White Settlement ISD teachers and staff will receive pay raises under the district’s 2025-26 budget, approved by board members during their June 25 meeting.
Regular Meeting
Documenter name: Kathryn Duffy
Agency: White Settlement ISD board
Date: June 25, 2025
Meeting
The meeting was called to order by board President Ben Davis at 5:35 p.m. who noted a quorum was present.
Superintendent Frank Molinar gave a brief overview of the property tax calculations that will come to the board for approval in August. The proposed rate will be 0.7469 for maintenance and operations and 0.46 debt service for a total rate of $1.2069 per $100 of property valuation. All three rates are exactly the same as those levied for the current tax year and will result in a $499,000 budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year. Raises built in for both teachers and staff are a highlight of the new budget. Molinar noted that these increases, combined with others in the past few years, will contribute to an average five-year increase of 17% for all White Settlement ISD employees.
The board was briefed on federal funding at the district. Karen Gonzales, director of federal programs, discussed how Title I funds are used for academic achievement, Title II for teacher quality, Title III for English language acquisition, and Title IV for student support and academic enrichment. Eric Kibodeaux, career and technical education director, explained how the Carl Perkins grants are used in the career training programs. Courtney Berry, assistant special programs director, described how the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) grant is used for 1,044 students in the district.
Three citizens spoke during public comment, all warning the board of how changes at the Tarrant Appraisal District will affect the White Settlement ISD. Speakers Sayeda Bilqees Syed, Eric Crile and Daniel Bennett are all prior candidates for the appraisal board.
At 6:15 p.m., the board moved into a longer-than-usual executive session that included a level 3 parental grievance appeal. Upon reconvening the meeting at 9:01 p.m., board member Raymond Peterson motioned to deny the appeal, and the board passed the motion 5-0, with two abstentions.
The superintendent’s report to the board included:
- A financial report and construction update by David Bitters, assistant superintendent of finance and operations. Bitters reviewed the investment report, budget and attendance figures, reporting no major anomalies. Construction is coming to an end for the major projects in the district and Bitters noted that there will be lots of furniture moving in the coming weeks.
- An update on counseling activities from counseling director Theresa Paschall, including the popular guidance lessons they provide to students at levels of the district and the increasing use of the program with Invicta that offers individual mental health services to students.
- A very brief description of Texas Association of School Boards policy updates.
Board VP John Bradley asked for staff clarification of several items on the consent agenda. He was particularly interested in Item H-4, which concerned opting out of a state requirement to include homeschool students in district athletic activities. Molinar explained that direction from the state is unclear on many aspects of this program and that it may be revisited at a later time. The board unanimously approved all 23 items on the consent agenda, which also included minutes from the May 12 meeting, monthly expenditures, budget amendments and approval of a number of vendor contracts.
Items considered separately on the agenda included:
- Ratification of the total cost of the new maintenance and operations building being built next to Brewer Middle School.
- Payment of $296,376 to insurance adjuster Continental Adjusters Inc. for helping the district settle a $4,233,935 claim to the district.
- Approval of $287,743 from the bond fund to build the new visitor’s bleachers at Brewer Middle School.
- A resolution to assign $179,466 of oil and gas earnings to the fund balance to be used for future technology needs.
- Adoption of the proposed 2025-26 general fund, child nutrition and debt service fund budgets.
- Consideration of the salary increases proposed in the new budget. Bitters explained how the district has carefully thought out how to implement these raises fairly for all WSISD staff and how they will be able to maintain the salary funding levels beyond the guaranteed teacher increases promised by the state. He reports that the new pay scale should place White Settlement among the top 10 districts in the county.
All six items passed unanimously.
Finally, there was a unanimous vote to approve the personnel changes discussed during executive session. Three new principals introduced themselves to the board: Jennifer Byrd appointed to North Elementary STEAM Academy, Alex Croft at Liberty Elementary, and Brewer High School leader Tommy Neal.
The meeting adjourned at 10:10 p.m.
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