The Graham ISD School Board met for its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 12 due to Wednesday being the first day of school for the 2025-26 school year. Trustees adopted the 2025-26 Staff Compensation Plan, providing raises for ALL Graham ISD employees.
House Bill 2 approved by the 89th Texas Legislature and signed by Governor Greg Abbott provided $4,000 raises for teachers with 3-4 years experience and $8,000 for teachers with 5 or more years experience, but HB2 did not fund raises for teachers with 0-2 years experience or other certified professional staff.
GISD Trustees approved locally funded increases of $2,000 for teachers with 0-2 years experience. In addition, the Board included raises for all auxiliary staff (Transportation, Maintenance, Grounds, Cafeteria & Custodial), instructional aides, clerical staff, counselors, special programs and administrators. These employees will receive a 3% raise from the market midpoint. The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) conducted a salary study that helped determine the market midpoint. The compensation plan also includes some adjustments to increase salary commensurate with comparable districts.
Adopting the Staff Compensation Plan was a big step toward finalizing the budget for the coming year. School districts with a fiscal year that begins September 1 are required to adopt their budgets by the end of August. At Tuesday’s meeting, Chief Financial Officer Gary Browning shared information with Trustees about the proposed budget and tax rate for the coming year.
The Board will meet in a Special Session on Tuesday, Aug. 19 to consider the approval of the 2025-2026 Proposed Budget, the 2025-2026 Proposed GISD Tax Rate, and the 2025-2026 Proposed NCTC Tax Rate. The Board voted to set the public hearing and adoption of the 2025-26 budget and tax rate during a special meeting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 27 in the GISD Administration Building.
In other business, the School Board:
- Approved a resolution to establish a Local School Library Advisory Council per Senate Bill 13 to assist the District in ensuring that local community values are reflected in each school library catalog;
- Adopted Policy Update 125;
- Approved Additions/Revisions/Deletions of local policies resulting from the TASB Policy Review Session conducted on May 1 and 2;
- Reviewed the 2025-26 Employee and Student Handbooks;
- Approved the 2025-26 Student Code of Conduct;
- Approved a new cell phone policy that complies with Texas House Bill 1481, passed during the 89th Legislative Session, and requires all school systems to adopt and implement a policy prohibiting the use of personal communication devices by students on school property during the school day;
- Approved an Extracurricular Status Resolution for students to participate in Young County 4-H Organization activities;
- Approved the Consent Agenda, which consists of previous meeting minutes and financial reports; and
- Met in Closed Session as permitted by Texas law.
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