Debra Smith

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  herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=a1ab3c1088855373&-s - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 11/1/2009    Last Visited: 11/1/2009  

  Debra Smith, assistant superintendent for business at CISD, said she expects the sale to be smooth, as Fitch ratings increased their assessment of CISD's finances to an AA- rating.
  
  Smith anticipates closing on the sales by Dec 1.

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  herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=41c675f73499288c&-s - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/29/2009    Last Visited: 10/29/2009  

  "We're selling the remaining balance of the 2008 bond," said Debra Smith, assistant superintendent for business at CISD. "Our credit rating went up from last year."
  
  Smith thinks the district's bond rating will be sufficient to receive financial underwriting for the remainder of the bond.
  
  "In the past, districts didn't have to rely on their credit rating because they could fall back on the Texas Permanent School Fund," she said.
  
  That fund dried up this year, she said.

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  www.comalisd.org/Departments/ - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/24/2009    Last Visited: 8/25/2009  

  Debra Smith Asst. Superintendent for Business Services
  
  (830) 221-2074

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  herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=7fceaf206c9168b6 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/14/2007    Last Visited: 6/14/2007  

  Debra Smith, assistant superintendent for business services who helped draft the proposed budget, said the pay raise will help Comal ISD retain and potentially attract new teachers.
  
  "I don't think were struggling for teachers, but we don't want to get in the position where we don't stay current and then it's hard to catch up," Smith said.
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  The projected surplus for the 2007-08 fiscal year is $5.5 million and the Comal ISD'sfund balance is estimated to be $29 million, Smith said.
  
  The budget is based on a Maintenance and Operations tax rate of $1.04 for 2007-08 fiscal year, compared with last years $1.37.The Interest and Sinking fund remained the same - 27 cents - from last year.The drop in the tax rate, Smith said, caused state aid numbers to increase nearly 90 percent from about $15 million in 2006-07 to $28 million in 2007-08.
  
  Comal school trustees were shown the proposed budget at Tuesday night's meeting but no action was taken.However, it wasn't the first time they had seen the figures.Trustees were presented with the $115 million budget at a previous workshop in April.Since then, they have received updates from Smith and are working on finalizing the budget by the end of August.
  
  "I don't think there will be much change from this point forward," Smith said "We've got thing nailed down pretty well."
  
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  www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/504776.htm - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/18/2008    Last Visited: 2/18/2008  

  Third-grade teachers Mary Lilly, Justina McCaulley and Debbie Smith led a small group of parents through reading, writing and math examples.
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  Smith said third-graders are curious about the test.
  
  ‘‘We do take it seriously," she said. ‘‘We do give them all we can in support."
  
  Smith said preparing the students begins in kindergarten.
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  At the beginning of a presentation on the reading portion of the test, Smith distributed a list of instructions to the attendees.
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  "It's all about being a careful reader," Smith said, noting that the skill is a big part of the PSSAs.

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  herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=26fff0d7b275c271&-s - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/24/2009    Last Visited: 10/24/2009  

  "(That) is a requirement that is actually going away, (though) I think it was really close," said Debra Smith, assistant superintendent for business services.
  
  Eighty-eight percent of school districts throughout the state, excluding charter schools, which are not audited in this system, receive a "superior achievement" rating. That represents almost 95 percent of the total enrollment in Texas public schools.
  
  "I think it is a good system if nothing else. Every year, I go through every one of those questions, not just that we passed but how we did," Smith said.
  
  Smith said it is unlikely, under the current funding system through the state, that so many districts will continue to receive superior ratings down the road.
  
  "Under the current funding system, if the legislature doesn't change the funding formula (many more districts down the road will start to suffer)," Smith said.
  
  "You are going to have people struggle to make their debt services rating. The reason we're in good shape is we continue to grow, and under the current funding system, that is the only way to get more revenue," he said.

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  herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=50d986efb7eba2fb&-s - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/11/2008    Last Visited: 7/11/2008  

  Neither Moczygemba nor Debra Smith, CISD's assistant superintendent for business services, could provide a monetary estimate Wednesday — both had just gotten word of the ruling — but "it affects all of our funds," Smith said.

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  herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=c93caa56423667b6 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/30/2007    Last Visited: 8/30/2007  

  "That shows we're healthy financially," said Debra Smith, CISD's assistant superintendent for support services.
  
  The 2007-08 budget is based on a proposed tax rate of $1.31, which represents a decrease of $.33 from the current budget.The $.33 tax decrease was mandated by the 79th legislature in 2006 as part of its public school finance reforms.The average home owner in the Comal ISD, who owns around $213,000, is expected to pay about $2000 in taxes during the 2007-08 fiscal year, a decrease of about $224.In addition to the $15,000 homestead exemption offered by the state, the Comal ISD also offers another $20,000 percent tax exemption for home owners, Smith said.
  
  The Maintenance and Operation tax rate is set under the proposed budget at $1.04, compared with the current $1.37.The Interest and Sinking fund remained - 27 cents - the same from last year.The INS tax is collected to pay off the district's outstanding bond debt, which is valued at around $695 million, including principle and interest.The INS tax rate has dropped by three cents since the 2005-06 fiscal year, Smith said.

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  www.hillcountrytimes.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=97 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 11/6/2005    Last Visited: 9/10/2008  

  "HB1 does not include a mechanism to help school district's with inflation, rising fuel and utility costs, and unfunded mandates," says Debra Smith, assistant superintendent for Business Services."We also don't receive the full benefit from increasing property values as that money now goes to the state instead of school districts."
  
  Smith says the only way Comal ISD receives additional revenue from the state under HB1 is through increasing enrollment.

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  herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=da9bdddcf3bb951b&-s - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 11/9/2008    Last Visited: 11/9/2008  

  The Assistant Superintendent for Business Services at Comal ISD, Debra Smith, said the worry comes from the revenue target designated by the state.
  
  She said based on figures from the 2005 to 2006 school year, Texas gives each school district a set dollar amount for Average Daily Attendance of students in the districts, or ADA.
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  Smith said Comal ISD has about $52 million in its fund balance.
  
  "We could potentially dip into this fund balance in the 2009 to 2010 school year. In four years, we could definitely start dipping heavily into it," she said.
  
  She said so far this school year, student numbers are higher than the projections by the district's demographers.
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  "The best thing parents can do now is to contact their representatives," said Smith.

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