The Tioga ISD school board restructured itself following the passing of President Stacy Price during its Monday meeting.
Superintendent Josh Ballinger gave insight into the board’s thoughts regarding appointing a new member as the May election nears.
““There are 180 days that it can sit empty and since it’s in policy that even if you did appoint someone they’d need to run again for the upcoming election, the conversation for the last few weeks has been, ‘is that truly worth it,’” Ballinger said. “You’ve made the decision that we’re not going to do that tonight. It makes more sense to operate how we are and see who files for that spot in the election.”
Board member Trina Colteryahn then nominated Dallas Slay for President and Ryan Walters nominated Colteryahn for Slay’s vacated vice president position. The board unanimously approved both nominations.
Earlier, Ballinger presented the district’s Texas Academic Performance Report during a mandatory public hearing.
“It’s primarily based on STAAR testing, which has kept academic accountability in limbo for the last couple years,” Ballinger said. “There have been a lot of districts that put out what they would have scored based on the old rules, but there are certain groups in the state who feel the tests don’t measure ac- curately all populations.”
He continued. It’s a one-day snapshot of what a kid’s capable of doing, so that’s what’s tied it up,” Ballinger said. “Slapping F’s and C’s and even A’s and B’s on people does not necessarily paint a whole picture of what’s going on.”
Despite his disclaimer, TISD performed above the state average on all counts.
“In all grades and all subjects, we’re well above the region and state at 80% success rate as compared to the state’s 75%,” Ballinger said. “This report for anyone at home or in the future is part of our required postings online.”
He explained that the district’s current focus is on further elevating students at the top of the bracket. “Where I feel we need to work, and the principals, teachers and students know this, is our master’s level, so that top end,” Ballinger said. “We’re better than just having 5-10% each year. That’s where we lack with our region and state and making sure our top scores are representative of the talent we have here.'
Ballinger later presented the board with a draft of the district’s 2025-26 calendar.
“This is really an introduction so y’all can now go out into the community and hear different opinions,” Ballinger said. “I’d like to have one approved at our Feb. 17 meeting so people can make plans and know what’s coming up at the end of August starting back to school.”
