Tomball ISD To Pass Balanced Budget, Add More Bus Drivers For 2017-2018

TOMBALL, TX — For the first time since 2016, the Tomball Independent School District will be passing a balanced budget before the start of the school year.

It will also be the first time since 2016 that Tomball ISD isn’t opening up new campuses, having opened four in the span of two years. (Want to get daily updates about traffic news and other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Houston Patch morning newsletter.)

Tomball ISD Finance Director Jim Ross made his initial budget presentation to the Tomball ISD Board of Trustees in May, with a follow up presentation at the June 12 workshop, spelling out the details of a $128.3 million budget that includes a 3 percent pay increase for all employees, an increase in starting teacher pay to $53,000.

However, the more critical point in this budget, it seemed, was to come up with a solid plan to make bus driver pay more competitive.

Ross said increasing pay for bus drivers is needed because neighboring school districts in CyFair, Spring and Klein have increased pay for bus drivers, making Tomball ISD less attractive.

“If you recall at the start of the (2016-2017) school year, one of the issues that parents complained about was, ‘we need buses,’” Ross said. “Well, we need drivers.”

Compared with other neighboring school districts, such as CyFair ISD, Klein ISD and Spring ISD, Tomball ISD is relatively small with just over 15,000 students, but growth in student population has more than doubled in the last 10 years, but they also pay their bus drivers less than most.

“We will have an aggressive starting pay (package),” Ross said. “We will not lose bus drivers to our neighboring districts.”

Tomball currently pays staring bus drivers with no experience $14.40 per hour, but other districts in the area have also addressed bus driver salary.

Bus drivers in Conroe ISD earn slightly more than their Tomball ISD counterparts at $14.75 per hour, while Magnolia ISD starts off with less at $13.77 per hour.

Aldine ISD pays $15.77 per hour and Klein ISD offers $15.25 per hour for bus drivers, while CyFair ISd pays $16.25 per hour.

Recently, Spring ISD approved a pay increase to 16.50 per hour for their bus drivers for the 2017-2018 school year, making them the highest so far in the northwest Houston area.

Tomball ISD will host their final budget workshop at 5:30 p.m. on July 10 at the John Neubauer Administration Building.

Image: Shutterstock

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