INSIDE DSISD
The latest news from Dripping Springs ISD
Week of September 20, 2021
2021 HOMECOMING
Dripping Springs High School has announced the 2021 Homecoming Court. Seniors nominated for king are Preston Alford, Kaden Daulton, Max Levey and Miles Romero. Queen nominees are Greer Gilbraith, Reagan Logsdon, Isabella Roske and Anabel Silva.
The freshman duke and duchess are Walter Bristol and Ava Azua, the sophomore honorees are Cooper McClure and Zara Watts, and the junior duke and duchess are Caden Munguia and Ella Ruff.
The senior members of the Homecoming Court along with the announcement of this year's king and queen will take place during halftime of the football game on Friday, Sept. 24, at Tiger Stadium. The underclass dukes and duchesses will be honored during pre-game; kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. against San Antonio McCollum High School.
A Homecoming parade will be held around Dripping Springs High School at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 22, followed by a community pep rally at 6:30 p.m. at Tiger Stadium. A carnival, beginning at 7 p.m. in the parking lot north of Tiger Stadium, will conclude the night’s festivities.
Community members arriving after the parade begins will not be able to turn in and park in the high school lots until the parade has proceeded to Tiger Stadium.
DSHS HOMECOMING KING/QUEEN NOMINEES
Back row (L-R): Preston Alford, Kaden Daulton, Max Levey and Miles Romero.
Front row (L-R): Greer Gilbraith, Reagan Logsdon, Isabella Roske and Anabel Silva.
DUKES AND DUCHESSES
Back row (L-R): Cooper McClure, Walter Bristol and Caden Munguia.
Front row (L-R): Zara Watts, Ava Azua and Ella Ruff.
ANNUAL TAX RATE TO BE SET AT UPCOMING BOARD MEETING
The annual tax rate, which will be presented at the Sept. 27, 2021 Board of Trustees meeting, represents a 2.29-cent decrease from the 2020-21 rate. This compression of the Maintenance and Operations tax rate has resulted from House Bill 3 adopted in 2019 that modified the statewide school funding formula/system. The proposed rate is $1.3103 ($0.9603 Maintenance and Operations/$0.35 Interest and Sinking) per $100 of certified property value. The Maintenance and Operations (M&O) portion covers district operating costs such as salaries and benefits, utility bills, student transportation, and supplies. The Interest and Sinking (I&S) rate generates revenue that is used to pay off bond indebtedness for facilities.
This will mark the third consecutive year that DSISD is decreasing its tax rate. Between 2018-19 and 2019-20, the DSISD tax rate decreased more than 10 cents ($1.52 to $1.4183). Then, between 2019-20 and 2020-21, it dropped another 8.5 cents ($1.4183 to $1.3332). Combined with this year’s additional two-cent decrease, over a three-year period, DSISD’s property tax rate will have decreased by 20.97 cents, or 13.8 percent.
Property tax bills are a product of the tax rate and the property value. If the rate decreases but the property value increases, the actual bill could be higher.
Because of the way that public schools are funded, school districts that are classified as having revenue in excess of entitlement under Chapter 48 of the Texas Education Code do not see increased revenue when higher property values result in increased tax collections. State funding formulas are recalculated so that the district must send more money back to the state. For 2020-21, the district will send $5,630,603 back to the state in recapture. For 2021-22, the recapture payment is estimated to be nearly $7 million, which will represent an increase of approximately 24 percent.
Dripping Springs ISD is a fast-growth district, having doubled in size in the last 10 years. Current enrollment is 8,004, which represents an increase of 9.9 percent from the district’s official annual reporting date in October 2020.
The full agenda for the Sept. 27 meeting will be posted on the Board of Trustees Agenda webpage on Sept. 24, 2021. The meeting will be streamed live at this link.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES PARTICIPATING IN XG TRAINING
This fall, the seven members of the Dripping Springs ISD Board of Trustees will immerse themselves in the eXceptional Governance (XG) Board Development program offered by Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). This intensive learning experience, which is based on practical models of board governance, works to strengthen essential perspectives, build governance capacity, and equip school boards to act confidently with a focus on improving student outcomes.
For the Dripping Springs ISD Board of Trustees, exceptional governance means ensuring every student receives a high-quality education, while preparing the district to meet future challenges. In striving to reach these goals, the board makes use of extensive research and expertise from the TASB so that it can continue to implement best-practice strategies to chart the future for DSISD.
“This XG training will be crucial in helping our board to really understand and embrace our impact on student achievement,” said Dripping Springs ISD Board President Mary Jane Hetrick. “This training will provide us with the tools to find agreement on student learning outcomes, including those not measured on standardized tests, so that we can continue to create educational excellence for all current and future Dripping Springs students.”
The XG Board Development program is a research-based training that supports the school board’s primary responsibility of overseeing the improvement of student learning in the district. XG focuses the board on an overarching question: “How are the students doing in our district?” The program equips trustees to answer this question, to make connections between student learning and district initiatives for improvement, to set goals for improving outcomes for students, and to stay engaged in monitoring progress toward these results. This helps focus the board on student achievement, so that it can be used as an essential lens for any decisions that are subject to board action.
The program is divided into five sessions based on the following topics:
Session 1: What’s at stake: Setting a vision for opportunity and achievement
Session 2: Essential levers: Key elements of improved learning and teaching
Session 3: Taking stock: Where are we now, and where are we going?
Session 4: Structuring for success: How will we know when we get there?
Session 5: Oversight for excellence: The ongoing role and work of the board
For the DSISD Board of Trustees, partaking in XG Board Development training will help to build a better understanding of district initiatives and how they have evolved during leadership transitions, develop a more effective progress monitoring system, increase capacity to govern as a focused visionary team alongside DSISD Superintendent Dr. Holly Morris-Kuentz and the senior administration, as well as how to better connect and communicate with the community.
The DSISD Board of Trustees is expected to complete the XG Board Development program in December.
DISTRICT ADVISORY COUNCIL
Dripping Springs ISD values parent and community involvement, and the district offers multiple opportunities through community advisory committees. These committees strengthen ties between the school and the community and enhance the core educational process.
The District Advisory Council is charged with advising the Board of Trustees and district administration on education-related issues. The committee is comprised of campus-based professional staff, district-level professional staff, parents, business representatives, and community representatives who serve staggered three-year terms. The Assistant Superintendent for Learning and Innovation coordinates the DAC and serves as the district liaison.
Specific responsibilities of the DAC include:
· Helping to establish and review the district’s educational goals and objectives through the annual development of the District Improvement Plan
· Reviewing major district-wide classroom instructional programs identified by the board or administration
· Reviewing and analyzing information related to dropout prevention
· Assisting in the development of the district instructional calendar
· Approving district-wide staff development programming
· Approving campus incentive plans developed by a campus-level school improvement team
The DSISD District Advisory Council will meet from 5 p.m.-6 p.m. in the Board Room located at the Administration Building (510 W. Mercer St.). This year's meeting schedule is as follows:
- October 4, 2021
- November 8, 2021 (this meeting will be 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.)
- December 6, 2021
- January 10, 2022
- February 7, 2022
- March 7, 2022
- April 4, 2022
- May 9, 2022
The January meeting is designated as the annual public meeting as the TAPR (Texas Academic Performance Report) will be presented.
DSISD IS HIRING!
TIGER TIP LINE
The Tiger Tip Line allows students or parents to report concerns about bullying, other social issues, or security matters. The name of the school must be included, and it is requested that details of an incident being reported include location, time, date, and any available information about who was involved to help administrators investigate. Tips can be made anonymously; however, please note that administrators are able to do a more thorough job investigating tips when they can contact the reporting party for additional information.
The Tiger Tip Line can be accessed at dsisdtx.us/tipline.