November 16, 2026 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:  Congratulations to the FHS Band for qualifying for the UIL Area Marching Band Contest for the sixth consecutive year. The band had an outstanding marching season and placed in every contest in which they participated. We look forward to even more success at UIL Concert and Sight Reading this spring.

The Florence Cross Country Teams had an outstanding season, with both the boys and girls teams finding tremendous success throughout the year and consistently finishing among the top competitors at every meet. Both teams captured District Championships, making it a memorable day for Florence Cross Country. The boys dominated the competition, placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 9th to finish with an impressive 18 points. Members of the team are Primitivo Martinez, Parker Jamison-Goff, Brady Mauk, Yel Ybarra, Alexander Garcia, Max Pearson, and Mauricio Gonzalez. The girls followed with an outstanding performance of their own, placing 2nd, 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th to finish with 36 points. Both teams qualified for the Regional Meet where they would go on to make school history. At the Regional Meet, the boys finished in 6th place overall, the highest regional finish in school history, narrowly missing qualifying for state as a team. Primitivo Martinez finished 16th overall and earned an individual qualifier for the state meet.
The Lady Buffs entered Regionals unranked, but placed five runners in the top 24 to secure their first Regional Championship in school history. Sara Koch finished in 8th place, Alondra Martinez in 17th, Adaliez Benitez in 19th, Sophia Koch in 21st, Natalie Carbajal in 24th, Paris Johnson in 37th, and Nerisa Hill in 52nd. 
At the State Cross Country Meet, Sara Koch was the top Lady Buff finishing in 73rd place, followed by Alondra Martinez in 90th, Sophia Koch in 100th, Adaliez Benitez in 103rd, Paris Johnson in 122nd, Natlie Carbajal in 124th, and Nerisa Hill in 139th. 
Primotivo Martinez finished 97th overall while running his personal best on the course. Not bad for a freshman!
This season was about more than medals, trophies, and finishing places. It was about making history, raising the standard, and showing what Florence Cross Country is capable of achieving. We could not be more proud of these athletes and what they accomplished this season.

Description:  Congratulations to Sarah Stephens, 4th grade teacher at Florence Elementary School, for being selected as the FISD Teacher of the Month. From her nomination: Sarah Stephens goes above and beyond to create a classroom where every student feels included, valued, and excited to learn. Her classroom is a welcoming and engaging place where strong relationships are built, students are actively involved, and learning is always a priority. Sarah brings instruction to life, makes meaningful connections with students, and is intentional about ensuring every child has the opportunity to grow and succeed. Thank you, Sarah, for the heart, dedication, and passion you bring to FES each day.

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:  Food service update. 

Description:  With the failure of both the bond and VATRE, the FISD deficit budget is approximately $467,000.00. Input is being sought from the Board of Trustees regarding the district's approach to this deficit. Mr. Kirkpatrick will outline some options based on staff input for moving forward. 

Description:  Mr. Kirkpatrick will provide an update on the meat market renovation.

Description:  As members of IEI, the district can send one administrator to each of the IEI conferences. IEI covers the cost of airfare, hotel, and all meals. The only cost to the district is mileage to and from the airport and airport parking.

Description:  In order to ensure our I&S Tax Rate covers our debt payments for the year, the I&S tax rate needs to be adopted at the tax rate calculated by Williamson County to be the minimum necessary to pay debt service, which is $0.3171. With the failure of the VATRE, the M&O tax rate will be reduced to $0.7011 for a total tax rate $1.0182. This tax rate is effectively a 2.04 percent increase in the tax rate from the prior year, even though the tax rate is exactly the same. Due to property value growth, this tax rate will raise more taxes for Maintenance and Operations than last year.

Description:  The advertisement for the three properties being declared as surplus by the attached resolution allowed for the sale of each property individually based on the bids received. The board has three options: 1) accept the bids recommended by the administration; 2) reject all bids and have the Superintendent reinitiate the bid process; or 3) accept certain bids and reject other bids. 

Description:  PASA will create a complete demographic study for the district that will include student population growth, housing projections, student projections, campus level enrollment, and a Long-Range Facilities plan identifying where there is potential to need new campuses. Once complete, PASA will present their findings to the board. Data collection will begin in April 2027 and the data should be finalized in June 2027. The attachment provides a complete overview of what is included in the study. As the district grows, this study will be an invaluable tool to assist the administration in future planning. Because of the large number of planned subdivisions in FISD in the future, the cost is $54,200.

Description:  The certified property values provided by the Bell and Williamson County Tax Appraisal Districts provide a basis for the District to propose tax rates for the new school year following the Comptroller’s Truth In Taxation guidelines. The certified Freeze Adjusted value total was $1,238,705,902. The fall Freeze Adjusted total is $1,204,683,679. The appraisal districts calculate the tax imposed on each property included on the rolls according to Section 26.09(e), of the Property Tax Code. The appraisal districts enter the amount of tax, in the tax roll, for the District. The total combined fall levy calculated for the 2027 school year is $12,746,876. The 2026 school year fall levy was $12,160,185. The increase in collections is due to the growing property values in the District.  6.8% growth in total Freeze-Adjusted values, primarily in Williamson County. Bell County taxable values decreased for Florence.
 

Description:  With the change in leadership in the state government, I believe we need to add three items to our legislative priorities. The first is to request an increase to the Basic Allotment, which has not had a significant increase since 2019. Under the previous Lieutenant Governor, a Basic Allotment increase was a non-starter. A Basic Allotment increase impacts many areas of the funding formula for public schools and could provide a significant increase in available funding. More details will be added to this priority once more information is received. The second addition is to request a change from Attendance Based Funding to Enrollment Based Funding. Texas is one of only six states that has an Attendance Based Funding formula. A change from Attendance Based to Enrollment Based would allow for more accurate revenue projections that are not impacted by temporary student absences. The final change is to ask for more resources for small districts related to CTE. Currently, FISD faces staffing and funding barriers to increase or improve our CTE offerings, making it difficult to be competitive with the larger districts surrounding us. 

Description:  The 2026-2027 school year budget will be amended for the result of the VATRE election. Tax collections and state revenue are amended for a rollback of the tax rate for Maintenance and Operations.  Tax collections and state revenue are amended to reflect the minimum tax rate (plus state hold-harmless funds)  required to pay the annual debt service from the District's Interest and Sinking fund. 

Description:  House Bill 3033 from the 88th Legislative Session created Texas Government Code 552.0031, which defines business day for purposes of the Texas Public Information Act. School districts are permitted by law to designate no more than 10 additional non-business days during a calendar year in addition to those non-business days established in statute. For a day to be eligible, the district's administrative offices are closed or operating with minimum staffing.  Authority to designate districts’ non-business days is provided solely to the Board of Trustees. Per the calendar below, the District recommends January 4; March 15 and 19; July 1, 2, and 5; November 23 and 24; December 23 and 30, as non-business days.