Dickinson ISD schools and offices will be closed on Monday, September 1 for the Labor Day holiday. Students and employees will return on Tuesday, September 2.

Have a safe and relaxing three-day weekend.

The first week of the 2014-2015 school year in the Dickinson Independent School District brought two exciting accomplishments.

More than 10,000 students are attending school this year in Dickinson ISD. By day two, the district topped the 10,000 milestone and soared to an enrollment of 10,260 by day four, an increase of 400 students over the same day last year. The Board of Trustees also started the year off by approving the tax rate, which remains the same at $1.54 despite the bond referendum approved in May. The bond was estimated to raise the tax rate by about three cents; however, with continued housing growth and existing bond payoffs, the district was able to keep the tax rate the same. Construction on the two new campuses included in the bond will begin later this year. They are scheduled to open in August 2016.

"We are extremely pleased to be able to keep our tax rate the same, with no additional tax burden to Dickinson ISD taxpayers, while also providing two state-of-the-art new facilities to help educate our growing number of students," said Fritzie Samford, Board of Trustees President.
 
In addition to adding more instructional space for a growing student population, the district was able to give a five percent raise to teachers and all other classes of employees at the same tax rate.

"It is extremely important that we retain a quality teaching staff and this salary increase helps us to do just that," said Superintendent Vicki Mims. "Being able to fund it at last year's tax rate is a testament to the great work of our budget managers and the Business Department."

Enrollment has continued to climb over the past decade from 6,000 students in 2003 to now more than 10,000. Demographic projections are that with continued housing development, enrollment will increase to approximately 13,500 students by 2023. However, this projection did not include the recently announced Lago Mar Development around the new Tanger Outlet Mall. Lago Mar will add to that projection since it includes about 5,000 homes, with an estimated 400 built by 2016.

When looking at fourth day of school numbers, the district is educating 183 new elementary students in grades pre-kindergarten to fourth, 75 new middle school students in grades five and six, and 137 additional students at Dickinson High School. As of day four, there was a slight dip at McAdams Junior High by five students. All of these numbers traditionally continue to grow over the first two weeks of school as more students enroll. 

The recently approved 2014-2015 budget of $77,989,082 million includes a five percent raise for all employees. The district added 27 instructional teaching positions plus some additional support positions this school year to accommodate the growing number of students. Mims and her administrative team monitor class sizes and campus enrollments very closely during the first two weeks and weekly throughout the year. The budget includes 12 vacant instructional positions for the Superintendent to use should class sizes during the year require additional teachers or other instructional support positions.