The Whitney Independent School District Board of Trustees met in regular session Monday, February 2 and heard mid-year progress reports and budget requests.
Middle-of-year reviews for both Whitney intermediate and middle schools were presented, based on the Northeast Evaluation Association’s Measures of Academic Progress.
WIS scored highly in both growth and achievement for science, math, language and reading. Third grade alone was found to have lower growth in math, and adjustments have been made. WMS has trended towards improvement across grade levels since Fall 2025.
A presentation was given on the preliminary 2026-27 budget. Work on the budget began in November, and adoption is set for August.
Several requests have been made across the district for the coming year: a kindergarten teacher is needed at Whitney Elementary School, along with a full-time dean of students, counselor or behaviorist. At WIS, a full-time dean of students has also been requested, along with a special education teacher. WMS has requested an eighth grade English language arts and reading teacher, special education teacher, elective teacher and instructional coach.
Other expected needs are a network administrator in the district-wide technology sector, as well as a full-time custodian at WES. Additional focuses include raises for custodial workers, a stipend for certified teachers and improving bus driver retention.
Positive factors mentioned are that the district has solved an issue with overstaffing in some areas and that WISD’s investments through TexPool have performed better than expected, earning approximately $18-19,000 monthly.
Some concerns raised include costs involved in keeping buses compliant with upcoming changes in the law that will require all school buses in Texas to be equipped with three-point seat belts for all passengers, as well as Teacher Incentive Allotment costs.
The full presentation is publicly available at whitneyisd.org.
Amy Teal spoke in open forum and thanked the district for increased communication efforts through social media while stressing the importance of the upcoming May election.
Jason Sneed also spoke in support of local school district property taxes: “Without taxes set, levied and collected locally, there is no power of the purse. There is no local ISD – this means Whitney doesn’t control Whitney ISD; Austin controls Whitney ISD. Thus far, no state politician, to include the governor, backing the ‘abolish school property tax’ issue has proposed anything to replace it, keeping local control of the purse.”
Sneed continued: “…Seriously consider if you want an Austin bureaucrat to run Whitney ISD with no local control, because that is the inevitable ‘other side’ of no school property tax. Throw the preliminary budget you just heard right out the window, because Austin sets your budget.”
Finally, Thomas St. Peter spoke in favor of WISD adopting the more common four-day school week schedule which gives students Fridays off, as opposed to Mondays, as is seen with the district’s current schedule.
The board approved a week-long band trip to Disney World and Universal in Orlando, Florida, during Spring Break of 2027.
The board did not approve the designation of a set period for prayer or reading religious scriptures in relation to Texas Senate Bill 11, citing scheduling conflicts and an abundance of present opportunities for participation in religious activities.
The order, notice and resolution to call for a school board trustee election was passed, in addition to the district’s joint election agreement with the City of Whitney.
Enrollment stands at 1,414. Resigning or retiring was Robert Martin.
The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be held Monday, March 9, at 6 p.m. in the WISD Administration Board Room at 305 South San Jacinto.
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