EDUCATION BRIEFS
News from Tomball & Magnolia ISDs
HIGHLIGHTS MAGNOLIA ISD Incumbent Jay Michals retained his seat on the Magnolia ISD board of trustees following the May 6 election. Michals was appointed in December to fill a vacancy in Position 4, so this is his first election victory. He garnered 69% of the votes, or 365 votes, over challenger Robin Stone-Loftin. He and Stacia Hamm Norris, who ran unopposed, were sworn in May 15. Norris was sworn into Position 5. TOMBALL ISD The district has named Paulette Tomlinson its next fine arts director. She will begin serving after this school year following the retirement of current Fine Arts Director JD Janda, according to a May 1 news release. Tomlinson comes to Tomball from Flour Bluff ISD in Corpus Christi and has also served in Nacogdoches and San Augustine ISDs. NUMBER TO KNOW The guaranteed maximum price for Magnolia ISD’s Intermediate School No. 3 was set to $47.6 million during a May 15 board meeting, which is $5 million under budget Executive Director of Communications Denise Meyers said. The intermediate school is a part of a $232 million bond voters approved in November. Tim Bruner, MISD executive director of facilities, said the price for the third intermediate is more expensive than it was to build Magnolia and Bear Branch intermediate schools because of the increased cost of materials. $47.6M Tomball ISD board of trustees will meet at 5:30 p.m. June 13 at 310 S. Cherry St., Tomball. 281-357-3100. www.tomballisd.net Magnolia ISD board of trustees will meet at 6:30 p.m. July 17 at 11659 FM 1488, Magnolia. 281-356-3571. www.magnoliaisd.org MEETINGS WE COVER
Tomball ISD board takes no action on intermediate school plan TOMBALL ISD The Tomball ISD board took no action on a plan to build an intermediate school instead of an elementary school at the BY LIZZY SPANGLER SCHOOL SHIFT If a new intermediate school is built with Tomball ISD 2021 bond funds, the grade levels of the Creekside Park schools would shift to accommodate the new campus.
# Grade level
Grade levels:
2022-23
Proposed 2025-26
Tomball Innovation Center during a special meeting May 2. The proposed elementary campus was outlined in the $494.46 million bond package voters approved in November 2021. How we got here: District staff presented the board with a change to campus plans April 10 to provide capacity relief to the Creekside-area elementary schools. At a town hall meeting in April, Creekside-area parents and families expressed opposition to the swap. What trustees are saying: • “I want to reassure everyone that there is no bait and switch. What this is is an effort to try and address capacity problems that we’ve got,” Trustee Michael Pratt said.
Creekside elementary schools: Creekside Forest, Timber Creek and Creekview
Creekside Park Junior High
Proposed intermediate school Opening goal: 2025-26
K
1
2
3
4
5
6
7 8
K
1
2
3
4
7
8
5 6
Become K-4 campuses
Becomes 7-8 campus
SOURCE: TOMBALL ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
• “At the end of the day, we have to be good stewards of your tax dol- lars and do what’s best for all the students in the district,” Trustee Tina Salem said.
Next steps: Although no action was taken in May, the board asked outgoing Chief Financial Officer Jim Ross to look into expansion options at Creekside Park Junior High.
Security spending to grow by 55% in fiscal year 2023-24 TOMBALL ISD Spending on security services is set to increase in Tomball ISD by 55.63% in fiscal year 2023-24, said Zack Boles, the assistant superintendent of finance and incoming chief financial officer, during a May 8 workshop. FY 2023-24 begins July 1. BY LIZZY SPANGLER • Instruction up 8.75% • Transportation up 7%
Quote of note: “What that is tied to is the expansion of our [school resource officer] program,” Boles said of the proposed security spending. “You’ll see almost a $900,000 increase in that budget [item].” The backstory: The district plans to have 20 officers on its campuses in 2023-24 following approval of a contract with the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office after the city of Tomball terminated its SRO agreement with TISD.
What happened: The proposed budget shows these areas will see the biggest increases year over year: • Security services up 55.63% • Curriculum/staff development up 13.02% • Instructional leadership up 12.27%
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TOMBALL - MAGNOLIA EDITION • JUNE 2023
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