June 2024
Posted by Hanna Chalmers on 6/20/2024 8:00:00 AM

At the meeting Tuesday, the Angleton ISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved the adoption of the 2024-2025 Budget and Compensation Plan at a total of $1,621,693. As part of the plan, they approved a three percent raise for AISD employees, with a $2,200 cap for administrators, as well as a $300 mid-year salary bonus and a $1,000 retention bonus to be paid in August.

“Our board is committed to maintaining our standard raise and bonuses for our employees,” AISD Superintendent Phil Edwards said. “That is something they feel strongly about as does the district, and we are happy that we are able to offer them again.”

Also at the meeting, the board approved the hiring of the principals for the new elementary school and junior high school. Emily Davis will take the lead of Heartland Elementary when it opens in 2025-2026. Davis is currently serving as the assistant principal at Northside Elementary. Kelsey Payne will become the new head principal at Heritage Junior High School in the Fall of 2025, coming from an assistant principal position at Westside Elementary.

“We had a number of excellent candidates for both principal positions,” Edwards said. “We are happy to announce Ms. Davis and Ms. Payne as the final decisions and believe that they will bring great insight and leadership skills to our two newest schools, helping our students find success.”

In addition, the board approved the hiring of two assistant principals, Kayla Josey and Elana Simmons, for the 2024-2025 school year. Both Josey and Simmons come from Brazosport ISD.

In other business, the board approved three purchases. One was replacement choral music risers for five of the district’s elementary schools. Central Elementary was excluded from the purchase since the school received new risers last year. The $61,922 purchase will be made from StageRight and will come from the 2022 Bond school improvement funds. The board also approved the purchase of classroom Chromebooks and computer equipment from Trafera, LLC. The district will use savings from Covid-relief funds, also known as ESSER funds, to purchase student Chromebooks in the amount of $299,789. The third approved purchase was for large kitchen equipment from Mission Restaurant Supply for $193,331 that will be paid from the Child Nutrition Department’s fund balance.

The district also presented the board with an adoption of Policy Update 123 as recommended by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). The action included updates to 12 different board policies. The board approved the update adoption recommended by TASB.

Finally, the board recognized three groups of students for their exceptional performance during this past year’s competition season. The AHS Choir and AHS Band had students recognized for competing and ranking highly at the State UIL Solo & Ensemble competitions and State UIL Concert & Sight Reading competitions. Recent graduate Torin Merchant was also spotlighted for being named an Outstanding Singer Finalist for the Tommy Tunes Awards. In addition, the board recognized eight AHS Theatre students who qualified for the International Thespian competition and will leave Sunday to participate in the International Thespian Festival.