IMPORTANT: June 16th School Board Meeting in Groves

[Justafan]

Does Balsamo vote NO for anything to do with athletics? Read how each board member voted from last meeting. This guy needs to go!!!!

https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=35572203

 

[PNG Proud]

^^^^ + 1,000,000

 

[MOM2INDIANS]

5-1 Balsamo against the track repairs to. Yes it does look like he will shoot down anything to do with athletics.

 

[bark]

5-1 Balsamo against the track repairs to. Yes it does look like he will shoot down anything to do with athletics.

I think you will find he votes against all athletic and Indianette related issues. I don't know what the bad feelings are from, just a point of observation -- seems like the above is always true.

 

[1989NDN]

+1 for Bark.

Those watching the school board, keep watching. If you can attend meetings in person, I strongly encourage you to attend in person.

Go Indians. Peace.

 

[Purple Dove]

Can you impeach a school board member?

 

[IndianFan]

Can you impeach a school board member?

Heck, we can't even impeach the imposter in chief that's residing in the office of the POTUS. Good luck with a school board.

 

[bandkid]

Can you impeach a school board member?

Yeah, but it might take you three months and a few court battles. Just ask the TEA. ;D

 

[Purple Dove]

Very interesting Board Meeting last night, business manager all over the place with deficit. $300,000;

500,000 to 700,000. So, what is it? She should be better prepared for a meeting so important.

 

[1989NDN]

Very interesting Board Meeting last night, business manager all over the place with deficit. $300,000;

500,000 to 700,000. So, what is it? She should be better prepared for a meeting so important.

At the board meetings I have attended, the PN-GISD Business Manager has been prepared. She may have changed her estimate because it is just that, an estimate. The deficit is projected or estimated at this point in time. It is not reality, yet. The projections will continue to change based on the revenues received by PN-GISD. If more revenues are received versus what is projected, then the deficit will be smaller or, dare I say, the district may have a balanced budget or even a surplus. The Business Manager is fiscally conservative and that is a good thing.

I do agree with the majority vote to give a 3% increase to district employees. And, for once, I do agree with board member Balsamo. The district spent money on other items this past year and critical assets like employees should not be overlooked or sacrificed when it comes to maintaining the excellence of PN-GISD. But, we should all take heed of the statement made by Dr. Cavness: He and Ms. Hernandez do projections for a reason; it is part of their job; and the board and taxpayers of PN-GISD should be conservative with the district's money vs. losing sight of spending or forgetting that we have spending controls in place for a reason. I hope the tax revenues, state money, and federal money received by PN-GISD are higher than projected and our district continues to have a balanced budget or surpluses. At least the members of the Board of Trustees are working together and working with the administration to identify areas of concern and discussing solutions. If we have a deficit and have to dip into the rainy day fund, that is not good for the long haul. All of this would not be a problem if PN-GISD did not have to return millions of dollars to the State of Texas for Robin Hood.

Go Indians. Peace.

 

[bark]

So going $700,000.00 over budget is responsible? I am all for paying everyone good wages, I am not sure going into debt to do it is right. Some districts give a one time check for that years salary so they are not obligated for future years debt.

It was voted unanimously for.

Bottom line -- they just got every employees vote next election and their families too. Enough to win I would guess.

 

[Purple Dove]

The business manager of PNGISD has projected several deficit budgets that never happened. One year she
projected a large deficit and the board froze salaries in the district, about October the board was informed no deficit!
The board has to make hard choices regarding the budget and it would help to have more accurate figures.
It was said at the meeting that our teacher pay has fallen behind Nederlands by $2000.00. What happened at the last board meeting will not bring them up $2000.00 but maybe it is a start. In the last 5 years about $5,000,000
has been added to the fund balance. PNGISD has a fund balance that is more than 50% of it's budget. Most
districts are lucky to have a fund balance that is 30% of their budget. I think the board and employees of our
district have done a great job keeping the district's finances in good shape and still keeping our tradition of excellence!

 

[1989NDN]

I do not believe PN-GISD will go into debt to pay for the 3% employee pay increase. I think there is enough money in the rainy day (savings) fund to pay for it. I am not a fan of depleting a savings account, but if it is necessary as a short term solution to keep hard working employees happy and motivated to continue the district's tradition of excellence, and to maintain core values of Honor, Pride and Tradition, then using money from a saving account is a justified short term solution. If I am wrong, then I stand corrected. My understanding may be wrong. If so, then I agree wholeheartedly with Bark...going into debt is not a good idea.

I encourage all stakeholders to attend school board meetings. The board members and administration discuss topics, i.e., budgets, that often require difficult solutions. At the meetings I have attended, I found it encouraging that our board members and administration discuss problems, solutions, and what is best for the ISD in a professional manner.

Any others have input? Thoughts? Ideas? Good topic to discuss among the PN-G faithful. Good input, Bark and Purple Dove. Others?

Go Indians. Peace.

 

[NDN06]

I could be mistaken on this, but I believe at the June meeting it was discussed that a lot of the variances in our deficit comes from TOTAL and the uncertainty of the amount of their reserves that will be taxable.

 

[NDN fan 4ever]

it was said at the meeting and here is a for instance, last year, a deficit of over 1 million was predicted and they ended up putting over 1.5 million in the fund balance. It's hard to predict and I would imagine, hard to make a decision on raises when you never know what you have to work with. PNGISD has a little over $20 million in the (savings acct) I'm thinking it's ok to give a 3% raise.

 

[ndn99]

I would just like to point out that while all employees of the district did receive the 3% pay increase, the teachers also received their yearly step up. Other district employees received no other pay increase. In past years, it has been either/or for everyone. By voting to do this for teachers by the board, it has been a double hit on the budget which is what the business manager was referring to when she changed the numbers and increased the proposed deficit. This money will most likely have to be pulled from somewhere else and therefore cutting into other areas. It also seems that the board tends to forget that while teachers may show up two weeks before school, there are many, many others that are there preparing for the teachers to get there weeks before that.

 

[IndianFan]

Another point to be made regarding teachers, and teacher/coaches, many of them work incredibly long hours.
While all positions are important, others don't spend their evenings and weekends tutoring, grading and preparing. And in the case of coaches, all the activities and games that they're present for.

 

[DannysBoy]

Unfortunately we have a few members that have personal agendas. But at the end of the day these folks are voted in for some reason. I've always felt a school board member should have something at stake in order to serve on the board. That stake should be kids enrolled at the time of there stint. Once you are on the board and have nothing at stake, you automatically go to personal agendas. This could range from a sister that is a teacher, or anything. Or possibly not getting a job in another town so you are miserable and stay here and make others miserable. Heck maybe if we said you had to be a PNG grad we could fix the whole situation. I'm pretty sure TJ and PNG never mixed.... :clap:

 

[ndn99]

Another point to be made regarding teachers, and teacher/coaches, many of them work incredibly long hours.
While all positions are important, others don't spend their evenings and weekends tutoring, grading and preparing. And in the case of coaches, all the activities and games that they're present for.

While you make a good point, this is why this whole thread was made. These teachers and coaches are also getting stipends for theirs services. And their time after and before school is on their contract. Believe me, I'm not degrading our beloved teachers in any way. And many of them do spend much of their own time for our children. But I also know for a fact that their are many administrators, secretaries, custodians, etc., that are there into late hours of the night and on weekends. They do not receive stipends. They are not allowed to gain overtime. They are paid for 40 hours weekly but work way more than that. I'm simply stating people who do work equally should be compensated.

 

[NDN fan 4ever]

The possible predicted, deficit has nothing to do with the salary increase that was just voted on. The deificit is being predicted for the 2013/2014 school year (in other words, we may have gone over budget last year, but this is said to the board, every year) - BUT, the reason it is unknown is because the district still does not know what money they are getting from the state for ADA (average daily attendance), and a few other factors come into play. Also all monies that went unused by each campus and it was also mentioned at the meeting that some positions that were budgeted for, went unfilled. She can guess at what the ADA was ( which is what she is doing at the moment) but until she gets the final figure from the State, it is just that, a guessing game. Now, for the 2014/2015 school year, many other factors come into play, such as ADA ( and no bad weather days or hopefully, more than two ( if you have more than 2, it is possible to get a waiver from the state and not have to make them up), enrollment ( more kids means more money from the state - don't where they would put them, but it does help the budget). Maybe this info will help y'all to understand what is going on.