Dear Vega ISD Community:
Last week, the three-week progress reports were posted in Parent Ascender. If you have any questions about your student’s progress in any of their classes, please be sure to reach out to your child’s teacher.
Last week our elementary 2nd grade classes began taking their Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) which is a highly reliable assessment of students’ early reading skills. Our 1st graders will take this as well. Our PreK students also began their CIRCLE assessments which is one of the Texas Education Agency Commissioner’s approved progress monitoring instruments. Our kindergarteners will take this as well. The results of both of these instruments will help teachers provide targeted instruction for students to improve academically.
Our students have also been busy with their many extracurricular activities. Our FFA held a parent meeting last Tuesday, the JV and Varsity Volleyball teams hosted home games on both Tuesday and Saturday that all resulted in victories. Our junior high volleyball teams traveled to Friona for a two-day tournament and all three of the teams did very well at the tournament with each team claiming a plaque for their accomplishments. The cross country team traveled to Lubbock over the weekend to compete at Mae Simmons Park, a preview for October’s regional meet. And the Longhorn Football team played a gritty game in Seagraves on Friday night and came up a little bit short on the scoreboard, but they put forth great effort on the field.
The district hosted a send off for the football team on Friday in the courtyard before they traveled to Seagraves. The cheerleaders, the band, and the entire student body of Vega ISD did a great job cheering on the team. As the football team exited the courtyard to board the bus, they walked past the elementary students and gave them “high fives” as they walked past. The faces of many of our elementary students who look up to the football players lit up when that happened.
Please check out the district’s web page and Facebook page for more information and pictures from these events.
We hosted our site-based decision making committee meeting last week to review the parent and family engagement policy and hosted our CTE Advisory Council meeting this past Monday evening. We appreciate our parents and community members who serve on these committees.
The Vega ISD school board is proposing a tax rate of $1.3555 ($0.8555 for Maintenance & Operations & $0.50 for Interest & Sinking). This tax rate is an increase by 12 cents per $100 property valuation. For a home that is valued at $200,000 (after the $100,000 homestead exemption the taxable value of the home would be $100,000) an approved VATRE would increase the taxes by $120 a year. Similarly, for a home that is valued at $300,000 (after the $100,000 homestead exemption the taxable value of the home would be $200,000) an approved VATRE would increase the taxes by $240 a year.
Because this tax rate exceeds the district’s no-new-revenue rate set by the state, the district must conduct a Voter Approved Tax Ratification Election (VATRE) in November. If approved, the proposed tax rate would result in over $500,000 in additional revenue for the District which would be used to fund the maintenance and operation of the district, including the ability to provide the enriching educational opportunities through staffing and programming found in Vega ISD. If the VATRE fails, the District will not be able to adopt a tax rate above the no-new-revenue tax rate. Property owners 65 and older with a homestead tax exemption would experience no change to their taxes as a result of the election.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would be glad to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you,
Jerry Adams
Superintendent, Vega ISD