Reports on budget, compensation plan lead board workshop agenda

The Ector County ISD Board of Trustees held its June Workshop on the 9th. A recap of the agenda is below.

1.      Roll Call.

 

2.      Verification of compliance with open meetings requirements.

 

3.      In opening comments, Superintendent Dr. Keeley Boyer talked about the release of STAAR results. Parents of high school students will find the end-of-course results in the Parent Portal tomorrow; parents of students in grades 3-8 will find those scores in the Parent Portal next week (June 16). ECISD will do a release following the release to parents.

 

4.      There was no public comment.

 

5.      Report/Discussion Items

 

A.     Trustees reviewed the proposed 2026-27 Compensation Plan. Due to the budget situation, there is no proposed pay increase for all employees for the 2026-27 school year. There are some teachers, however, that will see increases because of the requirements of House Bill 2 passed by the legislature in 2025. A quick refresher on HB 2: a 0 Year (0 years of experience) Non-certified teacher must make less than a 0 Year Certified teacher; teachers with 3-4 years of experience receive a $2,500 increase over their 2024 salary; and teachers with 5 or more years of experience receive a $5,000 over their 2024 salary. Those required salary increases were given last year, however, this year additional teachers moved up into those years (3, 4 or 5) and the requirements remain in effect for those teachers meaning those teachers will see that increase in 2026-27. ECISD created a $100 Step between a 0 Year teacher and a 1 Year teacher for the coming year. Teachers still have the opportunity to earn dollars above their salary through “stackable compensation” like Teacher Incentive Allotment and Opportunity Culture; in fact, 64 teachers are projected to earn more than $100,000 this year.  

 

B.      Trustees received a presentation on the 2026-27 District Improvement Plan. Trustees reviewed the comprehensive creation and review process for creating the District Improvement Plan – from a needs assessment to the development of strategies to support performance objectives all designed to achieve the school board’s goals.

Those board goals are:

• The percentage of students achieving or exceeding the Meets Standard on state assessments will increase from 35% to 48% by May 2029 across all tested content areas.
• The percentage of 3rd grade students reading at or above grade level will increase from 34% to 48% by May 2029.
• The percentage of high school graduates considered College, Career, or Military Ready will increase from 88% to 93% by May 2029.
• Classroom Excellence (every student receives engaging and challenging instruction tailored to their various needs)
• Culture of Excellence (every student is engaged, supported, and prepared for future success)

 

C.      Trustees discussed the 2026-27 Student Code of Conduct and revisions to the Student Handbook fees. There are no changes to either document this year.

 

D.     Trustees discussed the 2026-27 budget. The proposed budget includes a $4.5 million deficit in the General Fund; with balanced budgets for the School Nutrition Fund and Debt Service Fund. The budget planning process began in January when Trustees discussed the things they viewed as budget priorities. That list included support for the Bilingual program and extra-curricular activities, continued professional/talent development for staff, eliminate redundancies, keep cuts away from classrooms, and if a raise is not possible explore a retention bonus for employees (a 1% retention bonus would cost about $2 million). The budget revenue projections are based on an enrollment of 31,630 and an average daily attendance of 92%. The school board is planning to officially adopt the 2026-27 school year budget at next week’s meeting. The Notice of Public Meeting to Discuss Budget and Proposed Tax Rate was published June 3, 2026, in the Odessa American. The current recommendation is to keep next year’s tax rate the same as this year. Note: the tax rate is officially adopted in September.

 

E.      Trustees talked about the process they will use to fill the vacant Position 1 spot on the school board. Dawn Miller’s final meeting will be next week (June 16) as she is moving out of the area representing Position 1. There are two options to consider: appointing a replacement to serve until the next general election (May 2027) or call for a special election to be held. Trustees will vote on a process at next week’s meeting.

 

F.      There was no closed session.

 

G.     There were no closing remarks.

 

H.     The meeting adjourned at 7:26 p.m.