From the Texas Legislature to district bond projects, here are four of the biggest district developments Norton touched on during his presentation.
88th legislative session
Norton expressed frustration over the district receiving a lack of funding to enforce two new school safety mandates passed by the Texas Legislature in 2023.
House Bill 3 requires school districts to have at least one armed security guard at every campus. The law provides districts $15,000 per campus and $10 per student to do so.
LTISD hired several additional officers to its police department to comply with the law, resulting in an additional $400,000-$450,000 in expenses, he said.
“This is what we call an unfunded or underfunded mandate,” Norton said. “We're required to do these things by the state Legislature, by state law, but we do not get additional funding to make these things happen.”
Senate Bill 838, also known as Alyssa’s Law, will go into effect next school year requiring districts to have silent panic alert devices in every classroom, and is not tied to any additional funding, Norton said.
LTISD has proposed installing panic buttons on staff members’ badges at a cost of nearly $974,000 through 2022 bond funds.
89th legislative session
Upon reconvening for the 89th legislative session in January, Norton said he expects legislators to address school vouchers, school finance, academic accountability and property tax reform.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and pro-voucher Republicans have sought to pass a voucher program that would give families state funding to send their children to private schools.
“Where public dollars go, accountability should follow,” Norton said about school vouchers. “There should be somebody, there should be something, that's holding those tax dollars accountable to our community.”
The basic allotment of state funding per student has not increased since 2019 while inflation has risen significantly, Norton said. Along with new school safety mandates, the district has incurred additional expenses to meet heightened requirements for providing dyslexia services, he said.
Norton also discussed lawsuits from Texas school districts over proposed changes to the state’s A-F accountability rating system. In lieu of the lawsuits, district courts blocked the Texas Education Agency from issuing new ratings for the last two years.
District budget update
For fiscal year 2024-25, LTISD adopted a $4 million budget shortfall, which has since grown to $6 million. The district approved its lowest pay raise for staff in over a decade at 1%.
Norton pointed out that LTISD is one of the only districts in the state that provides a local optional homestead exemption. The 20% exemption results in $34 million in property tax savings for community members, he said.
This school year, the district is expected to send $49 million in local property tax dollars back to the state through a process known as recapture.
The state system was implemented to redistribute revenue from property-wealthy districts to property-poor districts. Norton said he believes much of this funding does not reach districts but remains with the state of Texas.
Ongoing bond projects
District voters approved a $609.2 million bond package in 2022 and a $143 million bond proposition in 2023.
Norton highlighted the following new campuses and projects funded by the bonds:
- Elementary School No. 8
- High School No. 2
- Secure entry vestibules now installed in all campuses
- Lake Travis High School competition arena and fine arts additions
- LTHS science wing addition
- LTHS Cavalier stadium renovations and women’s field house addition
- Additional parking lot at LTHS
- New baseball and softball field turf
