WDL-07-2019

Maintenance & operations TAX RATES TO DROP

CONTINUED FROM 1

House Bill 3 provides state funds slated to lower tax rates for property owners. The average tax rate decrease will be about 8 cents per $100 valuation. The maintenance and operations portion of a school district’s tax rate funds daily operations, and the smaller interest and sinking rate accrues from bonds.

funding 207-8 PER STUDENT

the state in years. The state’s school nance reform bill focuses on three primary components: getting an addi- tional . billion into public schools for students and teachers, providing . billion for lowering tax rates and mandating full-day pre-K programs. “It’s ahistoric legislative eort on behalf of public schools, our teachers and education reform going forward,” Creighton said. “It’s incredible. It not only pays our teachers more, [but] it [also] directs more state dollars directly to the classroom and increases the state’s share of public education.” INFLUX OF FUNDING Of the . billion of reform dollars across the state, . bil- lion is going to improve public education. Creighton said the percent- age of public school districts’ funding from the state—which has declined in recent years—is increasing from % to %. The portion of state funding which makes up overall reve- nue in CISD has decreased sev- eral times since . Texas Education Agency nancial reports show state

CURRENT MAINTENANCE &OPERATIONS TAX RATES

According to the most recent CISD financial report, the district received the following per student:

Conroe ISD

$1.06

$1.04

FEDERAL PROGRAM REVENUE: STATE PROGRAM REVENUE:

$685

$0.97

2018-19

2017-18

2016-17

2015-16

2014-15

2019-20 proposed

BENTHOMPSON/COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER

$2,328

Tomball ISD

$1.06

LOCAL AND INTERMEDIATE REVENUES:

$1.04

$7,340.38

$1.02

$0.97

$10,353.38

TOTAL:

2018-19

2017-18

2016-17

2015-16

2014-15

2019-20 proposed

KARAMCINTYRE/COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER

Magnolia ISD

$1.06

n/a*

$1.04

2019-20 proposed

2018-19

2017-18

2016-17

2015-16

2014-15

ANNALOTZ/COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER

*NOT AVAILABLE AT PRESS TIME

SOURCE:TEXASEDUCATIONAGENCY/COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER

balance our budget.” Along with teacher raises, HB increased the basic funding allotment per student from , to , and cut the amount of funding districts contribute to the state’s recapture program, also known as the “Robin Hood” program. Recapture takes funds from wealthier districts and uses the money to fund poorer districts from around the state. Creighton said districts will have to contribute % less to the recapture program in the next biennium. TEA data indicates CISD has not been the subject of recapture. However, Tomball ISD, which has sev- eral schools in the Village of Creekside Park, will see benets from the recapture reduction. The district’s recapture costs for the - year dropped from . million to an estimated . million for the - school year. FULL-DAY PRE-K PROGRAMS The demands of full-day pre-K could create a new inux of students into the district, CISD ocials said. So many, in fact, Rice said the district is considering building a new school to house them. Currently, CISD has a total of classrooms that provide half-day pre-K programs in the morning and aernoon for , students in the upcoming year. “For us to go full-day, we would have to add an equivalent of roughly a new elementary school,” Rice said. “We gure that once we oer full-day pre- K, more people will be joining the program that are eligible. It’s going to be a large impact on us.” Rice said the idea of building a pre-K academy is being taken under consideration. While no plans

funding decreased from . million in to . million budgeted for -—a decrease from .% to .% of total district funding. Information from CISD indicates the school dis- trict will receive an additional . million from HB in foundational school program funding, which includes sta raises. Schools are required to use % of their increased education funding for salary increases. Of the salary increases, % must go to teachers, nurses, counsel- ors and librarians. During the CISD board of trustees June meet- ing, the board unanimously agreed to a % raise for administrators and a .% raise for all other employ- ees. Teachers with six or more years of experience will also receive a stipend.

The raises and stipends will take eect for the - academic year. “A .% raise is roughly , for teachers on our average salary,” CISD Chief Financial Ocer Darrin Rice said. Following sta raises, Rice said the district will have an additional . million from HB remain- ing, which will be put to use in the budget. Creighton said the increased funding to public education was made possible by the oil and gas industry’s recent boom, resulting in a billion reve- nue surplus available to the state. “It’s no coincidence we committed an additional billion to schools following that surplus,” he said. “We even went above and beyond what the sur- plus was.” Because of the sweeping changes, however, there are concerns with how the state will be able to keep the funding sustained in future years, particularly in regard to pre-K programs. “These are all things the state of Texas will institute and just watch. … A few sessions from now, none of it will be funded,” said state Rep. Steven Toth, R-The Woodlands. “The mandate comes with funding, and in a few years the funding goes away.” Creighton said sustaining changes implemented by HB will be dependent on the revenue available. “When revenue is strong, our commitment will always be to public schools and the best educa- tion environment we can provide,” Creighton said. “When our revenue is down, just like every house- hold has to tighten its belt, we have to do the same because we’re under a constitutional mandate to

It’s a historic leg- islative effort on behalf of public schools, our teach-

ers and education reformgoing forward.

—SEN. BRANDON CREIGHTON, R-CONROE

Community Impact Newspaper • communityimpact.com