2023 ANNUAL COMMUNITY GUIDE
Major education bills led for 88th Texas legislative session
OTHER STORIES TO FOLLOW IN 2023
Harmony Public Schools to build two Georgetown campuses Following the purchase of 28 acres located o Blue Ridge Drive, Harmony Public Schools is expected to begin construction on an elementary school campus in April. The elementary school is scheduled to open for the 2024-25 school year, followed by a middle and high school two years later, said Tracie Seed, Harmony’s Central Texas communications and marketing director. This expansion comes as the charter school has seen applications double from 5,000 to 10,000 between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 school years, Seed said. So far, Harmony has had more than 4,000 applications for the 2023-24 year, with a majority of these coming from North Austin, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock, she said.
BY HANNAH NORTON TEXAS With public school fund- ing at the forefront, education is expected to be a hot topic as lawmak- ers return to Austin. The 88th Texas legislative session began Jan. 10, and public education is once again the focus of many prospective bills. Public school funding remains a top priority for lawmakers, educa- tors and advocates. Because schools receive funding based on atten- dance, some administrators said their districts lost funding during the 2021-22 school year. The state nances schools through the basic allotment, which is the amount of money schools receive per student. Funding is based on average daily attendance, or the number of students at school on average. Average daily atten- dance is the sum of students present throughout the school year divided by the number of days that schools are required to be open, according
to the Texas Education Agency. Schools then earn $6,160 per student who meets the average daily attendance threshold. But when a student is frequently absent, their school loses money, even if the school’s day-to-day operations do not change. House Bill 31, led by Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D Austin, would require schools to be funded based on the average number of students enrolled during the academic year. This would protect districts from losing money when students miss school. An identical bill, Senate Bill 263, was led by Sen. Nathan Johnson, D Dallas. Two bills in favor of enroll- ment-based funding—HB 1246 and SB 728—were led during the 2021 legislative session. Even with bipartisan support, neither bill received a hearing or reached the chamber oors. For this session, Johnson also led SB 88, which would increase the state’s per pupil
SESSION TO ADDRESS SCHOOL FUNDING
Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, led Senate Bill 88 to increase the state’s per-pupil funding in Texas public schools, which trails the national average by over $4,000.
$8K
$7,075
$6,106
Up by $969 (16%)
$6K
$4K
$2K
$0
SOURCES: EDUCATION WEEK, STATE OF TEXAS COMMUNITY IMPACT
basic allotment to $7,075. The bill also calls for an increase in the allotment when in ation rises to keep pace with the cost of maintain- ing a school.
BLUE RIDGE DR. N
Conservation Expo 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 25 Georgetown Public Library - Hewlett Room
Featured Guests: Texas A&M AgriLife Native Plant Society Texas Water Development Board
Join the City’s Water Conservation Team at this come-and-go event to learn more about local conservation methods and resources.
Brazos River Authority Sun City Water Matters Environmental Services and more!
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GEORGETOWN EDITION • JANUARY 2023
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