School district set to pass balanced budget

By DINA ARÉVALO
Port Isabel-South Padre Press
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com

After meeting numerous times over the course of summer break, the Point Isabel School Board of Trustees is poised to pass a budget for fiscal year 2018-19 that does not require the district to dip into its fund balance.

Such was the news delivered by Deputy Superintendent of Business and Operations Henry LeVrier during the final meeting of the school district’s budget committee. “This is the first time in several years that we have not used any fund balance to fund the budget or to balance the budget,” LeVrier said near the conclusion of the meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The school board will meet again on Aug. 21 to hold a public hearing on both the budget and the proposed tax rate before taking both up for a decision.

The balanced budget comes even after district officials weighed wage increases and the increasing burden of property tax revenues it must remit back to the state via a wealth equalizer program known as the Robin Hood Program, or Chapter 41.

Under the proposed budget, teachers will see a 3 percent increase in their wages, or approximately $1,500 in additional earnings per year. Paraprofessionals will also receive a 3 percent pay increase.

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