The Kerrville Independent School District Board of Trustees received updates on employee recruitment strategies and student academic performance during their meeting Monday.

The district’s human resources department reported hiring five teachers for the 2025-2026 school year following its March 1 job fair, with two additional hires pending. The event attracted 63 attendees, including 51 scheduled appointments and 12 walk-ins.

Recruitment efforts extend beyond local job fairs to university campuses including Texas State, Angelo State, Texas A&M San Antonio, Schreiner University and UTSA. The district also conducts auxiliary job fairs throughout the year, resulting in three additional hires.

KISD emphasizes hiring staff who demonstrate student-centered approaches, professional development focus, passion, innovation, collaboration, goal-orientation and ethical conduct.

A survey of 270 employees revealed strong community connections, with 32% being KISD graduates themselves. Another 14% came to the district with or because of a KISD graduate.

The district maintains staff development through several programs, including the INSPIRE Academy for new teachers and the IGNITE Academy for leadership development. Teacher participation in the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) program has grown to 99 teachers in the current cohort.

Middle-of-year academic screening results presented to the board showed mixed results across grade levels. Eighth and 10th grade reading demonstrated improvement, with eighth grade increasing from 58% to 64% of students at benchmark or above, and 10th grade rising from 51% to 63%.

However, sixth grade reading declined from 67% to 59%, while ninth grade reading remained stagnant at 54%. High school Algebra I showed improvement but still has 33% of students in the “well below” category.

The board also reviewed TASB Policy Update 124, which incorporates recent administrative and education code changes. Dr. Brent Ringo and Shelby Balser presented the update, which includes revisions to policies on fiscal management, investments, intellectual property, employee conduct, curriculum design, gifted and talented programs, child abuse reporting and conduct on school premises.

The policy update will be presented for approval at the April 14 board meeting.