Thorndale ISD

Volume 1, Issue 6: 10/27/23

Greetings Bulldogs! Happy Friday! 

Upcoming Events - October 27th - November 14th, 2023:

For the most up-to-date information on upcoming events, please visit our Thorndale ISD website. However, here are some highlights of important dates below:

Two Big Events Today and Tomorrow:

First, we have our Elementary PTO-led Fall Festival TONIGHT! You will not want to miss it. Here are the details:

Second, is our Student Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FFA) led Fields of Faith event Saturday night. Here are the details:

Important Event - Veteran’s Day Celebration

Are you or someone you know a Veteran? Please spread the word that we would LOVE to recognize and celebrate them on Thursday, November 9th at our annual celebration. Please see the details below and spread the word!

District Academic Advisory Committee (DAAC):

Wednesday night, a large team of staff and 2 parents - wish we had more! - held our first of four DAAC meetings in the board room. This committee represents all aspects of the district and works as a leadership team to ensure accountability of our district plans, identify future needs and develop plans to address them, and specific items like creating the district calendar to recommend to the school board.

Our first meeting covered a 22-23 STAAR/EOC Data Recap, the 23-24 TISD District Improvement Plan, and the soon-to-be-administered Fall Staff Climate Survey.

If you want to see the things we discussed, here is a copy of our agenda: TISD DAAC Meetings 

Next time we will discuss potential 24-25 TISD calendar suggestions and review progress on our current District Improvement Plan!

We will share out our agendas each time, after each meeting so everyone can be in the loop.

If the topics above interest you at all, please reach out to me and I will gladly send you the information to join us at our next meeting.

Community Facilities Committee:

Thursday night we welcomed 36 individuals who represented a combination of campus staff and community members for our first Community Facilities Committee. Night one was all about touring our main buildings to get a better understanding of our spaces and our needs.

I want to give a special thank you to Lindsay Franklin who guided our folks through the tours. She did a great job communicating the great things happening in TISD while also highlighting the areas where are facilities need some major attention.

Here is a copy of the presentation that explains the timeline of meetings and the big agenda items this committee will tackle: TISD - Community Meeting 01 PowerPoint.pptx 
Interested individuals can either print out the form below, or simply reach out to janders@thorndale.txed.net or at 512-898-2030 and we can help get a form completed.

We will share out our agendas each time, after each meeting so everyone can be in the loop.

Did You Know? - School Finance Edition!

Over the past two weeks, we have discussed the complexity of school finance. I hope you have found it both interesting and informative.

The key takeaway from the first installment was the cup analogy. The more kids IN ATTENDANCE the bigger the cup, and thus the more money the district receives. 

The second installment discussed the two separate “buckets” of funding - M&O and I&S and the important rule that money cannot move from one bucket to the other.

This week, I would like to share a little bit more about the I&S side of things, specifically bonds.

Bonds are kind of like a home mortgage, a voter-approved school bond allows a school district to borrow funds. The Board of Trustees authorizes bond elections, and Texas law grants the Board the authority to sell bonds in order to complete projects that may be more expensive than a district can purchase with current funds, again like purchasing a home on a mortgage.

So, how does passing a bond work and how much money can a district get? Great question! That all depends on the taxable values in your district/community. The following image shows a list of typical local resources:

Continuing with the mortgage analogy, consider your district’s taxable values (resources listed above) as your salary/income. The higher your income, the higher the mortgage you can qualify for. A district with higher taxable values determines how big of a bond loan you can get.

Every district is a bit different and the information is completely public. 

Well, if you think about Thorndale, the primary resources from the list above are homes and land/agriculture. 

However, the biggest contributors to taxable values for a community are businesses and minerals. Thorndale does not have a lot of either. Note: solar farms are being built within the TISD boundary, which will be a huge boost in the coming years - more info in the future on that. 

What would help us raise our taxable values?

We know growth is coming, considering the analogy above. It is like knowing a pay raise or promotion is coming. We know that if growth comes (mainly businesses) our tax levy will increase with it. 

Clear as mud? Please reach out to me if you have any questions so far.

We will simply continue to build on this information each week so that together we can all better understand the school finance system and specifically the situation in Thorndale ISD.

We don’t need to all be experts, but we do need to be informed. Thanks for reading!

Are YOU Registered to Vote?:

The cut off date to  register to be eligible to vote for the November elections ended a few weeks ago, for those who were not previously registered.. However, it is not too late to register for the May elections. If you are unsure how to do so, here is a super easy link:

Voter Registration 

Note: My wife and I just updated our voter registration on Monday to reflect the move from Travis County to Milam County, so if you need any help, I would be happy to assist you on the process!

Most sincerely,

Zack Kleypas
Superintendent
Thorndale ISD
#TISDStrivingForExcellence

“Keep improving, always, in all ways.”