State rates Athens ISD finances as ‘superior’

By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communications Coordinator

Sometimes the same old news is very good news. And in this case, the story being repeated is that Athens ISD has received very high marks for its financial well-being.

During Monday night’s November school board meeting, Chief Financial Officer Randy Jones reported to the district’s trustees that AISD has again been designated as “superior” by the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas. The current 2016-17 ratings are based on school year 2015-16 data. On a 100-point scale, the district received a 98.

“It’s certainly a combined effort that makes this possible,” said Jones. “We appreciate the board setting policies that allow our team to continue a trend of outstanding results.”

In an action item, board members approved a $62,862 bid by Tyler Roofing Company to replace a section of Athens High School’s annex gym, which is in need of attention due to age.

The board also voted to have Jack Bailey continue to represent Athens ISD on the Henderson County Appraisal District Board of Directors. The Athens resident is co-owner of the energy consulting company, Texas Power Consultants.

Part of Athens ISD falls within Van Zandt County, and, as such, AISD trustees possess 42 of the available 5,000 votes to appoint representatives to the Van Zandt County Appraisal District Board of Directors. Those 42 votes — which are based on the percentage of tax funds AISD receives from Van Zandt’s appraisal district — were awarded to candidate Larry Shackleford of Ben Wheeler. Shackleford was previously appointed to fill an unexpired term.

In relation to the Henderson County 4-H organization, the board approved a resolution in response to an amendment to the Texas Education Code which allows public school students to be considered in attendance when participating in off-campus activities with an adjunct (supplementary) staff member. The new resolution allows students participating in school-sanctioned Henderson County 4-H activities to be considered present when in the presence of an adjunct employee. Hand-in-hand with that resolution, the board approved another resolution naming three Henderson County extension agents as adjunct staff members for the 2017-18 school year. They are Kate Pittack Marshall, who has a master’s degree in science; Spencer Perkins, who has a bachelor’s degree in animal science; and Carolyn Tyler, who has a master’s degree in science.