The Friendship Independent School District Board of Trustees voted to schedule a public meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 18, 2025, at the Case Administration Building Boardroom, 501 Seventh Street in Wolford to discuss and adopt the 2025–26 budget and a proposed tax rate.

Administration presented the recommendation and asked the board to call the required public meeting and to publish notice in the local newspaper in accordance with state notice requirements. Board member Chelsea Salazar moved to approve the date for the public meeting; Tyler Haines seconded the motion, and the board approved it by voice vote.

The administration also read a proposed tax rate and recommended that rate be published for the required notice period. The board voted to accept the administration’s recommendation to publish a proposed rate. The transcript of the meeting contains garbled numeric audio where the proposed numbers were read; the exact dollar figures are not clearly captured in the record available here. The district will publish the official proposed tax rate and the statutorily required analysis in the local newspaper as required by state law.

Why it matters: the publication starts the statutorily required notice period and sets the ceiling that the board cannot exceed when adopting a final tax rate at a later meeting. The public meeting scheduled Aug. 18 is the formal opportunity for taxpayers to review and comment on the budget and the district’s proposed tax rate.

Meeting context and next steps: administration staff said the published notice must comply with state timing rules and the district’s legal counsel (CCG Legal) advised the board on timeline requirements. The board also moved separately to set the administrative publication of a proposed tax rate; the final rate will be adopted after the public hearing and cannot exceed the published figure.