Voters in Bryan ISD will decide Nov. 3 whether the district can raise its maintenance and operations tax rate by about 2 cents, a measure the school board says is mainly about paying employees more.
The voter-approval tax rate election would lift the M&O rate from $0.6769 to $0.6968, according to the district. Bryan ISD estimates the change would bring in about $5.5 million a year in recurring money that would stay in the district rather than go back to the state through recapture. Trustees voted unanimously in August to put it on the ballot.
Board President Joel Bryan told KBTX this week that the district has spent several years tightening its budget, and that some of those savings decisions made it hard to give staff the raises the board wanted.
He said the main goal is better pay across the workforce, naming teachers, custodians, bus drivers and counselors, and that the money would also go to student programs and safety and security. He added that state-level pressures have squeezed the district's operating budget and that higher pay could help Bryan ISD recruit from surrounding areas.
Those three priorities came from a strategic planning committee of families, staff, students and community members that first looked at the idea in 2024 and met again in March, the district said in its August announcement. Parents on the committee presented the recommendations at the board's July 20 meeting.
