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Despite meeting for three separate sessions over the past eight months, the 88th Texas Legislature has yet to provide additional funding for public education for the next biennium. FIGHTING FOR FUNDS
“We knew ESSER funds would end and so we did not want to depend upon them to balance the budget in future years,” Beattie said. Legislative eorts While state legislators have already called several special sessions, pub- lic education funding has not been included in any of the agendas. How- ever, Beattie said the district will be prepared if a future special session results in additional funding. From a legislative standpoint, both Beattie and Popinski said they believe lawmakers need to address the state’s basic allotment funding formula. State funding for schools is determined based on a basic allotment of $6,160 per student who meets an attendance threshold, which has not been increased since House Bill 3 passed in 2019, according to the Texas Education Agency. This funding is the main income source for school districts aside from local property taxes, and the state would need to add roughly $1,000 this year to the allotment to match ination, Popinski said. Beattie criticized the current attendance-based basic allotment formula, noting he believes a formula based on enrollment would be more equitable for districts throughout the state. “During COVID, parents were asked to keep students at home if they were experiencing any type of symptoms. Parents have continued this prac- tice post pandemic and districts are receiving signicantly less funding as a result,” Beattie said. According to Popinski, many funding bills failed due to lawmakers’ attempts to tie them to a private school voucher program as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s goal to make private institutions more aordable. Senate Bill 9, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, RConroe, would have paid a one-time bonus of $2,000- $6,000 to teachers, but failed to pass. House Bill 100—led by Rep. Ken King, RCanadian—would have raised the minimum salaries for public school employees, boosted the amount of money schools receive from the state and increased funding for certain programs, such as bilingual and early education classes. The bipartisan House proposal died during the regular session after senators added a variety of “school
choice” measures. During its regular session, Rep. Charles Cunningham, RHumble, said the state legislature allocated roughly $93.6 billion in funding for public edu- cation for scal years 2024 and 2025, an increase of around $30.3 billion from the previous legislative cycle. However, he said roughly $18 billion of the additional funds are being used to replace local tax collections in the school nance system, with the bulk of the remainder going on to fund projected enrollment growth and school safety measures. Retaining teachers On the other side of the education funding issue is an ongoing national teacher shortage—nearly 11.6% of teachers left their jobs at Texas pub- lic schools ahead of the 2021-22 school year, according to the TEA. However, budget issues are making it more dif- cult to increase compensation and retain educators, Popinski said. HISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen highlighted the importance of oering competitive salaries for sta members at a June 29 board meeting. “Even when the Legislature did not provide signicant increases, … we moved forward with a 3% increase for all sta,” Fagen said. Under HISD’s 2023-24 budget, start- ing teachers will earn $63,000. Additionally, o cials said the district’s budget allocates roughly $16.8 million to attract and retain sta through enhancements to compensation and benets. Still, Beattie said he believes the district is not receiving enough funding from the state to adequately support the needs of its special education students. HISD’s special education popula- tion has risen 16.5% from 3,557 stu- dents in the 2018-19 school year to 4,143 in the 2022-23 school year, TEA data shows. “The special education allotment formulas must be reviewed and updated to address current needs,” Beattie said. Hope on the horizon Lawmakers are expected to return to Austin for a third special legislative session in October to decide how to use roughly $4 billion in additional public education funds. Cunningham said lawmakers would consider several potential uses for the funds, including increased
Jan. 10: The 88th Texas Legislature regular session convenes with nearly $33 billion in its co ers. May 19: Authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, Senate Bill 9 fails to pass the House; the bill would have improved teacher retention by providing bonuses, creating a teacher residency program and helping schools rehire retired teachers. May 23: Authored by Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, House Bill 100 dies in the Senate; the bill would have raised minimum salaries for public school employees, boosted funding schools receive from the state and increased money for certain programs. May 29: The 88th Texas Legislature regular session adjourns with no additional funding for public education. Legislators reconvene for the rst special session; property tax relief and border control are the only topics of discussion. June 27: Legislators reconvene for a second special session; property tax relief is the only topic of discussion. June 29: Humble ISD trustees adopt a roughly $634 million balanced budget containing 3% on-average pay raises for teachers and raises for support sta . July 1: The 2023-24 scal year begins for HISD. Aug. 9: HISD students return to classrooms for the 2023-24 school year. October: Legislators are expected to reconvene for a third special session to discuss funding for public education.
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SOURCES: HUMBLE ISD, TEXAS LEGISLATURE ONLINECOMMUNITY IMPACT
However, HISD Chief Financial O - cer Billy Beattie said this year’s bud- get was one of the most di cult he’s helped produce since starting with the district in 2009. “The primary challenge was lack of direction from the state,” Beattie said. “Districts need time to plan.” Despite the challenges, Beattie said the district will be prepared to adjust this year’s budget if lawmakers approve additional education funding during a third special legislative ses- sion expected to be held in October. Budgetary concerns With the district’s 2023-24 budget complete, Beattie cited several factors he said could impact future budgets, including continuing ination. Due to high rates of ination in recent years for Texas—totaling about 18.5% from April 2019-April 2023, according to the Texas comptroller’s o ce—school districts have had trou- ble keeping up with rising costs of their operations. “Recent ination has had a dramatic impact on operations,” Beattie said.
HISD’s projected transportation costs rose from roughly $13.6 million in the 2022-23 school year to about $14.6 million in the upcoming scal year, marking a 7.4% increase. Addi- tionally, the district’s plant mainte- nance and operations budget—which includes maintenance intended to keep facilities in working order—rose nearly 7% from the previous scal year to around $40.5 million in FY 2023-24, budget documents show. Beattie pointed to several initiatives implemented over the last several years he said helped o cials avoid a budget decit, including the district’s position-control procedures. “Position control organizes the workforce by position rather than by employee, which enables us to com- pare budgeted versus actual costs and prevent over-hiring,” Beattie said. Beattie noted the district’s decision to avoid using federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds—which were doled out in response to the COVID-19 pandemic—to pay for sta pay raises in previous years helped with this year’s budget.
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