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SCHOOL NEWS

Bowie ISD reviews superior FIRST rating in hearing

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By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
For the 15th year in a row Bowie Independent School District has received a superior rating in the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas.
The board of trustees conducted the required public hearing during their Monday night meeting. Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Pastusek made the presentation noting the district received 90 out of 100 points in the review of the 2016-17 school year.
The purpose of FIRST is to ensure school districts will be held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices and achieve improved performance in the management of their financial resources.
There are 15 indicators a district is scored on encompassing all aspects of financial practices from compliance with debt, cash on hand versus current investments, liabilities’ ratios, deficit budget and administrative cost ratios.
Pastusek said indicator 10 was the only one where BISD did not receive any points. It asks: “Was the debt service coverage ratio sufficient to meet the required debt service.”
He explained the district ratio was .9599 and BISD had a deficit budget in both the general fund and debt service fund which lowered the ratio.
Patusek said the board opted to not increase the debt service rate because for the past few years it has collected more than was needed.

Read the full story in the mid-week News.

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SCHOOL NEWS

BISD trustees work to incorporate salary study with budget needs

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By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonnline.com
Bowie Independent School District Trustees began plowing through the 2026-27 budget at its first workshop on Aug. 3.
The center of discussion was presentation of the salary study commissioned by the district through the Texas Association of School Boards. Laura Wurman of TASB explained how the data was gathered and developed into recommendations for the district.
Purpose of the study is to assess competitive pay levels for common jobs. Wurman said they analyses market data to determine where the district is at risk and identified priorities for pay system improvements.

Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.

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SCHOOL NEWS

Calderon joins BHS team as assistant principal

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Diana Calderon

Diana Calderon will join the Bowie High School staff as assistant principal in the new school year.
She comes to Bowie from Lake Dallas Elementary School where she served as assistant principal since 2024. Her prior positions include administrator at Decatur High School from 2022-2024, and English as a second language director at Ponder High School and Middle School from 2017 to 2022.
Calderon’s educational background began with a bachelor of business management in 2007 from the University of Phoenix. She earned her master degree in bilingual education from Southern Methodist University in 2018 and a master’s in educational leadership also in 2018.
The educator is working on her doctorate of educational leadership.

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SCHOOL NEWS

‘Do what’s right’ philosophy guides new principal

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By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
New Bowie High School Principal Dean Johnson brings 15 years of experience as an educator to the campus and he is looking forward to settling down in his new town.
The 38-year-old comes to Bowie from Farmersville Independent School District where he was junior high principal since 2022 and prior to that he was assistant starting in 2019. In 2023 he was named Texas Association of Secondary School Personnel’s Region 10 Assistant Principal of the Year.
Born and raised in Sherman, Johnson always knew his career path was coaching/teaching. He followed in his mother’s footsteps as she worked 30-plus years as a high school math teacher. His sister is a middle school math teacher and her husband is a teacher/coach both at Bells ISD, along with a cousin who is elementary principal at Burkburnett.
And dad can’t be left out, Johnson said while his father did several jobs, for many years he drove a bus for Sherman ISD, including those athletic team trips.
“I would often go with him on those trips with the football team and at seven or eight years old you look up at the players. I also was a ball boy. My path was set early,” said the new principal.

Read the full feature in the Thursday Bowie News.

Dr. Dean Johnson with his wife, Katy, and their daughters Wittley and Henley. (News photo by Barbara Green)
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