Venus ISD approves TSA nationals trip to Washington and Taffy nationals in Portland; board adds funding in budget amendment

The Venus Independent School District board on April 20 approved two student travel requests and adopted a related budget amendment to fund travel costs.

Mrs. Buck presented a request to take the district’s TSA competitors to the national conference in Washington, D.C.; staff said about 26 students will attend with chaperones and administrators. Amber Craftton moved to approve the trip and Kirby Sansom seconded; the board voted to approve the travel.

Separately, Mrs. Kamacho requested approval for Taffy students to attend nationals in Portland, Oregon. The district said VMS will send six middle-school students and VHS will send four high-school students; chaperones and an administrator will accompany the travelers. Amber Craftton moved and Kirby Sansom seconded; the motion carried.

Finance staff presented budget amendment No. 4, which included returning an unspent child-nutrition supply-chain assistance balance (about $9,250) to food-service budgeting and added post-district funding to cover the TSA national trip. Staff said the TSA trip projection for the entire TSA group is approximately $57,000, which includes flights, registration, lodging, meals and chaperones. The board approved the budget amendment (motion by Greg Hoffman; second by Amber Craftton).

Board members asked for detailed post-district accounting to avoid repeat mid-year requests and for clearer adult-to-student chaperone ratios. Staff said they would produce updated projections and final attendee lists prior to travel.

What’s next: staff will finalize travel manifests, confirm chaperones and vendors, and provide updated budget numbers to the board before the trips.