Montgomery Independent School District

The Montgomery ISD School Board met for their regularly scheduled May board meeting on Tuesday night. You can watch the video and read the recap below:

At the June meeting of the Montgomery Independent School District school board, trustees adopted an $87.8 million balanced budget for the 2023-2024 school year.  

Montgomery ISD’s 2023-2024 budget includes a district compensation plan that provides raises for all employees. Individuals on the teacher hiring schedule will receive a $1,300 raise, with all other employees receiving a 2% salary increase from the midpoint of their position pay grade. The Board of Trustees is also mindful of a potential special session of the Texas legislature this fall, that could result in additional funding for public schools. 

 “We are pleased to adopt a balanced budget that prioritizes safety and employee compensation,” Board President Laurie Turner said. “Given the state’s historic budget surplus, we are hopeful that additional funding will be approved for public schools during a special session of the legislature this fall.”

During the meeting, the Board also approved an alternate compensation plan that will provide for the opportunity to implement mid-year employee raises. The alternate compensation plan is contingent on the district receiving sufficient additional funding and would be implemented on top of the pay increases approved for the 2023-24 school year.  

“The raises adopted by the Board tonight are a starting point for what we want to do for employees this year,” Turner said. “As a proactive measure, our board has approved an alternate compensation plan that will allow us to add to the employee raises should additional funding become available to the district. Despite our funding challenges, we continue to find ways to prioritize employee compensation.”

“Working within a balanced budget while also providing pay increases for our teachers and staff is always a top priority for our school board.” Superintendent Dr. Heath Morrison said. “This is always a challenge, given the disparity in the per-student funding Montgomery ISD receives when compared to the state average. This year, we received no new funding for raises, but we understand the importance of offering competitive compensation to attract and retain high-quality teachers and staff.”

Also during the meeting, MISD Chief Operations Officer Kris Lynn shared an update on projects funded by the district’s 2022 bond.

Crews at Montgomery Elementary School are working to give the facility an updated exterior entryway, upgrades to the library, additional instructional spaces, and renovations throughout the building. Work is underway at Lincoln Elementary School to improve the parking area and driveway. At Montgomery Junior High, a major remodel of the library is underway, which will include new interactive learning spaces and a secure outdoor courtyard. 

“We are excited that these facility upgrades are being made to these schools in the Montgomery High feeder pattern,” Board Vice President Nate Robb said. “The 2022 bond truly benefits every student and staff member in the district and it is great to see these large-scale renovations taking place at multiple campuses at the same time.”

Construction is also underway at the site of Creekside Elementary, the district’s seventh elementary campus. The 95,000-square-foot facility will house 900 students and alleviate overcrowding at Keenan and Stewart Creek elementary campuses. Creekside Elementary is set to open for the 2024-25 school year. 

Work is also progressing at Lake Creek High School, on a $27.8 million Phase 2 expansion of the building to accommodate 900 additional students. Phase 2 of Lake Creek High School brings the capacity of the campus to 2,500 students, which is comparable to Montgomery High School.

“It’s exciting to break ground on this project at Lake Creek,” Trustee Eddie Winn said. “When Lake Creek was originally constructed, it was planned as a two-phase project. The growth in our school district made it necessary to move forward with Phase 2 earlier than expected, and it was made a priority project by the Bond 2022 Task Force. This important planned addition will allow us to better serve the rapidly growing student population at the campus.”

Phase 2 of Lake Creek is scheduled to be completed in August 2024.

Other ongoing projects this summer include parking lot striping at Oak Hills Junior High and Keenan Elementary School. Projects currently in the design stage include the new MISD Career & Technical Education and Ag-Science Center, renovations at Montgomery High School, the MISD Athletic Complex, and the MISD Transportation facility.

The district will soon begin the design phase for renovations at Lone Star, Madeley Ranch, and Stewart Creek elementary schools.