At Monday’s Whitesboro ISD school board meeting, WISD Chief of Police Aaron Scott swore-in new Reserve Officer Kery O’Bryan.
Officer O’Bryan has served the State of Texas since 2011 and has previously served as a law enforcment instructor in various topics ranging from Standardized Field Sobriety Testing to Taser.
Officer O’Bryan has completed over 4,600 hours of continuing law enforcement education for topics ranging from Crisis Intervention Training to Active Shooter Response. Officer O’Bryan is also a United States Marine Corps veteran having served a combat tour in Iraq. He and his wife currently reside in Denton County.
“Everyone will tell you, Officer O’Bryan is extremely punctual and is not afraid to tell you what you need to hear,” Scott said. “We’re glad to have him joining us at WISD.”
O’Bryan’s wife was invited to pin his badge to his uniform.
Also at this meeting, Assistant Superintendent Ryan Prock led a public hearing in which he presented and discussed the 2024-2025 proposed tax rate and budget.
This year’s tax of 17.8 cents is higher than last year, but still lower than the 2022 tax rate. Overall, the average household will see an increase of $25 per month in taxes as a result of the recently-approved $118 million school bond.
“This is spot-on with what we told our voters,” Prock said. “I’m very pleased with that.”
He also reported that the district has paid off $1.6 million of its previous bond debt with $755K of principal remaining. In his Texas Education Agency update, last year the district received $8.8 million through a state program. This year, the program is giving WISD $7.8 million. The decrease comes at an unfortunate time, as WISD is also no longer receiving ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds. These funds were federal relief aid provided to K-12 schools to help recover from a global pandemic and are now expiring for all schools.
Additionally, due to the increased cost of everything from food service supplies to co-op payments for special education services, the proposed general operating budget for this year is slightly higher than last year ($19.2 million in 2023 vs. $19.3 million in 2024).
Regardless, WISD remains fiscally sound, as other aspects of the budget came in lower than last year.
“Our I&S (Interest and Sinking) expected revenue this year is $5.5 million and our budget is $668,500, $1 million lower than last year,” Prock said. “That bodes well for the bond.”
In addition to the public hearing, administrators from each campus gave updates on how the start of the school year is going.
The athletics department has seen an increase of more than 50 kids enrolled this year, with around 500 kids in sixth-eighth grade alone. Volleyball has begun, tennis and cross country are soon to follow, and the first football game of the season is slatd for next Friday, Aug. 30.
The WISD police department held an alert training with 22 police officers, school defenders and Whitesboro Fire Department personnel. The training went well, and Chief Scott learned about some improvements he can make to campuses to further increase safety and security. On Sept. 30, the district will undergo a safety and security audit to assess evacuation plans, procedures and more.
At the high school, enrollment continues to increase each day. At the middle school, 304 families attended Meet the Teacher last week. The school is starting math and reading skill tests.
Whitesboro Intermediate School is up 40 students this year. The staff embraced their recent professional development and is upbeat about the school year.
At Hayes Primary School, there were 449 students enrolled as of Aug. 14. School administration is exploring opportunities to include parents in learning activities on campus this year, like a family literacy night.
“It’s great to see our students and staff feeling so positive about the beginning of the school year,” Jodie Tucker, Director of Federal Programs and Student Services, said. “It’s an exciting time of the year.”