Trustees receive legislative update
Arlington ISD’s Board of Trustees meeting on April 20, 2023, is in the books. This meeting had a lot of items on the agenda and here are a few of the highlights.
The district’s finances are always an important part of each meeting. First, trustees approved the budget amendment, which updated the current year’s projected revenues and expenses bringing them more in alignment. Arlington ISD’s chief financial officer, Darla Moss, also gave a finance update, which she does periodically to help trustees make informed decisions about goals, assist us with planning and to promote transparency. This presentation was especially important because it laid out what is coming with the 2023-2024 budget, which starts July 1 and is currently being developed. So much goes into building the budget, including student enrollment projections, student demographics, attendance rates, property values, the district’s priorities for the next fiscal year and more. Arlington ISD’s budget priorities for the coming year include:
- Competitive compensation
- Student recovery, intervention and academic support
- Stabilization due to enrollment loss
- Fund Arlington ISD Strategic Plan Year 2 strategies
- Safety and security and
- Cost management.
Another recurring topic in board meetings is the 2019 Bond, and tonight the trustees approved the general contractor for the bond-funded renovations planned for Adams and Hale elementary schools. They also approved purchases of bond-funded elementary music instruments and supplies.
Finally, the board received an update on the current 88th Texas Legislative Session where nearly 1,400 education-related bills have been filed. The presentation reviewed how the session is shaping up in relation to the district’s legislative priorities: school safety, school finance, human capital, learning lag and parental rights. There are many bills proposed that would impact each of the priorities, but as bills are still going through the committee process, it’s impossible to accurately forecast at this point which ones will pass and how they will impact the district.
Those are just a few of the highlights from tonight’s meeting. If you would like more details on any of these, or any of the items not covered in this brief, watch the entire meeting here.