School Funding
Due to the state’s unprecedented revenue shortfall of $27.0B, drastic cuts have been proposed for public education in Texas. Even the current “low-end” cut proposal would mean a reduction in the Foundation School Program (state aid) to Humble ISD of $23.0M for the next school year. Coupled with our projected local shortfall of $8.0M, approximately $31.0M would need to be cut from our budget. To add perspective, the district has made over $32.0M in operating expense reductions over the last seven years but would now need to do that in one year. This does present a very bleak picture for our district.
The Board and district Administration have been working on steps we can take to achieve the necessary reductions in preparing for a worst-case scenario. As an example, it has been announced that we will freeze salaries for the 2nd consecutive year, and we will not add any instructional positions for the projected student enrollment growth, expected at between 800-1,000 new students. This will lower operating expenses by $6.6M. Add to this the annual savings we will reap from a newly executed electricity provider contract that will lower costs by $2.4M annually.
Other actions being considered include eliminating Pre-K 3 programs, and having secondary school teachers teach 6 of 7 periods, rather than 5 of 7. While these actions drive savings of $1.0M and $3.3M respectively, the major downside of the former is the lack of preparation for students entering school, and for the latter is the subsequent teacher fatigue these increased class loads will cause in middle and high schools.
The Legislature has also proposed a change to elementary class ratios, going from the current 22-1 in K-4, and moving it to 21-1 district-wide. We approached it in a different way, looking at the 21-1 average separately for each grade level throughout the district. This results in a reduction of 49 positions, or $2.5M in reduced operating expenses. The totals detailed above bring us to $15.5M, or about half way to the total.
We have continued to look very closely for other changes we can make to the structure of how we currently deliver our services, and if these changes can be made without an unacceptable impact to the classroom. The bulk of these changes would be concentrated on campus and central office administrative positions. While the exact details are still to be determined, the potential savings could yield over $9.1M, bringing the total to $24.5M. And unfortunately, the district recently announced that all 1st year teachers would not have their contracts renewed at this time.
There are some other revenue sources that we also hope to have in place as we enter the next fiscal year, namely rebate programs from CenterPoint Energy for both gas and electric usage. These initiatives could generate a combined $1.3M annually.
One large battle we are waging is to prevent the TEA from “recapturing” almost $18.0M of revenue, going back to 2006, and attributable to the TIRZ Agreement we have in place with the City of Houston (please click on the link at the bottom of this page for more details on this issue). Our only hope now is to have a rider attached to each legislative chamber’s final appropriations bill. On the House side we have this covered by our former colleague, Mr. Dan Huberty, who is now our State Rep. But we will also need our Senators (Williams and Patrick) to do the same for us in the Senate. Freeing up these funds would allow us to apply half in each of the next 2 budget years, taking us to $34.8M, which should get us close to the finish line!
But the only way this will happen is with the support of our stakeholders and a willingness to keep the heat on our elected officials all the way to the finish. To that end, in my capacity as Board Legislative Chair, I urge you to get involved by contacting key legislators by email, phone calls, and office visits. This effort really does pay dividends.
Please click on the Legislative tab on my web site for a link to the district’s Legislative Committee page. It contains a wealth of information on this topic, including sample letters, talking points, and the PowerPoint presentation we have made at Town Hall meetings on 10 campuses over the last few weeks. Additionally, the electronic contact information for all members of the Education and Finance Committees of both Chambers are listed. It has been very encouraging to see the large turnouts we have had at the Town Hall meetings. Great questions and dialogue has occurred, and most importantly, stakeholders are coming away with a strong desire to join in the effort.
And that effort is really paying off in Austin. We have seen a great deal of movement from the Legislature’s original position in January. They are now considering the use of up to half of the Rainy Day Fund to reduce the original proposal of $9.8B in cuts. Rep. Pitts, the author of the House proposed state budget, introduced a bill to do this. Also at our suggestion, they are considering delaying the July & August state aid payments to September, the start of the new budget year. This accounting “slight of hand” would translate into about $8.0M less in cuts to Humble ISD. The Senate Finance Committee established a sub-committee specifically charged with crafting options other than the across-the-board cut to education funding. These things are happening because of your efforts!
Yes, we still face an enormous challenge ahead. We can’t let our energy wane over these next 3 months. I urge you to get involved, and stay involved. We need to make this “go viral”! Together we can accomplish great things. With the education of our children as the prize, we have all the motivation we need!
