A year after more than 600 school districts challenged the public school funding formula in the Texas Supreme Court, the beleaguered system is facing a test from the state Legislature.

On April 20, the Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 21, which would increase public education funding by $1.65 billion. HB 21 was filed by state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, and he said the legislation is the first step in a multisession process to more adequately fund public schools in Texas.

The Senate has received the bill, and, should it pass, CISD would receive $4.5 million more for the 2017-18 fiscal year, amounting to $63 more per student for the district’s average weighted daily attendance. However, the bill would result in a loss for CISD's transportation allotment, Chief Financial Officer Darrin Rice said.

“House Bill 21 is actually going to negatively affect CISD, compared to other districts,” Rice said. “Although in the bill we are gaining up to $4.5 million, we’re actually losing on the transportation allotment.”

The transportation allotment is based on a district’s linear density, or square mileage buses travel, Rice said.

Currently, CISD receives $7.2 million dollars per year from the state in transportation funding, and the district spends a total of nearly $21 million per year on transportation costs, CISD Superintendent Don Stockton said. Under the HB 21 formula, CISD would receive about $7 million from the state for transportation funding—resulting in a deficit of $200,000.

“While we receive a little bit more money, it’s not enough to cover all of the needs that we have with transportation especially,” Stockton said. "We always appreciate any additional funding we receive. We would hope that it would at least be on par with districts that are very similar to us. When you look at House Bill 21, the large geographic districts are hurt by this bill."

The bill also would change the funding formula, adding weight for dyslexic students, career technical education and technology, bilingual programs and professional development for staff.

Districts would receive HB 21 funds from the state in a lump sum, and this money can go toward student-related funds, which addresses cost of living increases and additional students added to the district each year, Stockton said.

“While we get $4.5 million, districts very similar to us get millions of dollars more because House Bill 21 uses the transportation allotment to put those additional dollars in the funding formula,” he said.

The current formula for transportation allotments takes into consideration the number of students in a district and the number of miles they ride to and from school each day, Stockton said. Under HB 21, districts are given a flat $125 per student.

“In our case—because we have so many students riding so many miles, $125 per student doesn’t cover it,” Stockton said.

The two state bodies have until Memorial Day—when the legislative session ends—to reach a compromise on public school funding unless a special session is called to reconcile the differences.