| 🎃 Happy fall, y’all! The season is getting spookier, and the pumpkins are getting spicier.👍 We’ve got a lot of exciting things coming up this month, from the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration to the ϱ ISD Showcase.Let’s get to it… |
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| ϱ ISD Leader Letter |
| By Gabriella Beker ● Oct 14, 2022
Smart Brevity® count: 3 mins... 799 words
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1 big thing: ϱ ISD approves lowest tax rate in 29 years
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The Board of Trustees approved a tax rate of $0.9966 per $100 of property value for the 2022-23 school year.
Why it matters: Property values are continuing to increase in ϱ, so lowering our tax rate is one of the most impactful ways the district can offset the rising cost of living for our community.
What's next: Next year, the Board is expected to lower the tax rate for 2023-24 by an additional three cents to $0.9666 per $100 of taxable value.
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2. Trustees approve protections for construction workers
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The Board of Trustees approved new protections for construction workers on future ϱ ISD projects ahead of the 2022 Bond, which would create projects on nearly every campus if passed.
Why it matters: Workers on new projects will now be guaranteed living wages, safety training, worker’s compensation and healthcare coverage, paid sick leave and independent third-party monitoring.
What’s next: The new labor standards will take effect for any new project that will be funded by the bond propositions which will appear on the Nov. 8 election ballot.
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3. Board of Trustees approves Election Day as student holiday
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The Board of Trustees voted to approve Election Day as a holiday on the 2022–23 and 2023–24 academic calendars at its Sept. 29 meeting.
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Nov. 8, 2022, and Nov. 7, 2023 will now be a holiday for all students and a professional development day for all staff.
Why it matters: Making this day a holiday would ensure that more of our staff and students of voting age would be able to get to the polls and make their voices heard.
What's next: Early voting is Oct. 24 – Nov. 4. Find your ahead of Election Day.
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4. Hispanic Heritage Month Feature: Widén Elementary Principal Benito Faz-Banda
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By Nayeli Santoyo
We are still celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, so there's no better time to highlight Widén Elementary School Principal Benito Faz-Banda's work to promote bilingualism.
Why it matters: Widén has an 85% Hispanic population, and Faz-Banda knows the importance of Hispanic representation in ϱ ISD. His passion is to inspire new generations to excel and to appreciate the advantage of speaking both English and Spanish.
What they're saying: "I have always been very proud of my culture, of my homeland, of my identity; to this day they call me Mr. Faz-Banda, because I take into account the last names of my dad and my mom, all of that has to do with my perspective as a leader."
Go deeper.
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In the latest episode of his web series, Ask Dr. Mays Anything, Dr. Mays raced the clock to answer three questions in 90 seconds with a very special guest— his daughter Adrielle!
What's next: You, too, can ask Dr. Mays anything and watch to see if he answers your question in a future episode.
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🏗️ Why ϱ Wants and Needs a $2.4 Billion Bond Program. ()
🏘️ ϱ ISD looks to build affordable housing for staff, teachers. ()
🚧 Bowie construction from the 2017 bond complete. ()
🏫 Travis ECHS would get needed upgrades if bond passes. ()
💵 What’s in the ϱ $2.44 billion bond?” ()
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Gabriella is looking forward to a lot of family time as they celebrate three birthdays in their family happening within the next two weeks. Welcome to Scorpio season in the Beker family! ♏
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