Fresh off the start of the 2023-24 (FY24) school year, Wylie ISD trustees had photo ops, campus security and STAAR updates and a tax rate and bond election to consider.

During their first regular trustee meeting of the school year, officials had the opportunity to welcome new principals for Burnett Jr. High and Tibbals Elementary, as well as associate and assistant principals at Wylie High, Harrison Intermediate and Birmingham and Whitt Elementaries.

Before moving on to new business that involved calling a $298.3 million district bond election and adopting its tax rate for FY24, presentations on safety and security and STAAR were heard.

Brian Kelly, the district’s director of safety and security, outlined how the district would manage security on each campus, as outlined by state House Bill 3. 

The district employs ten School Resource Officers (SRO) from Wylie and Sachse police departments and will use 13 L&P Global Security to provide Level III armed security guards at elementary and intermediate campuses. 

Wylie ISD will not directly employ armed security officers and will rely on current SRO’s and L&P personnel to comply with the state mandate which begins Sept. 1.

Later in the meeting, trustees approved a resolution that allows the district to use L&P personnel, or similar, because local law enforcement agencies do not have enough staff to allow the district to fill the required SRO positions.

Kim Spicer, deputy superintendent for WISD, gave trustees an update on STAAR 2023, including performance and uncertainties with scoring tests.

She said that Texas schools are completing an accountability refresh, which is required by Texas Education Agency (TEA) every five years. The refresh is for the A-F academic ratings system that measures the performance of public school system.

Academic ratings are given by grade as well as campus, and results in local comparisons are identified in three areas; approaches, meets and masters subject matter. 

Spicer explained the components that make up total scores, including student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps, which is part of the federal requirement for STAAR.

To read the full story subscribe to The Wylie News.