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Chapter 1
DISTRICT ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT

This chapter examines the organization and management of the Wall Independent School District (WISD) in four sections

A. Board Governance
B. District and School Management
C. Personnel Management
D. Community Involvement

In Texas, a school district's organization begins with an elected Board of Trustees. Residents of the district elect school board members either at-large, districtwide or from single-member districts that cover only a portion of the school district. The school board sets policies, selects key management, establishes property tax rates and approves staffing levels, pay rates and the annual budget. It also determines facility needs and calls bond elections as necessary to support those needs.

BACKGROUND

WISD is located in Tom Green County approximately 12 miles southeast of San Angelo. The area is a farming community. The district was formed in 1909 from several surrounding school districts. After several changes in schools considered part of the district, the present district boundaries were set in 1938.

WISD boundaries now cover 497 square miles and enrollment for 2000-01 totaled 944, a slight decrease from 976 for the previous year. The central Wall campus includes the high school, middle school, elementary school and administration building. The district is served by the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) Regional Education Service Center XV (Region 15) in San Angelo.

The district serves as the fiscal agent for the Fairview Accelerated Education Cooperative. The Fairview Accelerated Education Cooperative was founded in 1994 as the alternative education facility for the communities surrounding San Angelo, Texas. Member school districts that use Fairview as their alternative education campus are Bronte, Eden, Grape Creek, Miles, Robert Lee, Sterling City, Christoval, Wall, Water Valley and Irion County. The students who attend Fairview are bused into school each day from distances up to 50 miles away. All students who attend Fairview are middle and high school students, from grades 6 through 12. The Fairview Campus is located in WISD.

The district also serves as the fiscal agent for the Small Schools Cooperative. The Small Schools Cooperative, which includes 18 area school districts, is a shared service arrangement designed to assist member districts in serving students with disabilities. The cooperative serves as the "Special Education Department" for the 18 member school districts. The cooperative allows WISD and the other member districts to obtain support services that they could not otherwise afford because of the limited number of students and limited funding.

For this review, WISD selected five peer districts for comparison based upon similarities in size, location, enrollment and property value. Those districts are Bangs ISD, Crockett County CCSD, Grape Creek ISD, Holliday ISD and Reagan County ISD. Exhibit 1-1 shows a demographic presentation of Wall and its peers. Wall has fewer economically disadvantaged students than all but one of its peers.

Exhibit 1-1
Student Demographics for WISD and Peer Districts
2000-01
District Enrollment Anglo Hispanic African American Asian/
Pacific Islander		 Native American Economically Disadvantaged
Bangs 1,111 77.3% 13.7% 8.4% 0.1% 0.5% 44.4%
Crockett County 840 35.0% 64.5% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0% 51.0%
Grape Creek 1,151 76.5% 21.1% 2.1% 0.2% 0.1% 46.7%
Holliday 956 97.0% 2.6% 0.2% 0.0% 0.2% 16.4%
Reagan County 892 38.9% 57.8% 2.7% 0.4% 0.1% 46.7%
Wall 944 77.8% 22.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% 27.3%
Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA), Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) 2000-01.

Exhibit 1-2 shows the revenue sources for WISD and its peers. The districts receive revenue from state and local sources, as well as a small percent of federal revenue.

Exhibit 1-2
WISD, State and Peer District Revenue Sources
as a Budgeted Percent of Total Revenues
2000-01
District Local/Other
Revenue		 Percent of
Total
Revenue		 State
Revenue		 Percent of
Total
Revenue		 Federal
Revenue		 Percent of
Total
Revenue		 Total
Revenue
Bangs $1,890,743 25.7% $5,223,987 71.0% $239,000 3.3% $7,353,730
Crockett County $10,700,965 93.0% $579,226 5.0% $230,193 2.0% $11,510,384
Grape Creek $1,614,200 21.4% $5,684,850 75.6% $227,800 3.0% $7,526,850
Holliday $2,182,802 38.9% $3,341,026 59.6% $85,500 1.5% $5,609,328
Reagan County $5,187,252 67.5% $2,349,031 30.6% $146,750 1.9% $7,683,033
Wall $1,712,133 24.1% $5,291,295 74.4% $105,000 1.5% $7,108,428
State Average $13,858,297,539 53.1% $11,377,498,894 43.6% $884,281,086 3.4% $26,120,077,519
Source: TEA, PEIMS 2000-01

The average percent of total revenues for Texas schools is 53.1 percent from local revenue, 43.6 percent from state sources and 3.4 percent from federal.