With Canadian High School’s softball program up and running, the district is preparing for the next phase of the program’s development, which includes making necessary upgrades to Hemphill County’s softball field and facilities, Superintendent Kyle Lynch told the board on Monday. The first step in moving forward with  those plans, he said, is to develop a plan and present it to the county, which owns the baseball complex.  

In order to get construction going a soon as possible, Lynch said, the district needs to begin planning.   

“To get this moving and have a chance to get it completed, we are going to have to start taking those steps fairly quick,” Lynch said.   

Board members looked at samples from area schools’ field upgrades and discussed construction of new dugouts, pull-out bleachers, and a new concession area, among other possibilities.   

Softball Coach Cay Parnell said that in addition to adding the new bleachers and netting to replace the chain-link fence for ball stops, she hopes a changing area and bathroom will be added to the new dugouts to alleviate problems during a game when a player needs to use the restroom facilities but has to wait in the public line.  

While there are currently no specifics as to what will be added, Lynch said Parnell and Athletic Director Chris Koetting would be putting together a list of necessities. The estimate so far on the future construction project is around $500,000.   

“I’ll make sure we’ll try to get that process started,” Lynch said. “Again, we’re probably running behind already.”

No board action was necessary  at this time.  

Legislative update  

Lynch updated trustees regarding HB 3, recently signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, and its implications for Canadian ISD.   

While legislators and the governor touted this bill as giving teacher raises of up to $4,000, the actual benefits for CISD staff appear to be significantly less, Lynch said. The amount of teacher and staff pay increases depends on the how much additional funding the state provides, based on new funding formulas and a reduction in the rate of recapturewhich eats up a significant amount of the district’s tax revenue.   

“This gain we are getting from the state isn’t nearly what we thought it would be,” Lynch said. “The claim that teachers are getting a $4,000 raise apiece is not accurate…”  

Lynch said there hasn’t been enough time to determine exactly how the bill will benefit the district, but at the current tax rate, the increase in basic allotment (how much the state funds schools based on the average student) and the decrease in recapture won’t help the district financially. One possible scenario would be to increase the local property tax rate by two to three cents, which would provide more dollars in the budget, he said.  

Trustees will conduct a budget planning session in July, when they have a more accurate assessment of how HB 3 will impact the district.   

“Obviously, in the next couple of months, we’ll be setting tax rates and looking at budgets…these are important scenarios to consider,” Lynch said.

The new law ultimately invests $11.6 billion into education—$6.4 billion for public schools and $5.2 billion for property tax-rate compression. In addition to teacher pay provisions, which require that school districts use 30 percent of the additional formula funding to raise compensation for full-time employees (excluding administrators), it also increases the minimum salary schedule. This will have a big impact on districts that are closer to the state’s minimum salary requirement, Lynch said.   

“One of the things that really changed was the minimum salary schedule,” he said. “In Canadian, we’ve never even been close to minimum salary schedule. Now, we’re a little closer.”  

Additionally, the law offers an optional teacher-incentive program with additional funds for rural and high-needs campuses, which Rep. Ken King was instrumental in securing.    

“Ken King did a great job to make sure rural schools like Canadian were included in the high-needs campus,” he said.   

The qualifications for the incentive program haven’t been laid out yet, Lynch said, but this is an opportunity for better teacher benefits.   

“They have an optional teacher-incentive program that we are still looking for details on, that can get big dollars for your very best teachers,” Lynch said.  

None of the incentive-pay qualifications will be tied to state testing.  

The new law also increases special education funding, bilingual education, and duallanguage programs, and adds new allotments for dyslexia and early education. A full-day pre-K is also mandated under HB 3 for eligible students.   

Following an executive session to discuss employment of personnel, trustees agreed to post the superintendent position being vacated by Lynch internally (within the district). After 10 workdays, the board will interview candidates.