SCHOOL NEWS
BISD meets early Thursday for budget
The Bowie Independent School District will finalize its 2024-25 budget when the board of trustees meet for a pair of early morning meetings on Aug. 31, the last day of the fiscal year.
The public hearing for the proposed tax rate and budget will be at 7 a.m. on Aug. 31.
The proposed budget projects expenses of $18,186,973 and revenues of $17,649,586. It includes a 2% pay increase for teachers and paraprofessionals, and all would move to the next step. Non-step employees would get a 2% raise.
Calculations for the budget have been difficult to narrow down as the State Legislature will have a special session on school funding in October and there is a special election to increase the homestead tax exemption from $40,000 to $100,000, which is expected to pass on Nov. 7. The state template for the school year funding has not been finalized and BISD has not received its final two state funding payments for the present fiscal years, which leaves the end-of-year figures in questions.
The proposed tax rate is .887180, which is lower than the 2022 rate of $1.03460 per $100 in property value. Maintenance and operation would receive .69180 cents and .18 for debt service. Per the district’s tax rate publication the average market value of a home in the district is $180,509 this year and with the proposed tax rate taxes for that value will go down $459.71.
Taxable revenue will change significantly if the homestead exemption changes to the higher amount and those adjustments will have to be made after those results are known. The legislature has indicated it will help make up any funding loss, but no specifics have been made public.
In a second meeting at 7:15 a.m. the board will make any amendments to the 2022-23 budget, designate the committed fund balance, approve the salary schedule and budget for 2023-24 and the 2023 tax rate.
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.
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.
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.
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