Board reviews stipend changes and extra-day pay; trustees question parity for fine arts and athletics including new mariachi position

District staff presented a set of proposed stipend and extra-day changes that would affect special education, bilingual programs, athletics, UIL and fine-arts positions, and proposed creating a middle-school mariachi director post.

Key stipend proposals: Garcia said staff examined neighboring districts and TASB data and offered incremental stipend changes intended to remain competitive. Notable proposals included adding a lead counselor stipend for small special-education teams (about $1,000 each), increasing adaptive PE stipends by $200, and net special-education stipend increases bringing that program’s stipends to about $85,600 total. Bilingual stipends were adjusted with some deletions and additions that net to a small decrease in bilingual stipend costs.

Athletics and extra days: Staff proposed increasing assistant-coach counts for several sports and creating a stipend for special-teams coordinators (proposed $7,500 with 20 days). Trustees debated whether to pay all stipend positions at each employee’s daily rate rather than a capped daily rate; staff said athletics had historically been capped while most other stipends used daily rate. Garcia said coaches were the last group capped at $300 per day; staff recommended standardizing to daily-rate pay and noted the coaches’ cap was increased previously in stages.

Mariachi and fine arts: Staff recommended adding one middle-school mariachi director (shared across three middle schools) with a recommended stipend around $6,000 and 15 extra days; trustees and staff discussed workload and whether that stipend matched comparable fine-arts roles. Trustee Regalado and others argued fine-arts funding affects enrollment and retention and asked for parity between athletics and fine arts stipends and extra days. Trustees asked staff to consider alternative stipend structures (embed extra days in higher stipends) and incentives tied to competition advancement; staff said UIL rules prohibit bonuses tied to wins but some academic competitions receive additional stipends for advancement.

Support programs: The regional day school program for the deaf (RDSPD) and dyslexia program stipends were discussed; RDSPD representatives explained stipend levels are set in coordination with neighboring districts and are funded by tuition and a separate RDSPD fund balance.

Ending: Trustees asked staff to continue refining stipends and extra-day proposals, to model total cost comparisons (days plus stipends) with peer districts, and to consider alternatives to the day-count model.