四虎影院

While state lawmakers continue to debate school vouchers during the latest special Texas legislative session, a North Texas school district revealed this week it鈥檚 on the brink of a in the 2024-25 school year.

Now Keller ISD leaders are urging parents and the local community to pressure those lawmakers into filling the budget gap.

During the district's Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, interim Superintendent John Allison said the projected shortfall is due to inflation, insufficient state funding and unfunded mandates 鈥� including .

鈥淜eller鈥檚 no different than every other school district,鈥� he said. 鈥淩oughly 86% of our budget are people, so to be able to offset in one way or another is going to impact staffing and positions and those kinds of things, and we need to have that conversation earlier rather than later.鈥�

While local property taxes have gone up, Allison said schools have had flat funding since 2019.

Because of increased property taxes and inflation, some residents are moving out of the district or getting priced out of the area. During his presentation, Allison said the reduced student enrollment means less money coming into the district through what鈥檚 known as the basic allotment.

The basic allotment is money given for and is currently $6,160 per student.

School districts are also seeing an , which will end in September 2024.

For Keller, the expiration of ESSER means losing $3.2 million.

Surrounding school districts like HEB and Northwest ISDs are waiting to release their projected budgets for 2024-25 but, like Keller, they are waiting on the Legislature.

A huge part of HEB ISD鈥檚 budget prediction depends on what the state Legislature decides to do this session, HEB spokesperson Deanne Hullender said in an email. That includes additional funding for , which is underfunded throughout the state, Hullender said.

Northwest ISD spokesperson Anthony Tosie said the district differs from Keller because they are a fast-growing district.

鈥淜eller ISD is in a different situation than us, as they are a mature district that is at or near build-out, while we are roughly a third built out and among the fastest-growing districts in the state,鈥� Tosie said in an email. 鈥淏ecause of the different natures of our school districts, our budgets and planning are significantly different.鈥�

Northwest ISD covers and serves more than 30,000 students as of the 2023-24 school year. Keller covers less mileage at and serves more than 34,000 students.

While Keller ISD is projecting reduced enrollment for 2024-25, a fast-growing district like Northwest ISD will begin its budget timeline in January to determine how projected enrollment in the district will impact funding.

Keller is also among the districts that have called for changes to the state鈥檚 recapture law, also known as 鈥淩obin Hood,鈥� in which property-wealthy districts are required to send excess property tax revenue to the state to be distributed to property-poor districts.

For the 2022-23 school year, the state collected an , according to the Texas Education Agency.

Because the money gets put into the state鈥檚 general fund, there鈥檚 not a way to see if the money given by school districts is going back to public education, said Allison, the interim Keller superintendent.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to tax the citizens and take it for schools, then there ought to be some guarantee and some accountability that it鈥檚 actually coming back to schools,鈥� he said.

In September, Keller ISD voted on a resolution to stop paying recapture money for the 2024-25 school year.

Keller is one of a few on the state鈥檚 recapture law.

Recapture Texas, an organization formed by the Texas School Coalition, is advocating for reform to increase transparency and control the growth of recapture.

At a time when the state of Texas is set to have a by the end of 2023, school districts like Keller are hoping to get more money for public schools.

But with school vouchers back on the table during a fourth special session, opponents of House Bill 1 are concerned that money given to students for private and charter schools will divert funds from public schools.

During Monday night鈥檚 school district meeting, Trustee Ruthie Keyes was among the board members who asked the community to reach out to their state legislators to push for funding for the district.

She said there would be no accountability held for that would go into private schools if vouchers passed.

鈥淚f they would make our kids equal to what they are saying that the voucher kids are worth, what a difference that would make,鈥� Keyes said. 鈥淲hat they鈥檙e saying is, our kids are not important as those kids.鈥�

The four state legislators who represent the district 鈥� state Sen. Kelly Hancock and representatives Stephanie Klick, Nate Schatzline, and Giovanni Capriglione 鈥� . 四虎影院 reached out to all four legislators for comment, but did not receive responses as of Friday morning.

Proponents of HB 1 say it will prioritize students from low-income families and those with disabilities.

Although vouchers and funding for public schools have been tied together, Allison said they are two separate topics.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e been tied together so it鈥檚 been intentional, I think, for the political leverage on the issue," he said.

Keller ISD set up a website for community members using a format made by Raise Your Hand Texas.

Through the website, district residents can ask legislators to increase the basic allotment, provide ongoing funding for teacher raises, reform recapture, and increase funding for things like safety, technology and special programs.

Keller ISD鈥檚 budget for the 2024-25 school year will not be approved until June.

The district will host a Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. to discuss the budget outlook for the next school year.

鈥淲hat we're going to have to look at to be able to balance our budget, a huge portion of that's going to depend on what happens in Austin,鈥� Allison said.

Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona at mcardona@kera.org.

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