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City of Bryan Update on WTAW

Councilman Paul Torres visits with WTAW’s Scott DeLucia about leadership changes, what he has learned during his time on council, the Phillips Event Center, relieving traffic, medians, Downtown Bryan, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs on Thursday, July 18, 2024. Listen to “Bryan Councilman Paul Torres on The Infomaniacs” on Spreaker.

College Station ISD School Board Members Approve Pay Increases By Spending Money From The District’s Savings

College Station ISD school board members decide to spend another $2 million dollars out of the district’s savings account for pay raises in the soon to start school year. That’s above the $4 million dollars that will be taken out of what is officially known as fund balance to make ends meet for the 2024-2025 school year. Superintendent Tim Harkrider pointed out what he described as “very nominal student growth” in CSISD, saying if the 1,100 students inside the district boundaries would attend CSISD schools, there would be no budget issue. The CSISD board’s unanimous vote at their July 16th meeting provided another opportunity to bring up that state lawmakers have not increased funding for the last five years. Board member Blaine Decker noted that state lawmakers are receiving a five percent raise. Almost all CSISD employees will be receiving a two percent raise. Bus drivers will be receiving a 2.5 percent raise. Board members learned that out of 14 districts in the region, CSISD has the second lowest teacher turnover rate and is tied with Bryan for the ninth highest pay for first year teachers. Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the July 16, 2024 College Station ISD school board meeting. Click below to hear some of the comments from the July 16, 2024 College Station ISD school board meeting.   Additional information from College Station ISD: CSISD plans to increase salaries for the 13th consecutive year. The approved Compensation Plan calls for: • Increased beginning teacher pay from $51,000 to $51,750; • A $1,200 increase for eligible returning teachers from their current base pay (2% midpoint); • A 2% of respective midpoint pay grades for eligible administrators and professionals; • A 2% of respective midpoint pay grades for eligible paraprofessionals, and auxiliary staff; • Continuation of the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA); and • Changes in pay grade for certain positions based on market. The estimated cost of the compensation plan is $2,269,534. “When putting together an employee compensation plan, I think it’s important to consider competition, cost and sustainability,” said Heather Wilson, chief financial officer. “By providing raises for our staff again this year, CSISD is continuing to be one of the most competitive districts in the area for retaining staff.” During the July 16 workshop, Wilson shared that according to 2022-2023 Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR), CSISD has one of the lowest teacher turnover percentages (18.8%) compared to neighboring districts. In addition, Wilson shared that according to the 2023-2024 Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Salary Survey, CSISD leads neighboring districts in contributions towards employee-only health care premiums ($476 per month) and employee-plus-family health care premiums ($509 per month). The Board will consider and take action on the 2024-2025 budget during its regular meeting on Aug. 20.

Bryan ISD School Board Takes Up Two Safety And Security Items

Monday night’s (July 15) Bryan ISD school board meeting included two items involving safety and security. Behind closed doors, board members discussed what the agenda described as the “deployment of critical infrastructure and security devices”. No action followed the executive session. And the board approved the annual agreement with the city of Bryan for school resource officers at BISD junior high and high schools and the district’s alternative school. Security director Rich Himmel said there will continue to be ten officers and one sergeant. The board without comment, unanimously approved the $1 million dollar interlocal agreement. The cost represented an increase of less than one percent. Security at other BISD campuses is provided by a private company. Click HERE to read and download the BISD-city of Bryan school resource officer interlocal agreement that was approved at the July 15, 2024 BISD board meeting. Click below to hear comments from Rich Himmel at the July 15, 2024 BISD board meeting.