The Plano ISD board of trustees will oppose potential legislative efforts to offer a state-funded option for children with disabilities to attend private schools, among other district priorities adopted Wednesday.

District trustees reviewed and adopted position statements addressing some of Gov. Greg Abbott’s top 20 priorities heading into next week’s special session of the Texas Legislature.

"Whether identified as school choice, tax credits, vouchers, or in the case of the Senate’s amendments to House Bill 21, education savings accounts, the end result is the same—a system in which public education funding is diverted to individuals to subsidize private education," one of the position statements reads. The district has opposed similar school choice policies in the past.

The district also opposed the governor's support for a proposal that would restrict local institutions, including school boards, from setting policies on bathroom usage by transgender people. The district opposes this type of measure on the grounds that it infringes on local control, according to the position statement.

[aesop_document type="pdf" src="https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=40864555" caption="Click here to view the document prepared by district staff."]

Priority No. 5, in which Abbott identified school choice for special-needs students as a priority, was criticized in the district-prepared document. The district maintained its historical opposition to voucher and subsidy programs, specifically in the context of private school choice.

The district document said such policies could allow private schools to discriminate against students with special needs through their admission processes, while accepting subsidies without adopting similar accountability measures required of public schools.

Board President Missy Bender said the Texas Legislature has attempted to divert tax dollars away from public schools toward private schools in prior legislative sessions.

The special legislative session will begin Tuesday.

The board approved a similar document for the regular legislative session in January.