Votes at a glance: Spring ISD board approves financial update, attendance waivers, marquee contract and budget items

The Spring Independent School District Board of Trustees held several required business votes during a special-call meeting Wednesday. Trustees approved an April financial update, multiple low-attendance waivers, a construction contract for multi-campus marquee replacements, the district’s third budget review for 2024–25, and preliminary 2025–26 budget allocations related to accelerated instruction and a one-time benefit incentive for employees.

Votes and outcomes (motions summarized)

- Financial update (actual expenditures through April 2025): Motion by Trustee Newhouse, seconded by Trustee Adams; board approved the administration’s financial update as presented. (Motion carried unanimously.)

- Low-attendance waivers (2024–25): Motion by Trustee Adams, seconded by Trustee Correa; trustees approved the administration’s request to record specified days as noninstructional and to submit required waivers to the Texas Education Agency. (Motion carried unanimously.)

- Multi-campus marquee replacement construction contract: Motion by Trustee Newhouse, seconded by Trustee McDaniel; trustees approved awarding the construction contract for marquee replacements to the recommended contractor with a negotiated total budget of $3,400,000, including a base bid and a contingency allocation. Board discussion noted contingency funds are held for unforeseen conditions; trustees voted to approve the recommendation. (Motion carried unanimously.)

- Third budget review (2024–25): Motion by Trustee Adams, seconded by Trustee Newhouse; the board approved the district’s third budget review for 2024–25, which included revenue increases tied to the teacher incentive allotment and audit-related state aid, and expenditure updates including hurricane-related repair costs. (Motion carried unanimously.)

- Student Success Initiative and accelerated instruction (2025–26): Motion by Trustee McDaniels, seconded by Trustee Correa; the board adopted a 2025–26 allocation of $536,642 in state-compensatory funds to provide intervention and accelerated-instruction services required for students who were not successful on end-of-course assessments. Trustees discussed ROI tracking and asked staff for reporting on cost per student and outcomes. (Motion carried unanimously.)

- Benefit incentive resolution (2025–26): Motion by Trustee Newhouse, seconded by Trustee Adams; trustees approved a board resolution to provide a one-time, $1,000 benefit incentive for employees for 2025–26 (the resolution clarifies parameters and pay timing). The amount had been included in the compensation plan discussed earlier in the board packet. (Motion carried unanimously.)

Votes in context

CFO Anne Westbrooks and assistant superintendent Dr. Julie Guillory presented the financial materials, waivers and budget items. Trustees asked technical questions about contingency budgeting for the marquee project, how low-attendance waivers are calculated and why the district’s reported facility-assessment total is large. Several trustees pressed administration to provide ROI data on accelerated-instruction spending and metrics for how board-directed incentives will be evaluated.

What’s next

Trustees debated, at length, a separate but related budget question: some trustees proposed the board revisit compensation beyond the state’s House Bill 2 allocations and consider additional raises or a larger one-time supplemental payment funded from reserves. Several trustees opposed further use of fund balance given recent multi-year deficits and the district’s bond outlook. No formal motion to change the proposed 2025–26 budget was passed at this session; staff said the district will continue work on HB 2 implementation, special-education funding changes expected in the next biennial cycle and optimization savings that could affect future budgets.