By: Dr. Darron Arlt - PHS Superintendent
The board of education approved a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year last week. Our budget committee met a couple of times as well as a full board workshop discussion on August 25th where they gave me direction on their budget priorities.
I am pleased to share with you that the board adopted a budget that decreases our tax asking for the general fund compared with last year. This is due to a healthy beginning balance and a concerted effort to keep expenses down in the last few years.
They also responded to the spike in land valuations by allowing the general levy rate to be driven down to a level not seen in decades. The 48 cent levy will be the 2nd lowest levy in the region among comparable schools. We also boast the 4th lowest cost per pupil among 14 regional schools. I hope this sends the message that Plainview Public Schools invests your tax dollars reasonably.
We have a few projects prioritized to be funded by the Special Building Fund. The bus barn has been a long-ignored structure on the East side of town. The bones appear to be solid enough that we don’t need to replace the entire building so a new “wrap” and some insulation and heat will serve it, and our buses and drivers well for many years to come.
The press box at the grandstands is another story. Not only has it suffered severe water damage over the decades, it’s entirely too small and quite unsafe for our guests who have to navigate stairs while carrying their equipment through a trap door to get upstairs. This past Friday, we had to house 4 people in a 4’x10’ space.
We had 2 different radio stations here to promote our game and one of them had to sit outside in the bleachers. If we had poor weather conditions, we would have to decline the request to broadcast our games. As a proud tradition rich football school, this space is woefully substandard and long overdue for some attention.
The track is due for a structural spray. I know it seems like just like a couple years ago that we tore the track down to the foundation and poured a new one. Next spring will be 5 years and a structural spray is highly recommended every 5-7 years. This will essentially be a new, protective coating on the track.
We will not tear the existing one out for many many years. A structural spray provides a new water resistant barrier so water drains off the track instead of seeping down to the foundation. We do not have a concrete foundation so the existing asphalt foundation must be more protected because if we allow for a porous surface, the foundation will fail and then we’ll have to tear it out years before it’s necessary.
I applaud our board of education for taking up the responsibility to bring our facilities and learning spaces up to modern standards. They have taken up the position of not if, but how are we going to do this? It’s going to be challenging and it’s going to require courage, discipline, and sacrifice, but it will be worth it!