WOODVILLE – At its regular monthly meeting on Monday evening, the Woodville ISD Board of Trustees conducted a public hearing to discuss the results of the district’s FIRST ratings for the 2023-24 school year.
The FIRST system, or Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas, is, according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the state’s series of metrics by which schools are held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices.
“The system is designed to encourage Texas public schools to better manage their financial resources to provide the maximum allocation possible for direct instructional purposes,” according to a TEA overview of the program. WISD received an overall score of 92, or an “A” rating, meaning superior financial management practices, according to the district’s CFO Cody Jarrott.
The data used to arrive at the rating was taken from the 2022-23 school year’s finances, Jarrott said. He noted that there were a couple of places where WISD lost points due to the bond’s passage that year, which he said, is par for course whenever a bond issue is passed.
The report is available on the district’s website, along with the TEA site, as well as the contract for WISD superintendent Lisa Meysembourg, Jarrott said.
WISD board president Jimmy Tucker commended Jarrott and his staff for doing an excellent job at handling the district’s finances.
In other WISD financial news, for his regular monthly report, Jarrott reported that the district was already up to 4.4% of its collections for the current year tax levy.
WISD taxpayers had already paid in excess of $428K of the taxes due for next year, Jarrott said. Those taxes, which account for the district’s M&O and I&S tax percentages, represent a chunk of an overall levy of $9.5 million in taxable value in the district, according to Jarrott.
A representative from the law firm Linebarger, Goggan, Blair and Sampson, LLC, which handles delinquent tax accounts, spoke before the regular agenda items at Monday’s brief meeting. The district is doing “really, really good” with its collection rates on delinquent taxes from the 2019-2020 tax year, he said.
On those delinquent accounts, Linebarger has collected around $361K in arrears taxes for WISD.
Other Business
Before the meeting adjourned, Tucker made a special note to acknowledge longtime WISD curriculum director Ashley Weatherford on her promotion to be the new district assistant superintendent. He also commended newly minted Woodville High School principal Ron Zachary on his job performance.
Tucker said Zachary had experienced a rapid promotion from assistant principal to principal, and that he has been greatly received by the student population of WHS.
