Following an hour-long executive session Monday night, the Brownwood ISD Board of Trustees voted Connor Arrington onto the board to fill the vacant Place 6 opening.

Arrington and Kristy Nix both applied for the spot formerly occupied by Amary Doremus, who resigned in February. Arrington was appointed to finish the current unexpired term as Place 6 will be up for election in November of this year.

“They both were the right person for the job,” said BISD Board President Michael Cloy. “Honestly, it was that difficult and I hate to use the term but it could have a been coin flip. They were both outstanding candidates and I encouraged the other candidate to run for election. Mr. Arrington had a good demeanor, but hers was equally as solid. He does have construction experience, which could have been a little more inviting.”

Arrington is a native of San Saba, his family operates a cattle ranch on the other side of the Colorado River on FM 45, and his grandfather had dealings in Brownwood in the past. Arrington’s wife, Hannah, is a 2010 graduate of Brownwood High School, and the couple has been living in Brownwood for the last five years. The Arringtons have two children, one that will be attending first grade at Northwest Elementary next year, and a 16-month-old as well.

“First off I think Brownwood ISD is a phenomenal school district as it is, and I just really want to give back to my community and be a part of making it better,” Arrington said in regarding to his reasons for applying for the vacant position.

As for what he feels he can bring to the board, Arrington said, “A set of open ears and digging into the issues that matter and being really critical of the decisions we make all in an effort to make the school better.”

Also during Monday night’s meeting, the Board voted unanimously to approve the Teacher Salary Schedule for 2025-26, along with the teacher incentives. BISD will also fully fund employee-only TRS-Active Care health insurance coverage.

BISD Superintendent Dr. Joe Young told the Board, “We don’t know what the funding is going to be for next year but we have to start getting people hired. The salary schedule is the steps we have right now and we hope that legislative funding will change and this will change and we’ll increase it, at least at the years of experience level. We still plan to increase our funding for insurance, it’s a great benefit for our staff but it’s also something that costs a lot of money. We don’t ever know what that’s going to be until June when the state announces what their new insurance rates will be. Two years ago we were pleasantly surprised it stayed the same and this last year it went way up. There has been some talk of the funding being allocated toward insurance for employees, if that’s the case that would help us out as well.”

The Board also OKed a resolution authorizing the issuance of the district’s maintenance tax notes in the approximate amount of $975,000, levying a continuing direct ad valorum tax for maintenance purposes within the limit prescribed by law and another matters in connection therewith.

Young told the Board, “This would not be something we would take out immediately. This would be taken if emergency items come up that would need those funds. Instead of the entire amount being due immediately, then we are able to pay that out over several years. This is not new money we just go to the bank and take out and put in our bank. This would be more of a line of maintenance notes that if we need them in the future, we’re able to take that out to have cash on hand to continue operations until we have a more stable budget and we know what’s going to happen in the future.”

Approved on the consent agenda was the transition to the Bluebonnet Learning Plan and the minutes from the previous meeting.