Monday evening meeting. CHRIS EDWARDS | TCB

By Chris Edwards
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WARREN – In his first board meeting at the helm of Warren ISD, superintendent Rusty Minyard reported a slate of new hires across the district.

On Monday evening, at the regular meeting of the Warren ISD Board of Trustees, Minyard began by welcoming the new Warren High School principal Keith Collins. Collins, who last served Henderson ISD, will replace the long-serving Jimbo Swinney, who announced his retirement in May. Collins introduced himself to the school board, and said he grew up in Caneyhead, and said it was quite the easy decision to make; to come and serve Warren ISD. “I won’t let you down,” he told Minyard and the board members.

Minyard followed that announcement with several other new hires to key positions within the district. Troy Moore has been hired as Warren ISD’s new network administrator. Minyard called him “a very impressive young man.”

Natalee Foret is moving from her role as a third-grade teacher at Warren Elementary to the role of instructional coach for that campus, Minyard announced.

Other positions Minyard reported to the board include: Keppie Fortenberry – math coach and Lydia Thompson – instructional technology.

Another topic Minyard reported to the board on concerned a district-wide computer availability to faculty. “One of the biggest issues was teachers not having access to computers,” Minyard said.

He said a presentation is underway to present to the board in July at its next meeting, along with a budget of how to remedy the problem.

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He noted that teachers did have the Chromebooks in their classrooms across the district, but they were not sufficient for long-term, high-power usage.

Proposed budget reviewed

In his report to the board, Warren ISD’s CFO Terry Ling presented the proposed budget for the 2023-24 school year.

The figures Ling drew from represented numbers gleaned from a 95% collection rate from taxpayers on a $15.1 million budget.

Ling explained that the district would receive in excess of $10 million in state aid, part of which would cover its I&S (debt service) tax levy. With tax collections in the district at the estimated percentage, that revenue was shown at $4.77 million.

The proposed M&O (Maintenance and Operations) levy is 0.9333, which Ling said is down a couple of pennies from what it was. The district’s I&S rate is proposed at 0.36 per $100 of valuation, for a combined tax rate of 1.2933 in the proposed budget.

Ling also presented the preliminary appraisals from the Tyler County Appraisal District, which allocates 12.98% of its funding for schools to Warren ISD, or $3.92 million. Warren ISD is also partially serviced by Hardin County taxpayers, with a number of students residing in Wildwood.