What happened: The Midland ISD Board of Trustees met on Tuesday, May 19, and rejected the administration’s 2026-27 compensation plan in a 4-3 vote, sending the recommended 1% across-the-board raise back for revision and returning an amended compensation plan to the board at a June 10 special meeting.

The board also voted to initiate the sale of the 65.51-acre Cholla Road school site that MISD purchased in January 2024 for $4.9 million, approved an $11.1 million road-construction contract for Avalon and Thomason Drive extensions at the new Lee High School, and heard a presentation on the district’s self-funded health insurance plan, which is projected to spend about $1.7 million more than budgeted.

Key points:

  • Compensation plan: Trustees voted 4-3 against the administration’s proposed 2026-27 compensation plan, which included a 1% across-the-board raise costing about $1.76 million. Trustees Brandon Hodges, Tommy Bishop, Matt Friez, and Michael Booker voted against it.

Hodges argued the proposal failed to improve starting pay for support staff and said administrative raises should wait until academic performance improves. The revised plan returns June 10 alongside a proposed retention incentive package that Howard said could be adjusted by pay grade.

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  • School site sale: Trustees voted 4-2 to begin selling 65.5 acres at Cholla Road and South County Road 1235 that MISD bought in 2024 for about $4.9 million as a future school site. District officials said surrounding industrial development and the district’s upcoming 2028 grade reconfiguration eliminated the foreseeable need for a south-side elementary campus.

Board President Josh Guinn argued that the property has been surrounded by industrial development, making it unsuitable for an elementary school. Bishop argued that if the district needed property in the future, it would be more expensive, and Burleson was against the prospect of losing a potential south-side elementary school.

  • Self-funded insurance: Trustees reviewed the district’s self-funded medical insurance plan, which is on track to spend about $1.7 million more than budgeted for the 2026-27 school year, driven by inflated billing from free-standing emergency clinics. Read more from The Permian Press about the freestanding ER bills here.
  • Lee High road contract: Trustees unanimously approved a $11.1 million bid for the Avalon Drive and Thomason Drive extensions serving the new Lee High School. The bid came in about $4 million below the estimate. Under the district’s agreement with the City of Midland, MISD will fund the construction up front, and the city will reimburse 70% of the cost over three years.
  • iReady data: Trustees reviewed year-end iReady results showing gains in early-grade reading and math, while middle-school performance remained significantly lower. Eighth-grade reading improved from 20% to 27% on grade level, while 45% of eighth-grade math students still performed two or more grade levels behind.

Hodges, Friez, and Bishop questioned whether students performing far below grade level should be held back more often. Officials said state law now emphasizes tutoring and remediation over automatic retention.

  • Special education plan: The district’s special education audit consultant walked the board through a nine-goal, phased plan that the consultant will finalize next month. The plan covers safety in self-contained classrooms, behavior supports, instruction in specialized classrooms, and placement in the least restrictive environment.
  • Instructional materials: Trustees approved, 5-2 (Friez and Hodges opposed), the adoption of instructional materials for K-8 social studies, world geography, world history, U.S. history, geometry, and algebra II.  Freeze said the high school adoption does not provide students with hard-copy textbooks to take home. District staff said students have not taken home textbooks since roughly 2015.
  • District Improvement Plan: Trustees unanimously adopted the 2026-27 plan, which the district produces annually under state law and local board policy. Specific target performance objectives are currently blank, but will be filled in once STAAR and accountability data arrive in the coming weeks.
  • Bus seat belts: District staff reported that there are 75 operational buses in the MISD fleet, of which 58 already meet the new three-point seat belt state requirement. All 17 non-compliant buses are scheduled for replacement under the existing Capital Asset Improvement Plan before the 2029 mandate deadline.
  • Board operating procedures: Burleson proposed forming a small committee to draft a formal board operating procedures booklet that pulls together the board policy and process material new trustees need on day one. The motion passed unanimously.
  • JJAEP closed session: The board met for roughly an hour in closed session to discuss potential litigation related to the Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program (JJAEP), likely against Midland County. JJAEPs serve students involved in serious criminal behavior. After returning to open session, the board took no action on the item.