The summer has been nothing short of busy. Our Board of Trustees adopted the 2019-2020 budget this month, which prioritized staff compensation, school safety, pre-kindergarten programming, technology infrastructure and financial solvency. As a reminder, Temple ISD purchased land in the southeast quadrant for future schools and committed to a city partnership on the 31st street project. These projects were paid for out of the district fund balance, so it was imperative to replenish the fund balance in this year’s budget. The 86th legislative session was also good to public education. House Bill 3 provided additional revenue designated for compensation and pre-kindergarten programming, which aligned perfectly to some of our existing district priorities. We know that the greatest asset in Temple ISD is our high-quality, and committed staff. With that in mind, Temple ISD deliberately exceeded the statutory requirements for compensation during this budget adoption.
The summer is also a heavy time for facility renovations and new construction. Temple ISD is nearing the final projects of the 2015 bond program. I am currently working with the Temple Daily Telegram on a future article that will provide our citizens/taxpayers a more comprehensive update; however, in the spirit of public interest I would like to include a few pictures of construction projects that are in progress or completed. These pictures represent the transformation that has been taking place in Temple ISD as well as the support of our voters in making this possible.
I truly appreciate each and every one of you. Feel free to pass this newsletter onto friends and acquaintances. If you know anyone interested in receiving future installments of Ott’s Outlook just have them send me an email and I will add them.
Sincerely,
Bobby Ott
