Members of the Houston board of education met Tuesday night to approve the fiscal year 2024 budget, update policies and tend to school matters.
For the FY24 budget, the base salary of $30,700 remains the same, but all staff will advance one step. All staff will take home a minimum of $1,500 above where their current positioning would be on the salary schedule.
Additionally, the Teacher Baseline Salary Grant program, which is fully funded by the state, will boost the salary schedule to a baseline of $38,000. Teachers who qualify for the grant will not receive an additional $1,500. Several smaller pay increases took place.
Meal prices were increased slightly, to:
Student Breakfast Student Lunch Adult Breakfast Adult Lunch $1.65 $2.25 $1.75 $2.65
Revenues for FY24 are planned to be $14,479,288.22, a decrease from previous years due to waning COVID-19 funding. Expenditures are expected to be $14,402,267.78.
The Houston Schools Career Ladder Plan was also approved. It can be viewed below:
In other matters, members:
- Heard from Jeff Richardson, assistant baseball coach, regarding the “Tiger Development Academy,” a program that would help athletes have continuity with their coaches throughout their development.
- Updated several policies to reflect the current policy.
- Were provided building handbooks on a read-only basis. They will be approved in July.
- Accepted annual bids from Chilton, propane; Contract Paper, paper; Ozark Termite, pest control; Hiland, milk; and Bimbo, bread.
- Heard program evaluations from food service, assessment and discipline.
- The superintendent reported on the superintendent’s office moving from the central office to the north side of the Piney River Technical Center (currently Drury offices, where the university will continue to have a presence), board member training, grants and the progress of several projects.
The full minutes can be found here: