On January 24th, the Montgomery ISD Board of Trustees voted in favor of giving Montgomery ISD police larger annual training stipends.
According to Superintendent Mark Ruffin, the stipends go to officers who have extra certifications starting in the 2025-26 school year. A $5.5 million voter-approval tax rate election, which voters okayed in November, made the stipend bump possible.
Ruffin passed along the current stipend rates and those ahead. There are three levels of certifications:
–Intermediate Level with $250 annually in the 2024-25 school year and $850 annually starting in 2025-26
–Advanced Level with $500 annually in the 2024-25 school year and $1,700 annually starting in 2025-26
–Master Level with $750 annually in the 2024-25 school year and $2,550 annually starting in 2025-26
Other staff-related initiatives have been funded due to the November tax rate election. Five-hundred-dollar bonuses for full-time employees was approved unanimously by MISD’s board on December 17th. Six additional special education and elementary school positions to be added to campuses was approved by trustees on December 3rd.
The additional $5.5 million annual revenue to the district is provided by the voter-approval tax rate election by way of a $0.05 per $100 valuation tax increase for local taxpayers. MISD had a $4.3 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year 2024-25 budget before November.
MISD officials have certain priorities reserved for the tax rate election funding, such as:
–Competitive teacher salaries
–Difficult positions to hire incentives
–Dual-Language Immersion Programs for students
–Helping funds for armed campus officers which is mandated under House Bill 3
–Student technology monitoring initiatives.
