CHINA SPRING, TX — China Spring ISD has only $190,000 in flexible funds after state mandates. How should they spend it? A parent and community member took the survey the district gave and now she's giving her insight on what should be done.
- House Bill Two provided funding for public schools in Texas, which left China Spring with limited flexible funds after meeting state requirements.
- The district was allotted $2.4 million dollars, but after mandated spending, only $190,000 remains.
- This coming Tuesday from 5:30-6:30pm, an open forum will be held online.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
China Spring Independent School District is left with only $190,000 in flexible funds after meeting state requirements from House Bill Two funding, prompting community engagement through surveys and upcoming forums.
The district was allotted $2.4 million, but after mandated spending from the state, officials have limited options for the remaining funds.
"I wanted to show support for the district. There's a lot of misconception and a lot of misinformation when it comes to public school funding, and I wanted to show my support for what I feel are priorities for how we use the money that is brought into the district," said Delyn Payne, a China Spring resident and mother with two children enrolled in the school district.
Payne participated in a district survey to help officials understand community priorities.
"So if they're answering some of these questions and they're prioritizing different things, the district needs to know what they feel the priorities are of the community, so things like teacher pay, teacher retention, being able to keep high quality teachers, being able to hire high quality teachers and class sizes, programs, things like that. So if the district knows what priorities the parents have, they can more easily decide how to go forward with school funding," Payne said.
The funding challenges have left the district considering additional options to increase resources.
"We are very far behind in the state from the numbers that are coming in. So in 2019 was the last raise and we just got a $55 per student raise from the May Senate, or session, congressional session, and that doesn't give the district a ton of money," Payne said.
One potential solution being considered is a voter-approved tax rate election.
"I know that the school board is going to be voting next week on whether or not to place a VATRE on the November ballot, and a VATRE is the voter approved tax rate election and it doesn't mean that anything is happening with our taxes until it goes through the ballot in November, but if the vote is passed, then more funding comes from the state and then we get a lot more money from the state versus just from the money coming in from property taxes. A lot of parents don't understand that," Payne said.
The district will hold an online open forum this coming Tuesday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. for community members to learn more and provide input.
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