A Note from the Superintendent

Dear Community,

The Senate has less than a week to approve HB 100 to add much-needed funding to our schools. You and I know that public education is the cornerstone of every great community and Plano is no exception. Our schools and teachers are working harder than ever to meet the needs of every student that walks through our doors, regardless of income, background, zip code or educational need. We exist for this very purpose and we thrive on the challenge of providing each and every student with a great education and a wealth of opportunities for their futures.

But we need more funding in order to do this. Our funding has not increased with inflation. It has not increased as our challenges and needs have grown. It has not increased as our mandated recapture payments have continued to balloon. Instead, we are forced each day to do more with less and that equation gets more difficult by the moment. 

Please, take the time to contact our state leaders and implore them to prioritize this vital increase in funding for all Texas schools. Our future depends on our ability to deliver on our promise of an excellent education for every child. We are up for the challenge—we just need the tools to do it.  

Sincerely,

Dr. Theresa Williams
Superintendent

Legislative Activity

Bills we are watching

• HB 100 by Ken King (R-Canadian) Increases the basic allotment from $6,160 to $6,250 in 2024, and to $6,300 in 2025 (equivalent to approx $7.1 million in PISD) increases the transportation allotment to $1.54 per mile for regular transportation and $1.67 for special education transportation (equivalent to approx $1.4 million in PISD), creates a 4% early payment credit for recapture districts (equivalent to approx $8.0 million in PISD), provides enrollment-based funding for certain allotments, adds new allotments for advanced math & secondary fine arts, adjusts minimum salary schedule, provides for indexing the basic allotment to inflation in next biennium.
• HB 3 by Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) provides $10/ADA plus $15,000 per campus through the School Safety Allotment. 
• SB 11 by Senator Nichols (R-Jacksonville) provides a per-campus School Safety Allotment, based on campus size, which ranges from $10/ADA and $15,000 per campus. The bill also makes changes to truancy laws, provides technical assistance from regional service centers, and requires annual safety audits, and provides penalties for non-compliance. ($15k x 65 campuses = $975K)
• SB 8 by Brandon Creighton (R-Beaumont) and SB 176 by Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) which would create voucher programs and allow parents to use public taxpayer dollars to pay for private schools that lack the accountability and transparency requirements of public schools. Plano ISD opposes both of these bills and provided written testimony on SB 8, which you can read here. 
• HB 11 by Harold Dutton (D-Houston) which would increase the Basic Allotment by $50 with half of that increase being applied toward compensation for teachers, nurses, counselors, and librarians; an increase to the minimum salary schedules for those employees; modifies small and mid-sized allotment to be based on enrollment. (This would provide an estimated $2.5M, which is less than 1% of PISD’s total operating budget, despite the fact that compounded inflation exceeds 14.5% since the last increase in the basic allotment in 2019.)
• HB 2 by Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) relating to providing property tax relief through the public school finance system and property tax appraisal and administration.
• HB 4402 by Rep. Keith Bell (R-Forney) relating to the administration of certain assessment instruments, the accountability rating system for assessing campus and district performance and an extracurricular and cocurricular allotment under the Foundation School Program.

Hearings and Floor Action for the Week of May 22 - Final Week of Session

Live videos for the House can be found here and the Senate here. 

Monday, May 22, 2023

• House reconvenes at 9:00 a.m. 
• Senate reconvenes at 11:00 a.m.
• No Public Education committee hearings have been set at time of publishing.

Reading Homework

• View our updated video on Plano ISD’s advocacy efforts this legislative session. 
• On May 1, Plano ISD joined forces with other school districts across the state to urge parents and supporters to contact state lawmakers about school funding. Speaking at a joint press conference, School Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey stated, “For Plano ISD, this is an S.O.S moment—SUPPORT OUR SCHOOLS. Despite being one of the largest and wealthiest states in the country, Texas consistently ranks near the bottom in per-pupil spending on education. School districts need additional funding to be made whole from the impact of inflation over the last four years and going forward.” Also representing Plano and the business community in this effort was City of Plano Economic Development Director Doug McDonald whose mom was a teacher for 25 years before retiring. He stated, “The number one asset that recruits global companies to the state of Texas is our schools. The number one challenge facing our companies is workforce. It’s not a simple fix. We have to continue building a pipeline of talent and that starts with our schools. Our future workforce is in our schools today.” (Read more and watch video from the press conference | Send an SOS to lawmakers to ask that school funding keep up with inflation)
• Check out our Legislative Affairs webpage where you can find the latest reports out of Austin and more.
• Plano ISD has adopted its Legislative Priorities and Legislative Remedies. This list of policy issues and solutions was created by and adopted by the Board of Trustees and serves as a guide for the district’s advocacy efforts during session. 
• Plano ISD, along with 250 other school districts throughout the region and state, urged TEA to pause its accountability system refresh to ensure that the pending changes are fair, reasonable and not retroactively applied to prior years. You can read our joint letter here. 
• Check out other information, resources and position letters shared by Plano ISD this legislative session.
  
  

A Note from the Superintendent

Dear Community,

We are in the final weeks of our Legislative Session, and I am concerned that the funding our schools so desperately need is not guaranteed. As the Legislature manages a once-in-a-lifetime budget surplus of more than $30 billion, it is hard to imagine that our public schools would not benefit from some of that funding.

This week we are asking you to email your State Senator and ask them to support more money for our schools through HB 100 - a bill just sent to the Senate from the House that will add $7.1 million to Plano ISD’s budget. This is well short of the amount of funding we need to cover our deficit budget, but it is an important start. 

Please take the time today to click through this link and send your Senator a note today letting them know that our schools need HB 100! 

Sincerely,

Dr. Theresa Williams
Superintendent

Legislative Activity

Bills we are watching

• HB 100 by Ken King (R-Canadian) Increases the basic allotment from $6,160 to $6,250 in 2024, and to $6,300 in 2025 (equivalent to approx $7.1 million in PISD) increases the transportation allotment to $1.54 per mile for regular transportation and $1.67 for special education transportation (equivalent to approx $1.4 million in PISD), creates a 4% early payment credit for recapture districts (equivalent to approx $8.0 million in PISD), provides enrollment-based funding for certain allotments, adds new allotments for advanced math & secondary fine arts, adjusts minimum salary schedule, provides for indexing the basic allotment to inflation in next biennium.
• HB 3 by Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) provides $100/ADA plus $15,000 per campus through the School Safety Allotment. Schools would not be eligible to receive these dollars unless the district agreed to enter into a statewide contract for certain technology with a specific vendor selected by the state. The bill also requires armed security personnel at every school campus to be in place August of 2023, as well as annual TEA safety audits, and provides penalties for non-compliance, which include voucher-like grants to students to leave non-compliant campuses.
• HB 13 by Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) provides $100/ADA School Safety Allotment, establishes a School Sentinel program, requires mental health first-aid training for school staff, and establishes grant programs to help districts cover costs associated with safety & security. (This preserves local control and could provide as much as $4.5M for PISD.)
• SB 11 by Senator Nichols (R-Jacksonville) provides a per-campus School Safety Allotment, based on campus size, which ranges from $15,000-$16,800 per campus. The bill also makes changes to truancy laws, provides technical assistance from regional service centers, and requires annual safety audits, and provides penalties for non-compliance. ($15k x 65 campuses = $975K)
• SB 8 by Brandon Creighton (R-Beaumont) and SB 176 by Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) which would create voucher programs and allow parents to use public taxpayer dollars to pay for private schools that lack the accountability and transparency requirements of public schools. Plano ISD opposes both of these bills and provided written testimony on SB 8, which you can read here.
• HB 11 by Harold Dutton (D-Houston) which would increase the Basic Allotment by $50 with half of that increase being applied toward compensation for teachers, nurses, counselors, and librarians; an increase to the minimum salary schedules for those employees; modifies small and mid-sized allotment to be based on enrollment. (This would provide an estimated $2.5M, which is less than 1% of PISD’s total operating budget, despite the fact that compounded inflation exceeds 14.5% since the last increase in the basic allotment in 2019.)
• HB 2 by Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) relating to providing property tax relief through the public school finance system and property tax appraisal and administration.
• HB 3555 by Rep. Mihaela Plesa (D-Plano) relating to transparency in taxation, or Taxparency. For every taxpayer, on the face of the tax bill and the website of the assessor-collector, show the amount of ad valorem taxes that fund their local school district and the amount of ad valorem taxes that are sent to the State in recapture.
• HB 3028 by Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) creates a 4% early payment credit for recapture districts (equivalent to approx $8.0 million in PISD).
• HB 4402 by Rep. Keith Bell (R-Forney) relating to the administration of certain assessment instruments, the accountability rating system for assessing campus and district performance and an extracurricular and cocurricular allotment under the Foundation School Program.

Hearings and Floor Action for the Week of May 1

Live videos for the House can be found here and the Senate here. 

Monday, May 1, 2023

• House reconvened at 10:00 a.m. 
• The Senate reconvened at 11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

• House Public Education Committee: 8:00 a.m.

Thursday, May 4, 2023

• Senate Education Committee: 8:30 a.m.

Reading Homework

• On May 1, Plano ISD joined forces with other school districts across the state to urge parents and supporters to contact state lawmakers about school funding. Speaking at a joint press conference, School Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey stated, “For Plano ISD, this is an S.O.S moment—SUPPORT OUR SCHOOLS. Despite being one of the largest and wealthiest states in the country, Texas consistently ranks near the bottom in per-pupil spending on education. School districts need additional funding to be made whole from the impact of inflation over the last four years and going forward.” Also representing Plano and the business community in this effort was City of Plano Economic Development Director Doug McDonald whose mom was a teacher for 25 years before retiring. He stated, “The number one asset that recruits global companies to the state of Texas is our schools. The number one challenge facing our companies is workforce. It’s not a simple fix. We have to continue building a pipeline of talent and that starts with our schools. Our future workforce is in our schools today.” (Read more and watch video from the press conference | Send an SOS to lawmakers to ask that school funding keep up with inflation)
• Check out our new Legislative Affairs webpage where you can find the latest reports out of Austin and more.
• Plano ISD has adopted its Legislative Priorities and Legislative Remedies. This list of policy issues and solutions was created by and adopted by the Board of Trustees and serves as a guide for the district’s advocacy efforts during session. 
• TEA is considering making changes to its A-F accountability system that would increase standards while applying them retroactively to prior years. This could have a significant impact on our accountability ratings despite no negative changes in student outcomes. 
• Plano ISD, along with 250 other school districts throughout the region and state, are urging TEA to pause its accountability system refresh to ensure that the pending changes are fair, reasonable and not retroactively applied to prior years. You can read our joint letter here

A Note from the Superintendent

Dear Community,

The 88th Legislative Session is well underway and we are busy keeping track of the more than 500 bills that have been filed that may impact our district.  The deadline to file bills has now passed and the work of the Legislature is in full swing as they conduct hearings and guide legislation through the process.  Less than one-third of bills will ultimately pass and become law, and it is our goal to ensure that our legislators understand the impact that public education bills will have on Plano ISD, our students, schools and community.

As we continue to move through this complex and fast-paced process, please know that we may reach out to you at some point to help us weigh in with legislators on issues with the biggest impact on Plano ISD.  It is our goal to be a platform of information and access for each of you to be your own advocate for your Plano ISD schools and students.

Thank you for your support of our Plano ISD schools.

Sincerely,

Dr. Theresa Williams
Superintendent

Legislative Activity

Bills We Are Watching

• HB 11 by Harold Dutton (D-Houston) which would increase the Basic Allotment by $50 with ½ of that increase being applied toward compensation for teachers, nurses, counselors, and librarians; an increase to the minimum salary schedules for those employees; modifies small and mid-sized allotment to be based on enrollment.  (This would provide an estimated $2.5M, which is less than 1% of PISD’s total operating budget, despite the fact that compounded inflation exceeds 14.5% since the last increase in the basic allotment in 2019.)
• HB 100 by Ken King (R-Canadian) does all of HB 11 + adds an “effective” teacher designation to the Teacher Incentive Allotment; increases eligibility for Pre-K for public school teachers and includes a $2,000 Mentor Teacher Allotment.
• SB 980 and SB 2088 which would provide a 10% prepayment discount to school districts that pay recapture early.   (This could potentially save as much as $20 million in recapture for Plano ISD.)
• SB 11 by Senator Nichols (R-Jacksonville) increases the School Safety Allotment from the current amount of $9.72 per ADA to $10 per ADA and an additional $15,000 per campus. The $10 amount would increase by $1 every time the Basic Allotment is increased by $50 from its current amount. ($15k x 65 campuses = $975K)
• HB 3 by Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) also increases the School Safety Allotment to $10 per ADA and an additional $15,000 per campus. The per-ADA amount would increase by $1 every time the Basic Allotment is increased by $50 from its current amount. (This bill offers the same revenue as with SB11, or $975K)
• HB 13 by Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) increases the School Safety Allotment to $100 per ADA, and removes the list of items on which funds may be spent to just include the spending requirement that funds be spent "to improve school safety and security."  (This preserves local control and could provide as much as $4.5M for PISD.)
• HB 2 by Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) relating to providing property tax relief through the public school finance system and property tax appraisal and administration.
• Numerous bills that would change the Texas public school funding system to be based on enrollment rather than attendance, including HB 2841, SB 263, HB 1376, HB 31, and SB 2301.  (Estimates are as high as $18M  increase in revenue for PISD.)

Hearings and Floor Action for the Week of March 20

Live videos for the House can be found here and the Senate here.  

Monday, March 20, 2023

The House will reconvene at 2:00pm.  

The House Youth Health & Safety Select Committee will meet at 2:30pm

The Senate will reconvene at 3:00pm. 

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

The House Public Education Committee will meet at 8:00am

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

The Senate Education Committee will meet at 9:00am  

Reading Homework

• Check out our new Legislative Affairs webpage where you can find the latest reports out of Austin and more.
• Plano ISD has adopted its Legislative Priorities and Legislative Remedies. This list of policy issues and solutions was created by and adopted by the Board of Trustees and serves as a guide for the district’s advocacy efforts during session. 
• TEA is considering making changes to its A-F accountability system that would increase standards while applying them retroactively to prior years. This could have a significant impact on our accountability ratings despite no negative changes in student outcomes. 
• Plano ISD, along with 250 other school districts throughout the region and state, are urging TEA to pause its accountability system refresh to ensure that the pending changes are fair, reasonable and not retroactively applied to prior years. You can read our joint letter here.

PLANO ISD LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS

PLANO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

2700 W. 15th Street
Plano, TX 75075
www.pisd.edu/legislativeaffairs