At an Oct. 7 board meeting, Cy-Fair ISD trustee Justin Ray said a working group that includes himself, Superintendent Doug Killian, Chief of Staff Teresa Hull and General Counsel Marney Sims developed the priorities—all of which are focused on securing additional funding for public schools.
A group of community leaders compiled the district’s legislative priorities over the last several sessions and highlighted issues, such as standardized testing, school accountability and vouchers in addition to funding. However, as the district faces a significant budget shortfall, officials said they felt it would be best to solely focus on funding this session.
“The next legislative session could be the most consequential for school funding for a very long time. CFISD will be leaders among school districts by robustly advocating for school funding with legislators at home and in Austin,” Ray said.
The big picture
After the working group’s priorities were reviewed by the board’s governance subcommittee, the following list was presented at the Oct. 7 board meeting:
1. Fully fund school districts that offer a local optional homestead exemption.
CFISD offers a 20% local optional homestead exemption to provide relief for taxpayers. However, the district’s reduction in taxable value results in a loss of $91 million in property tax revenue, Ray said. The state does not make up for this loss.
Chief Financial Officer Karen Smith said this exemption will save the average homeowner $750 on their tax bill in fiscal year 2024-25. While the board supports tax relief for local property owners, Ray said, the district will advocate for full funding in this area so they are not penalized for offering this exemption.
2. Increase the school safety allotment.
Ray said the state’s school safety allotment meets less than 5% of the district’s safety needs.
The state provides about $2.4 million to the district through this allotment, but the CFISD Police Department alone makes up $16.9 million in the budget. To meet the state law mandating an armed officer at every campus, he said the district would need to spend $9 million to hire an additional 60 officers.
The state’s special education funding formula has not been updated since the 1990s and does not meet the current needs of CFISD’s growing special education student population, Ray said. According to information from the district and the Texas Education Agency, CFISD’s current 14% special education enrollment has nearly doubled in the last 10 years.
The district will advocate for recommendations included in the Texas Commission on Special Education Funding Report to the 88th Texas Legislature in 2022. This includes supporting adjusting the funding formula to be based on the intensity of services, increasing special education transportation funding, and providing funding for special education teachers and paraprofessional stipends, among other items.
Ray said the state’s funding formula for transportation services hasn’t been updated since the 1980s. This is another area where CFISD is spending more than what it receives from the state.
The board heard from several concerned parents at the Oct. 7 meeting following transportation service cuts for the 2024-25 school year.
- “This team did spend time with the last legislative session and going through multiple legislators. We spoke with everybody. ... We’re going to go for stronger messaging, more focused messaging, and our outreach is going to be very strategic," said Lucas Scanlon, CFISD trustee.
- “Myself and our union members only want to know what is best for the students we serve. Does what we are fighting for and voting for keep our students safe, get our schools fully funded and allow for our colleagues to earn a paycheck and retirement that reflects the worth of our work?” said Nikki Cowart, president of the Cy-Fair American Federation of Teachers.
Learn more about each of these issues and about how to reach local legislators as the start of the next legislative session approaches at www.cfisd.net/89leg.
