AISD Trustees Approve Raise for All Employees, Budget for 2021-2022 School Year and Tax Rate at June Meeting

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Aldine ISD Trustees approved a 2% pay raise for all employees during its June 15 Board meeting. The meeting was attended by all seven Trustees and held in person in the Board Room of the Donaldson Administration Building. Aldine ISD Trustees also approved a $1,500 retention bonus for employees that will be paid in the spring of 2022. Trustees also approved raising first-year teacher’s salaries from $56,000 to $58,000.

The Aldine ISD Board of Trustees approved the budget and tax rate for the 2021022 school year.

“I am extremely thankful to our Trustees for recognizing the hard work our staff has put in over the last year-and-a-half as they have dealt with COVID-19 and worked diligently to address our students’ academic and social needs,” said Aldine ISD Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney. “This increase reflects the Board’s and district’s ongoing commitment to remaining competitive in recruiting and retaining employees prepared and determined to offer meaningful learning experiences every day to our students. This is exactly why the increase in the starting teacher salary, from $56,000 to $58,000, is significant.”

In addition to approving pay raises for all Aldine ISD employees, Trustees also approved the general operating budget for the 2021-22 school year.

The general operating budget for the 2021-22 school year will be $650,216, 641, a 1.2 percent decrease from the 2020-21 general operating budget. The budget recommendation was made by Chief Business and Operations Officer Dr. Tamika Alford-Stephens and was unanimously approved by AISD Trustees.

Dr. Alford-Stephens said the 2021-2022 budget provides funding for all district operations, instructional programs, and student activities.

“Prior to this presentation, each Board member was able to provide feedback regarding the proposed budget and given multiple options for consideration,” Dr. Alford-Stephens said.

Also, during the June 15 Board meeting, Trustees approved the proposed tax rate for the 2021-22 school year. Dr. Alford-Stephens recommended the tax rate be set at $1.2744 per $100 valuation (.3025 cents for the Interest and Sinking fund and $0.9719 for the Maintenance and Operation fund). The 2021-22 proposed tax rate is the same as it was for the 2020-21 school year. Trustees unanimously approved the proposed tax rate. The Board will not officially approve the proposed tax rate until the district receives the certified roll from the Harris County Appraisal District in late August. At that time, the district will be able to set the tax rate.

Teaching and Learning highlights CTE programs

During the June 14 Board meeting, the Teaching and Learning Department highlighted AISD’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department. Chief Academic Officer Dr. Todd Davis introduced Robert Thomas, Program Director of Career and Business Partnerships. Thomas announced that five students from Davis High School successfully passed their Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 107 UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Pilot Examination in the spring. The students who passed the exam were Sergio Avilés-Aguirre, Janeth Mendoza, Sontee Pouncy, Alexander Torralva, and Endy Rocha Torres. Davis High School added the Aviation Program of Study three years ago. The students completed their testing at the district’s flight instruction partner Texas Flight at Hooks Airport.

Dr. Davis then introduced Brooke Martin, Program Director of Career and Technical Education. Martin announced that Nimitz High School FFA students Alex Martínez and Emily Escoto earned the Lone Star Degree. Texas FFA has 140,000 members, the most in the nation, and of those, only 1% earned the Lone Star Degree this year. This summer, Alex and Emily will be awarded their Lone Star Degree at the Texas FFA Convention in Fort Worth. This degree is the culmination of three years of dedication and hard work. The Lone Star Degree is the highest degree that a high school student can earn through the Texas FFA Association. Before applying, Alex and Emily had to catalog their agricultural science courses, participate in competitive events, demonstrate leadership skills, and commit to the FFA. They also had to maintain a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). Between the two of them, they have raised the SAE projects: five pigs, a lamb, a heifer, and a pen of chickens. At the 2021 Aldine ISD FFA livestock show, Alex earned the title of Reserve Grand Champion Market Lamb and Grand Champion Swine Showman. Emily earned the title of Reserve Grand Champion Breeding Heifer; she also placed in the top three in her class at the 2021 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Additionally, Alex has been elected as an Area III FFA Association Vice-President and Texas FFA Foundations Ambassador. This summer, he will be responsible for educating, encouraging, and entertaining guests, sponsors, and stakeholders at the Texas FFA Convention in Fort Worth. Alex will be the Nimitz High School FFA President, and Emily will be the Nimitz High School FFA Vice President during the 2021-22 school year.

AEF recognizes its Executive Committee

During the June 15 Board meeting, Aldine Education Foundation (AEF) Director Linda Flores-Olson recognized AEF’s Executive Committee. The committee consists of President Lisa McBride, President-Elect Richard Cantu, VP Finance Darrell García, VP Programs Sidney Brewer, VP Development Marine Jones, VP Marketing/Event Patti Acosta, Secretary Stacey Smith, At Large Seth Sharr, and Immediate Past President David Smith. During the 2020-21 school year, AEF raised money for student scholarships, A good-grades incentive program called Foundation Scholars, Educator of the Year cash prizes, and Emergency needs from Winter Storm Uri. Even during the pandemic, AEF’s Dollar Makes a Difference employee giving campaign increased by 3.9%, the Educator of the Year Cash Awards increased by 147.5%, and AEF Scholarship cash distribution increased by 6.3%. “These fine folks display servant leadership at its best,” Flores-Olson said. “On behalf of the lucky scholarship recipients and educators of the year, thank you, thank you, and thank you. Thank you for your service and for sharing your time, talent, and resources with the Aldine Education Foundation to improve the lives of students in Aldine. You are our heroes.”

Transportation employee recognized

During the June 15 Board meeting, Germán Enamorado, Executive Director of Transportation, named Lamar Gloria as his department’s Employee of the Month. Lamar serves as the department’s bookkeeper and works at the East Side Transportation Department.

Staff assignment announced

During the June 15 Board meeting, Aldine ISD Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney announced one staff assignment.

Dr. Joshua Gobert was named Assistant Principal at Stovall Primary School after serving as AISD’s Literacy Coach.

Grants announced

Stacey Smith, Director of Special Programs, announced two grants during the June 15 Board meeting.

Grantham Academy teacher Sherry King received a $2,579 grant from Toshiba to fund her “We Do” project, which utilizes coding to develop communication, problem-solving, literacy, and building student confidence. In her Computer Science class next school year, her students will use digital language to develop coding to move objects and give direction through sequential instruction. Instead of functioning in theory, 12 robots will create a visual and tangible object to demonstrate their coding.

Grantham Academy teacher Blanca Gonzales led several of her students who competed in the citywide GoIT Challenge. Her students brainstormed and came up with an idea for an app they felt would help address a need they saw in the community, designed it, writing code for it, and then put together a presentation to market the app to specific targeted audiences. Grantham had three of the six teams who made the final round of the citywide competition. They presented their app to professionals at Halliburton, community members, and other business partners. The judges (Halliburton and Tata Consultancy employees/professionals) then asked students about their app, presentation, and marketing ideas. The students were able to defend and explain their presentation. The judges awarded the three groups $1,700 that is earmarked for use specifically in STEM education.

The grants announced at the June 15 Trustees meeting totaled $4,279.

Board approves action items

During the June 15 Board meeting, Aldine ISD Trustees approved the following action items:

Approved the consent agenda
Approved a Memorandum of Understanding for Delegation of Activities Under Health and Human Serves between Aldine ISD and AVANCE-Houston Inc. for Early Head Grant Number 06HP000351 Sept. 1, 2021, to Aug. 31, 2023
Approved a Memorandum of Understanding for Delegation of Activities Under Health and Human Services between Aldine ISD and AVANCE-Houston Inc. for Early Head Grant Number 06HPooo127 March 1, 2021, to February 28, 2023
Approved the Continuation Application for the Fiscal Year 2021 Early Head Start Grant (06HP000351)
Approved a Memorandum of Understanding between Texas A&M University and Aldine ISD for the Advise TX Program from Aug. 1, 2021, to June 15, 2023
Approved an Interlocal Agreement between Harris County and Aldine ISD for the Community Youth Services Program from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022
Approved a Memorandum of Understanding between Minnesota State University Mankato and Aldine ISD regarding student-training experience
Approved the following bids: fundraiser vendors purchases, instructional supplies, material and equipment, professional and consulting services, restaurant, food and catering vendors, letter jackets, FFA livestock, trash removal services, high volume food and non-food, Gray Elementary, Grantham Academy, and Stovall Middle School repairs, Escamilla Elementary, Sammons Elementary, Magrill Primary, Ermel Elementary, and Shotwell Middle repairs, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System, and bid contract renewals
Approved contracts of purchases of more than $50,000
Approved renewals for Purchasing Cooperative and Interlocals
Approved General Fund Budget Amendment for Period 12 for the 2020-21 school year
Approved the monthly Tax Office refunds
Approved an agreement with Harris County for Permanent Easements at Keeble Primary and Carroll Elementary
Approved the Authorized Investment Institution and Representative and District Investment Officers
Approved a Resolution for Commitment of Fund Balance for E-Rate Appeal