The details
In the July 16 meeting, Chris McCord, assistant superintendent for operations for the district, told the board the district had prepared for the storm the day prior and day of Beryl making landfall July 8.
“The maintenance team was out early and even the same day that Beryl hit ... working to restore our buildings [and] maintain things such as safety even as their own homes did not have power and their own homes were damaged,” McCord said.
After the storm, antiscaling fencing along schools was damaged as well as the district losing power and communications for several days. The damage has also impacted construction projects, setting the timeline for some projects back a week, McCord said.
“Debris and tree debris cleanup costs are going to be significantly expensive,” McCord said.
A look ahead
Chief Financial Officer Karen Garza recommended to the board consider using “disaster pennies” for the fiscal year 2025-26 tax rate to help offset damage from weather events. Disaster pennies allow for a one-time increase in the tax rate due to an emergency such as a hurricane.
Garza said disaster pennies are a type of “golden penny,” which Texas school districts are permitted to add to their tax rate that are not subject to state recapture, a state law that allows the redistribution of excess property tax revenue to other districts.
“This would allow us to recoup and tap into those golden pennies to get back some of the money we lost responding to the storm. We have a year to think about this, but it’s something to be aware of,” Garza said.
As 2025 will also bring a new session of the Texas Legislature, Superintendent Curtis Null addressed the cost of repairing the fences, which cannot be paid for through the state grant that districts used to install the antiscaling fences. Null said he would talk to legislators about grants to repair fences damaged by hurricanes or weather systems.
