Plano North | January 2023

CITY & SCHOOLS

OTHER STORIES TO FOLLOW IN 2023

Plano ISD discusses athletic program alignment Plano ISD The board of trustees discussed an update on the athletic alignment program during its Jan. 10 meeting, including discussions on classwide branding for matching mascots, names and colors. According to PISD Athletic Director Je Smith, the athletic alignment initiative began in 2018-19. A needs assessment identied small athletic teams, player development and scheduling with other school districts as some of the issues to address. “Let’s line them up; that way we’re all one family,” PISD Athletic Director Je Smith said. “We’re all one brand. We’re all one group. There’s unity in that. There’s cohesion in that, and I think there’s a lot of spirit and pride in that.”

AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDS ALLOCATION

Case management and housing navigation

5.6% $110,000

Plano approved a plan to allocate $1.9 million in American Rescue Plan funds to help those experiencing and those at risk of becoming homeless.

Tenant-based rental assistance

15.6% $310,000

Administration (city of Plano)

2.52% $50,000

$1.9M

Support services

73.8% $1,468,051

Administrative responsibilities

2.52% $50,000

Percentages do not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding

SOURCE: CITY OF PLANO COMMUNITY IMPACT

BY JAKE REYNOLDS

to HUD’s scal year 2021-22 Limits Documentation System, the median family income in the Dallas metro area is $97,400. For a family of four to qualify, they must have an income less than $48,700. “The majority of the funds are going to be spent on support services,” Plano’s Housing and Services Manager Shanette Eaden said during the Jan. 9 meeting. “Support services [are] homelessness prevention. That means that the person already has a home. This program is to keep someone in their home. It’s to prevent someone from becoming homeless.” According to the HOMEARP Allocation Plan, $1.4 million, or 73.8%, will go to support services; $310,000,

or 15.6%, will go to tenant-based rental assistance; $110,000, or 5.6%, will go to case management and housing navigation; $50,000, or 2.52%, will go to city of Plano administration; and $50,000, or 2.52%, will go to additional administrative responsibilities. “We’ve been working on this since September of 2021,” Council Member Rick Grady said. “The faster we can get this money out and into the community, the better o our community is going to be, because they haven’t stopped hurting.” Following council approval, HUD has 45 days to send a letter if it disapproves of the plan. If no letter is sent, the city is free to continue with the allocation of the funds.

PLANO City Council unanimously approved a plan for the allocation of its $1.9 million HOME American Rescue Plan funds during its Jan. 9 meeting. According to the HOMEARP Allocation Plan, the city of Plano received $1.9 million in funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2021. The funds were given to provide housing and services for residents who are experi- encing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness. To qualify for funds from the HOME- ARP Allocation Plan, a family or individual must have an income 50% or below the area median. According

Plano’s composting program is looking for 500 participants.

COURTESY CITY OF PLANO

Registration now open for composting program

Plano Residents can now enroll in the Residential Food Scrap Composting Pilot Program, which provides participants an environmentally friendly alternative to food scrap disposal. Registration for the program opened Jan. 2 and is limited to 500 participants, according to Pilot Project Lead Jaime Bretzmann. The program allows residents to dispose of food scraps not typically suited for backyard trash piles, including cooked meats and bones, eggs and eggshells, seafood, baked goods, coee lters, and more. “We’re trying to duplicate natural recycling, but we can make it happen a little bit faster using our understanding of nature’s decomposition process,” Bretzmann said. Plano City Council meets at 7 p.m. on Jan. 23 and Feb. 13. Meetings are held at 1520 K Ave., Plano, and can be streamed online. 972-941-7000. www.plano.gov Plano ISD board of trustees meets at 6 p.m. on Jan. 24 and Feb. 7 at the PISD Administration Center, 2700 W. 15th St., Plano. 469-752-8100. www.pisd.edu MEETINGS WE COVER

Major education bills led for 88th Texas legislative session

BY HANNAH NORTON TEXAS From public school funding to the student assessment model, education is expected to be a hot topic as lawmakers return to Austin. The 88th Texas legislative session began Jan. 10, and public education is once again the focus of many prospec- tive bills. Public school funding remains a top priority 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 are required to be open, according to the Texas Education Agency. Schools then earn $6,160 per student who meets the average daily atten- dance 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, 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 legislative session. Even with bipar- tisan support, neither bill received a hearing or reached the chamber

Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, led Senate Bill SESSION TO ADDRESS SCHOOL FUNDING

88 to increase the state’s per-pupil funding in public schools, which, according to Education Week, trails the national average by over $4,000.

$8K

$7,075

$6,106

Up by $969 (16%)

$6K

$4K

$2K

SOURCES: EDUCATION WEEK, STATE OF TEXASCOMMUNITY IMPACT

oors. For this session, Johnson also led SB 88, which would increase the state’s per pupil basic allotment to $7,075.

PLANO NORTH EDITION • JANUARY 2023