Bay Area Edition | January 2023

EDUCATION

OTHER STORIES TO FOLLOW IN 2023

CCISD to hold elections for trustees Clear Creek ISD’s board of trustees plans to hold a general election for two trustee positions May 6, according to a release from the district. The positions are for District 2 and District 3, which are held by Michelle Davis and Arturo Sanchez, respectively. Trustee duties include policy adoption and annual budget approval, according to the release. CCISD’s single-member district election boundaries were redrawn and approved Dec. 13, 2021, as a result of 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data. The boundaries can be viewed online at www.ccisd.net/ elections/2023boundaries. The district will contract election services with Harris County for both the district 2 and 3 elections alongside Galveston County for District 2. Any citizen interested in ling for a place on the ballot can do so until 5 p.m. Feb. 17. For more information on the elections, visit www.ccisd.net/elections.

BY HANNAH NORTON & SAAB SAHI

2019,” CCISD Superintendent Karen Engle said. “We would like for this legislative session to consider how ination impacts that.” The district expects that 40,540 students will be enrolled in 2023-24 versus 40,781 students for 2022-23, which is a decline of 241. The district will earn $1.48 million less in 2023-24 than 2022-23 at the current rate that districts earn per student. House Bill 31, led by Rep. Gina Hinojosa, DAustin, 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, DDallas. Two bills in favor of enroll- ment-based funding—HB 1246 and SB 728—were led during the 2021 leg- islative 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 basic allotment to $7,075. Prioritizing safety The Galveston County Schools Consortium and CCISD held a joint meeting Dec. 14 to discuss legislative priorities with local legislators. Priorities discussed by local school districts other than school funding included safety, teacher retention and increased local control, Engle said. Safety at schools in CCISD will continually evolve in the coming

SESSION TO ADDRESS SCHOOL FUNDING

CLEAR CREEK ISD & TEXAS Education is expected to be a key topic of focus of many prospective bills from public school funding to the student assessment model as lawmakers returned to Austin for the 88th Texas legislative session that began Jan. 10. Subjects such as public school funding and the student assessment model remain top priorities for lawmakers, educators and advocates. Because schools receive funding based on attendance, 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 attendance is the sum of students present throughout the school year divided by the number of days schools must be open, per the Texas Education Agency. Schools then earn $6,160 per student who meets the average daily attendance threshold. But when a stu- dent is frequently absent, their school loses money, even if the school’s day- to-day operations do not change. Local district assesses shortfall Clear Creek ISD’s estimates predict a $15 million shortfall for the scal year 2023-24 budget based on Texas nance laws, CCISD Chief Financial Ocer Alice Benzaia said. “We are concerned about the basic allotment that we receive per student, which hasn’t had an adjustment since

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

SOURCES: EDUCATION WEEK, TEXAS, CLEAR CREEK ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT $1.48M The expected decrease in CCISD’s allotment from the state THE LOCAL IMPACT Clear Creek ISD ocials said they hope the legislative session will help oset a projected budget shortfall. $15M The budget shortfall CCISD expects in scal year 2023-24 241 The expected decrease in student enrollment from 2022-23 to 2023-24 year, CCISD board President Jay Cunningham said. Changes could include stadium call boxes since some school areas are utilized after hours. Texas began to conduct random intruder safety audits of schools in September, which Cunningham said has already happened in CCISD.

TRUSTEE DUTIES

Two Clear Creek ISD board of trustees positions will be up for election May 6. Trustees hold various duties, including:

Policy adoption to inform district actions Annual budget approval

Communicating the district’s vision and successes

SOURCE: CLEAR CREEK ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT

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BAY AREA EDITION • JANUARY 2023