During its regular monthly meeting on Monday, the Boyd ISD Board of Directors approved a tax rate of $0.8942 and a deficit budget for fiscal year 2024-25. MICAH MCCARTNEY | WCMESSENGER

Boyd ISD trustees unanimously approved the district’s tax rate and budget for fiscal year 2024-25 during their monthly meeting Monday.

After public hearings on both measures, the school board approved a 3.5 cent property tax increase to $0.8942 per $100 of value. Of that amount, $0.6692 will be used for maintenance and operations, while $0.2250 will be used for interest and principal.

Trustees also approved the district’s proposed budget. According to Chief Financial Officer Summer Mathis, the budget calls for expenditures of $15,674,472 and revenues of $15,152,185, resulting in a deficit of $522,287.

The fiscal year 2024-25 budget includes $291,494 that trustees approved in July for teacher pay raises. The cost of raises for teachers, nurses and counselors is listed at $208,613, based on a 2 percent plus step schedule. Other employees will receive a raise of 2 percent or $500, whichever is greater, at a cost of $82,881.

One item not included in the new budget is the purchase of 460 cell phone cases for the high school campus through Yondr, a company based in Los Angeles, California, at a cost of $14,215. Mathis said the cell phone cases would be purchased with funds from the current 2023-24 budget and should be delivered next week.

In May, Michael Cunningham, assistant principal at Boyd High School, asked the school district to fund the project to eliminate distractions caused by cell phones during school hours.

According to the plan, students will place their phones and/or smartwatches in their assigned Yondr bags when they arrive at school. The bag will be closed by a magnetic system at the end of the day after being tapped onto a base.

Boyd High School Principal Jennifer Railsback told the school board last month that students will be allowed to use their phones regularly for medical purposes, such as checking blood sugar levels for diabetics.

During the July meeting, trustees planned to implement the cell phone ban only on the high school campus. However, Alisen Adcock, principal of Boyd Intermediate/Middle School, said the middle school campus will also be phone-free in the 2024-25 school year to help students transition to high school. The middle school campus will not receive the Yondr bags.

Trustees also approved a maximum price tag of $5,037,404 for HVAC equipment and work throughout the district. The money will be paid out of the $5.356 million for district HVAC improvements included in a $20 million bond that voters approved in May.

According to Mike Cothran, a business development specialist with E3 Entergal Solutions, the original total cost of the project was $5.3 million, leaving the district with $262,596 in available funds. Cothran also informed the school board that $3,226,127 of the cost remains after the district approved spending $1,811,277 on HVAC equipment during the July meeting.

The plan calls for $3,699,942 for improvements to the high school and athletic facilities, a total of $836,037 for the middle school and $155,357 for the elementary school. Another $346,067 will be spent on district-wide energy management.

Doug Whitt of Samco Capital Markets informed board members that the district’s interest rate on its $20 million bond was lower than expected. Whitt had originally predicted an assumed interest rate of 4.65 percent, but the winning bid by Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc. was 3.886237 percent. The district received an “Aaa” rating and an “Aa3” credit rating from Moody’s Ratings due to the Permanent School Fund (PSF) guarantee.

In other business, trustees also approved recognizing 4-H as an extracurricular activity and appointing fishing team captains and Texas A&M AgriLife representatives as adjunct faculty members.

Boyd ISD’s next meeting will be Monday, September 16th at 5:00 p.m.