The Eanes ISD board of trustees approved the district’s list of priorities for the 85th legislative session at a meeting Oct. 18.

A committee made up of former state Rep. Vilma Luna, D-Corpus Christi; Deputy Superintendent Jeff Arnett; and trustees Christie Bybee, Julia Webber, Rob Hargett and Kal Kallison developed the list of eight legislative priorities.

“This [legislative priorities] document is not self-serving because it’s applicable to rich districts, poor districts, and it’s not a document that just says we need money,” Kallison said. “It’s a document that legitimately asks [legislators] to review the metrics associated with the formulas that drive funding. That’s a very rational approach that we are recommending to the Legislature.”

According to board documents prepared by the committee, trustees approved the following priorities:

• EISD opposes legislation that would reduce funding for public schools and hopes a moratorium will be placed on any new unfunded state mandates, which cost districts money without offering additional funding. 
• The district supports legislation to reduce the state’s reliance on the Robin Hood program, which recaptures local tax revenue to fund public education statewide. “Resident taxpayers are paying more as property values increase, but local school districts are not the beneficiaries of that investment,” legislative documents state. “EISD residents lose more to recapture than they keep to fund their own district.”
• EISD wants Chapter 41 districts, which are subject to state recapture, to have the opportunity to use transportation allotments as credits against recapture. Currently, Chapter 42 districts receive a transportation allotment, and a change could help equalize funding for schools that transport students.
• The district asks legislators to review and recalibrate the Cost of Education Index, a metric based on district costs and demographics used to determine school funding. The metric has not been updated since 1991, the document states.
• EISD asks legislators to adjust the percent of CEI used in the Weighted Average Daily Attendance calculation, a formula used to calculate funding for students with special educational needs.The imbalance in calculations results in $1.7 million in lost funding per year, the document states.
• EISD asks legislators to update funding weights based on its current costs to operate special education; economically disadvantaged; bilingual; career and technical; and gifted and talented programs. According to EISD, the weights have not been updated since 1984 even though the cost of education has changed.
• The district opposes legislation that gives public funds to private schools, and EISD wants private schools that get funding to be subject to open government laws and other accountability measures. 
• EISD supports legislation to develop state programs, such as a District of Innovation, that allow districts to retain more local control and implement innovative practices.

“[Creating priorities] is a goal that the board set in January,” board President Colleen Jones said. “I think this is probably the first time the board has come together with definitive positions [on legislative topics].”

Lake Travis ISD will be presenting and reviewing a draft of its legislative priorities at a school board meeting Dec. 13, LTISD Director of Communications Marco Alvarado said. The board is expected to adopt the priorities at its meeting in January, he said.