FAQs

The Wylie ISD Board of Trustees consists of seven unpaid volunteer members who are elected to act as the district’s policymaking body and has the exclusive power to govern and oversee the management of the district. The Wylie ISD community elects board members to govern and set policy for the district. The board also adopts goals and priorities, hires and evaluates the superintendent, adopts the budget, sets the tax rate, and communicates with the community.

No, board members are community members who volunteer their time and talent.

Interested citizens may find helpful links below.

• Texas Secretary of State – Running for Local Office
• Wylie ISD Board Elections
• Wylie ISD Board Policy BBA(LEGAL)

The board is an elected volunteer policymaking body. Its policies set out the goals and objectives for the school district. The superintendent and professional staff ensure the board’s goals, vision, and policies are carried out by the school district efficiently and effectively. Together, the school board and superintendent function as a “team of eight.”

Ongoing, effective communication between the superintendent and the school board is crucial to the district’s success. Similar to a newsletter, the superintendent provides weekly informational communication to trustees. This ensures the board is informed about district matters and can ask questions and provide feedback. The superintendent also sends short memos to trustees when the need arises. Additionally, the superintendent meets weekly with the board president.

Some of the trainings trustees are required to take include but are not limited to, a local district orientation, Texas Education Code, Open Meetings Act, Public Information Act, and cybersecurity. The Texas Education Agency lists the requirements on their website. Texas Administrative Code Chapter 61.1 provides additional details.

The superintendent has power, as granted by policy, to hire and fire at-will (non-contract) employees based on recommendations from his staff. Employees with employment contracts have certain rights spelled out in state law and board policy. The board, upon the superintendent’s recommendation, has the power to terminate a contract employee after a detailed due process.

The Wylie ISD website serves as the hub for district information. It is regularly updated so that students, staff, parents, and the community can access the information they need. The community is encouraged to use the website search function as the first step to find the information they’re looking for. If there are questions or suggestions for improvement, or if there is outdated information, please email communications@wylieisd.net. 

Wylie ISD is also proud to offer CLAAS (Creating Leaders and Advocates for Schools). It is a year-long program offered each school year since 2011-12 that informs and educates parents and community members about the structure and operations of Wylie ISD. Session topics include curriculum, finance, special services, and more. Learn about this program on our CLAAS informational page.

Community members are always welcome to reach out to administrators, including the superintendent, to express concerns or ask questions. However, if questions or concerns involve your child’s teacher or campus, trustees recommend starting with the campus and/or then district administrators first to resolve the issue.

You can find contact information for your child's school on our Contact Us page. Below is a flowchart about how to address school concerns.

Trustees welcome emails from the public; however, some questions or concerns are best suited for the district to answer. Trustees will share these questions or concerns with the superintendent, who will either respond or direct the appropriate staff member to respond. The school board and district strive to provide community members with factual information from the most appropriate professionals. This also aligns with Board Operating Procedures.

School boards govern and set the vision for school districts, and board policy serves as the framework for district operations. Board policy directs the actions of the staff, students, parents, and the board itself.

The Wylie ISD Board of Trustees also adopts its own procedures and code of ethics as Board Operating Procedures to ensure consistent governance, provide for standardized operations, and maintain public confidence. 

Wylie ISD Board Policy Manual
Wylie ISD Board Operating Procedures

As noted in the question above, board policy serves as the framework for district operations. Generally speaking, policy is “what” the district does operationally, and procedures or regulations are “how” policy is implemented or carried out. If procedures do not align with policy, the policy takes precedence.

Legal policy recites or summarizes laws or official interpretations of laws, such as attorney general opinions and court decisions. While legal policy is housed in the board policy manual, it is not subject to board adoption, and if a law applies, it is automatically the district’s policy.  

Local policy reflects local decisions adopted by the school board that complies with and furthers legal policy. This policy is binding once adopted by the school board, and only the board can change it. Local policy also focuses on governance issues, not management details or philosophy. It will reflect decisions that require or prohibit a specific action, set standards or criteria, and/or authorize someone to act. Local policy does not repeat what is outlined in legal policy – it is recommended to read both policies.

The school board president and superintendent work together to prepare and set the agenda. Before the agenda is finalized, the superintendent consults with the board president for approval. Other trustees may request items for inclusion on the proposed agenda. Policy BE(LOCAL) provides additional information. 

The agenda is posted for public view at least 72 hours prior to the board meeting, so the public has an opportunity to know what will be discussed or decided at an upcoming meeting. Community members are invited to sign up for "board updates" to be reminded about upcoming meetings. These reminders also include a link to the agenda and agenda informational packet. 

A consent agenda is a tool used to streamline meetings by voting on routine non-controversial items in a single motion. Such items include procedural decisions, issues that do not require debate, deliberation, or items previously discussed where there is a consensus, but there is still an official vote needed. Consent items are listed on the agenda posted in advance for the public along with additional material explaining the item when appropriate. Board members also receive information about consent agenda items in their weekly memo from the superintendent. A board member can remove an item from the consent agenda in the event they see a need for additional discussion or review. 

The board may act only by a majority vote of the members present at a meeting and at which a quorum of the board is present and voting. Except for the appropriate duties and functions of the board president, a member of the board may not act on behalf of the board unless authorized by the board.

One way to measure board performance is student achievement. Recently, the district achieved one of its biggest milestones in the history of Wylie ISD’s academic achievement. The Texas Education Agency released its annual A-F ratings for Texas public schools; Wylie ISD received an “A” rating of 96. While most of the credit goes to our hard-working students and dedicated professional staff, it is clear that the board also deserves recognition for setting the standards and policies that allowed them to excel.

There are times when discussions surrounding certain topics should be conducted behind closed doors, and these meetings may only occur in accordance with Texas law. Topics may include personnel matters, acquisition or disposition of real estate, contract negotiations, and consultation with legal counsel. However, state law also requires that action on any issues discussed in a closed/executive session that require action be posted on the agenda and voted on in public. Texas Government Code 551, Subchapter D

In Attorney General Opinion M-220 (1968), open meetings are defined as “one that the public is permitted to attend.” Attorney General Opinion JH-188 (1973), “‘Open to the public’ does not mean that the public may choose the items to be discussed or that they may discuss subjects on the agenda. It merely means that the public may attend the meetings. The purpose of the statute is to assure that the public has the opportunity to be informed concerning the transactions of public business.” 

House Bill 2840, which went into effect in September 2019, amending the Open Meetings Act and Texas Government Code 551, provides each member of the public an opportunity to address a governmental body (e.g. school board). Under this bill, government entities can adopt reasonable rules for effective meeting management, such as time limits or limiting public comments to agenda items only.

Additionally, the Open Meetings Act does not allow the board to discuss or act on comments from the public if the topic is not on the meeting agenda. This law is designed to ensure that the public has adequate notice of when an issue will be discussed. If the topic is on the agenda, the appropriate time for board members to comment is when that agenda item is on the table.

Ultimately, school board meetings are public meetings but are not meetings of the public. These meetings are for the school district or governmental agency to conduct official business in an open setting. With that said, as a matter of local practice, the Wylie ISD Board of Trustees wants to hear from community members and allows speakers the opportunity to address any topic, whether on the agenda or not. The district is also making concerted efforts to address public forum questions on our website.

The district also provides contact information so that members of the public can reach out to board members and the professional staff between meetings.

• Board of Trustees
• District Leadership

Yes. According to policy BED(LOCAL), "When necessary for effective meeting management or to accommodate large numbers of individuals wishing to address the Board, the presiding officer may make adjustments to public comment procedures, including adjusting when public comment will occur during the meeting, reordering agenda items, deferring public comment on nonagenda items, continuing agenda items to a later meeting, providing expanded opportunity for public comment, or establishing an overall time limit for public comment and adjusting the time allotted to each speaker. However, no individual shall be given less than one minute to make comments."

This is not permitted with regard to public comments concerning agenda items. However, non-agenda items are subject to greater limitations. As such, the board president may ask those speaking on non-agenda items to consolidate when necessary.

The board sets the overall policy. The selection of instructional materials, such as library books, is governed by Board Policy EF(LOCAL). Librarians use the following criteria to select materials for the library:

• Wylie ISD Policy EF (Local)
• School Library Programs Standards and Guidelines for Texas
• Resources from professional organizations
• Academic book reviews, grade level recommendations
• TEKS
• Teacher interest
• Student interest

The district’s professional staff develops a budget based on projected enrollment, available state funding, available tax revenue, unfunded mandates from the state or federal government and other factors in accordance with the priorities set by the board. The budget is presented in a series of public workshops and through informational reports at regularly-scheduled public meetings where it is evaluated, discussed, and amended if needed. There are opportunities for public comment prior to the budget’s adoption by the board.  

School districts are required to adopt budgets for the General Fund, Debt Service Fund, and Student Nutrition Fund.  

The General Fund receives revenues from three sources: local, state and federal sources. Local sources make up 47.7% of total general fund revenue, with the vast majority coming from property taxes. State sources make up of 51.1% and federal sources make up 1.2% of total general fund revenue.  Over 84% of the school district general fund budget is made up of payroll, so any compensation adjustment has a major impact on the overall budget. Other major items include instructional supplies, property insurance, fuel, technology, and facility maintenance.

The Debt Service Fund is used to pay district debt obligations arising from voter-approved bond elections. Local sources make up 98.8% of total debt service revenue.  Property tax revenue is the main source of local revenue to fund expenditures in the Debt Service Fund. Only 1.2% of total revenue is received from state sources.  Expenditures in the debt service fund are principal and interest payments on outstanding debt obligations of the district. Revenue generated in this fund cannot be used to fund general operations of the district and can only be used to pay the debt of the district. 

The Student Nutrition Fund operates to provide food service to students of our district and receives revenue from local, state, and federal sources. Local sources make up 38.7% of total revenue from the sale of student lunches. Federal sources make up 59.6% where the district receives federal reimbursement for meals served for students that qualify for free or reduced meals. The district also receives a small amount from state sources, which account for 1.7%. The major budget items of the student funds include food costs (53%) and payroll costs (45%).

Taxes are increasing due to rising property values and the increased costs associated with operating the district. Despite this, Wylie ISD’s overall tax rate (the amount assessed per $100 in value) has decreased every year since 2018-19. A breakdown of the district’s tax rates can be found on the financial transparency section of the website.

Additionally, the 86th Texas Legislature overhauled school finance in 2019 with House Bill 3. The community can find a comprehensive breakdown of the bill on the TEA website. There are multiple factors that impact the cost of operations, including many issues that are outside the control of the board and district. The Wylie ISD Board of Trustees live in our community and also pay taxes. They are committed to being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

With the 86th Legislative session, Senate Bill 2 made significant changes to the truth-in-taxation process. The bill changed the name “Effective Tax Rate” to “No-New-Revenue Tax Rate” and changed the name “Rollback Rate” to “Voter-Approval Tax Rate”.  

From the Office of the Texas Comptroller: The no-new-revenue tax rate enables the public to evaluate the relationship between taxes for the prior year and for the current year, based on a tax rate that would produce the same amount of taxes applied to the same properties taxed in both years.

Although the actual calculation is more complicated, a taxing unit's no-new-revenue tax rate generally equal to the last year's taxes divided by the current taxable value of properties that were also on the tax roll last year. The resulting tax rate, used for comparison only, shows the relation between the last year's revenue and the current year's values.  

The voter-approval tax rate is a calculated maximum rate allowed by law without voter approval. Most taxing units calculate a voter-approval tax rate that divides the overall property taxes into two categories - M&O and debt service. 

School districts voter-approval rate is equal to the district's maximum compressed rate plus the greater of the previous year's enrichment rate/pennies or five cents per $100 of taxable value. They then add the debt rate to get the final voter-approval tax rate. The Texas Education Agency calculates each school district’s maximum compressed rate.