Board of Trustees swears in new, returning members
Final canvassing for both the bond and board of trustee elections of May 6 was approved at the San Marcos Consolidated School District Board of Trustees’ recent meeting.
Two new board members were sworn in and took their places on Monday and one returning member was sworn in as well.
All four of the propositions in this election were approved, but Prop C and Prop D were won by slim margins.
There was also a unanimous vote during the meeting to give raises to teachers and nurses.
Sandra Sepulveda Lopez has taken the seat of Mayra Mejia for District-3.
Jessica Cain has taken the seat of Miguel Arredondo for District-1. Margie Villalpando was re-elected to her position representing District- 2.
Prop A which authorizes the school district to purchase attendance credit from the state with local tax revenues, was approved with 1,985 final votes for and 602 against.
Prop B which is a $147,724,645 school building bond for construction, renovation, acquisition and equipment of school buildings in the district paid for by a property tax increase, passed with 1,664 final votes for and 927 against. Prop C which is a $984,563 school bond for construction, renovation and equipment for the San Marcos High School stadium paid for by a property tax increase, which passed with 1,304 final votes for and 1,279 against. Prop D which is a $17,478,750 school bond for the construction, renovation and equipment for a Natatorium (indoor swimming pool) paid for by a property tax increase, passed with 1,307 final votes for and 1,273 against.
The board reviewed the four teacher compensation models provided by SMCISD Chief of Human Resources Dale Mitchell and which were presented at the last school board meeting.
The models Mitchell proposed for the board’s consideration are: a 2% general pay increase which would bring certain starting salaries to $53,000; a 3% GPI which would make the starting salary $53,500; a 4% GPI which would make the starting salary $54,000; and a 4% GPI with a longevity adjustment.
Mitchell said the longevity adjustment is an incremental pay increase for each year that staff members stay with the district. When a staff member reaches five years with the district, they would receive an annual quarter of a percent raise.
“The increase to add longevity would be $235,345 no matter what the plan is,” Mitchell said. The longevity plan would only apply to teachers and nurses.
“I’m going to move that we increase teacher salaries by 4% and that we do an additional increase on top of what we did at the last meeting so that everybody across the board gets a 4% increase and that we do the longevity increases for all staff not just teachers,” Halsey said.
Mitchell did not know what the totals would be if this motion were passed, and Salmi said it would be important to know exact numbers before voting on it.
“I’d be happy to support one of the proposals that was presented to us by administrative staff including the longevity plan that the staff proposed and put together. I think following the proposal of the folks that worked on this is the way that we should be going,” Salmi said. This would mean utilizing the longevity plan, as is, with it only applying to teachers and nurses.
“I’m willing to amend my motion to remove the longevity increase for staff members who are not teachers and nurses. I would like to put that on the agenda for next month so that we can reconsider it with numbers, but I also would like to see if we could get an opinion from legal on whether or not we pass something tonight and then the state legislature comes through with something mandating us to do if there is a way for us to make sure that it can count,” Halsey said. “It really seems like an unfair position for the state to put us in.” Halsey’s motion died for lack of a second.
San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustee District-4 Brian Shanks recommended giving a lower percentage raise until they know what the state legislature is going to do.
“If they don’t mandate a pay raise and none of it passes then we can always go back and amend the budget later for the additional increase, but if we go with the lower percentage now at least we’re sending a message to our teachers that we want to do something, but we do have some fiscal responsibility to pay attention to what the state legislature is doing,” Shanks said.
After speaking with council, Superintendent of San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District Dr. Michael Cardona said that the board could increase pay until July 1.
“I’d like to move that we increase teacher and nurse category pay by 3% including longevity pay as presented and proposed by staff subject to fund availability based on legislative action to include consideration of additional pay raise,” Salmi said. This motion was seconded by Shanks. The 3% pay increase plus longevity raise was voted for unanimously.
Leslieanne Adamson spoke on behalf of the School Health Advisory Council to give a report on what has been accomplished by the committee this year.
Adamson said that the SHAC focus for the 20222023 school year included, review and implementation of the Coordinated Approach to Child Health curriculum district-wide, post-pandemic re-engagement of district-approved wellness policy, implementation of Fitness Gram which measures students aerobic capacity consistently across the district and Health Education courses were reinstated as an optional high school credit.
Adamson said that the SHAC focus for the next school year to continue to address mental health issues related to COVID-19, focus on bullying awareness and prevention, continue to advocate for a health coordinator position to provide consistent focus on the health and wellbeing of children as a whole, gather parent input for My Rights and My Curriculum from the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities and monitor, review and prepare to address any SHAC related Texas Legislature items.
“I would like to propose that the SHAC work next year collaboratively with the superintendent’s cabinet and the athletic department to determine how we will best be able to use our natatorium to the fullest extent to serve our entire student body and hopefully some of our community at large,” San Marcos Consolidated School District Trustee at Large Anne Halsey said.
Adamson said she’s been in discussion with SMCISD Athletic Director and Head Football Coach John Walsh about using the natatorium for physical education courses.
Director of Child Nutrition Services for San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District Melba Perez gave a presentation on the summer nutrition program. Perez stated that Texas law requires that any school in which at least half of the students are eligible to receive National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs free or reduced price meal benefits operate a summer program for at least 30 calendar days during summer recess, and SMCISD has The Seamless Summer Operation which provides free meals to students 18 years and younger in low-income areas.
There will be feeding sites both on campuses and off that operate Monday through Thursday. All meals must be eaten on-site due to regulation. The campus locations are Bonham Prekindergarten School from June 5 to 29, Miller Middle School from June 5-29, Hernandez Elementary School from June 5 to July 27, Rodriguez Elementary School from June 5 to Aug.3 and San Marcos High School from June 5 to Aug. 3.
The off-site locations are Redwood Baptist Church from June 5 to August 3, Wonderland School from June 5 to August 3, CM Allen Housing from June 5 to August 3, SMCISD Purple Bus which stops at Dunbar Park and The San Marcos Public Library from June 5 to Aug.v3 and Cuauhtemoc Hall from June 19 to 22.
