The six lawsuits were:

1. Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition – representing more than 400 school districts with mid to low property wealth.
2. Fort Bend ISD et. al. – representing 80 school districts
3. Calhoun County et. al. – representing over 90 districts with high property wealth
4. Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF) – representing districts with high percentages of English Language Learners
5. Texas Charter Schools
6. Texas Association for Real Efficiency and Equity in Education

All suits were consolidated into one lawsuit and testimony began in October 2012.

Glen Rose ISD was one of the 90-plus districts supporting the Calhoun County et. al. suit.  The claims of the Calhoun County et. al. group were 1) Adequacy – the state was not adequately funding public education, and 2) the current system was a statewide property tax.

Judge Dietz issued a ruling from the bench at the conclusion of oral arguments on February 4, 2013.  An omnibus written ruling is expected to be released in the next four to six weeks.  In his bench ruling, Judge Dietz concluded that the current system of school finance is unconstitutional.  He ruled in favor of the Calhoun County et. al. on both the adequacy claim and the statewide property tax claim.  His ruling stated that schools were not adequately funded to meet current standards suitable for the general diffusion of knowledge and school districts are legally or practically unable to raise revenues at a higher rate than they currently have.  Judge Dietz ruled against charter schools seeking facilities funding and the Texans for Real Efficiency and Equity in Education.

Where do we go from here?  This is a very first important step in what will be a long process.  After the written decision is released in four to six weeks, it is likely the ruling will be appealed by the state to the State Supreme Court.  A final ruling from the State Supreme Court would probably be issued in the summer of 2014 and the legislature would have to convene in special session to address the court ruling.

For additional information regarding school finance and school finance litigation, please refer to my December 2012 article.  This article addressed the history of school finance, litigation and impact on Glen Rose ISD.

In addition, the 83rd Texas Legislative Session is underway.  Many bills have been filed in regards to public education.  Several bills have also been filed to reduce the amount of standardized testing, remove the 4 x 4 graduation requirements in favor of a career and college readiness pathway track, eliminate the 15% final grade requirement on End of Course testing.  As the session progresses, I will update the parents and community on issues that will impact Glen Rose ISD.

Thank you for your continued support of Glen Rose ISD!

“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.”    John F. Kennedy

1. Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition – representing more than 400 districts primarily with mid to low property wealth.
2. Fort Bend ISD et al – representing 80 districts including the state’s largest 8 districts
3. Texas School Coalition – 90 plus Chapter 41 (property wealthy districts)
4. Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) – representing districts with large percentages of English Language Learners and Economically Disadvantaged Students
5. Texas Charter Schools – Parents of 5 charter school students in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
6. Texans for Real Efficiency and Equity in Education – Texas Association of Business and former House Education Committee Chair, Kent Grusendorf.

All six lawsuits were consolidated into one suit and testimony is expected to run through the end of the year.  Glen Rose ISD is one of the 90 districts supporting the Texas School Coalition suit.

Many people often ask how did we get to the point where over half of the school districts in the state have filed litigation against the state.  The history of school finance litigation in Texas dates back to 1971.  In the 1986 Edgewood v. Kirby lawsuit, the Texas Supreme Court found school finance unconstitutional and gave the legislature until 1990 to adopt an equitable system.  In 1992, the Supreme Court of Texas found that SB 35, which was passed by the legislature in 1991, to be an unconstitutional state property tax by creating “County Education Districts”.

In 1993, the legislature passed Senate Bill 7 that required school districts with property values exceeding $319,500 per Weighted Average Daily Attendance (WADA) to transfer wealth to property poor districts.  This was considered the “Robin Hood” law.  In 2004, school districts again filed suit against the state and the Texas Supreme Court ruled in a 7-1 opinion that the school finance system had evolved into an unconstitutional state property tax.  The court gave the legislature until June 1, 2006 to address the constitutional deficiencies in the system.

In 2006, the Texas Legislature passed SB 1 to address the court decision.  SB 1 reduced school district property taxes by 1/3 over a two-year period.  After lowering property taxes by 1/3, school districts revenues were to be made whole by Additional State Aid for Tax Reduction (ASATR).  The funding for ASATR was to come from a newly created business margins tax, used car sales tax and tobacco tax.  This tax swap has been estimated to have caused a $10 billion per biennium structural tax deficit.

In 2005-2006, Glen Rose ISD had a Maintenance and Operations (M & O) tax rate of $1.1478 per $100 evaluations and an Interest and Sinking (I & S) tax rate of $.069 Interest and Sinking tax rate per $100 evaluations.  The Texas Education Agency gives us the option of receiving the ASATR through a decrease in Robin Hood or through state payment.  GRISD elected to receive the money from the state because 80% of the $2.9 million dollars is funded in August and September.  This option allows us to hold the state money and local taxes longer to grant additional interest before we start sending $2.0 million per month in February-August for a total of $14 million total Robin Hood payments.

In 2011, the Texas Legislature reduced funding to public education by $5.4 billion for the 2011-2013 biennium.  Glen Rose ISD lost $1,200,000 in revenue in 2011-2012 and an additional $300,000 in 2012-2013.  The total loss of revenue was $1.5 million (8%) over the biennium.  Also, the legislature voted to break their promise of “making districts whole” through ASATR by eliminating ASATR by 2018.   This would cost GRISD an additional $3 million (18%) in revenue by 2018.

During lawsuit testimony in October 2012, the Hillsboro ISD Board president and others testified how unfair it was for GRISD to generate more revenue per student at a much lower tax rate.  “Children in Hillsboro are not valued as much by the state as children in Glen Rose.”  There is a strong viewpoint GRISD should increase its tax rate to send more local tax dollars to the state to equalize the districts.

If Glen Rose ISD were to levy an additional penny of M & O tax effort, GRISD would keep 20% of each dollar and send 80% to the state through Robin Hood.  By going to the maximum allowed M & O tax rate of $1.04, GRISD would keep approximately $1.3 million and send $6.5 million in to Robin Hood.  Where is the efficiency and equity for our taxpayers?  Under the current system, there is no possible way for GRISD to generate the same amount of revenue per student as we had in 2005-2006 with the loss of ASATR.  The level of recapture on the Tier III tax effort does not allow it.  How could any entity levy a penny of tax effort knowing 80% of the local tax dollars generated would be required to be sent to the state?  GRISD’s Robin Hood payment has gone from $6 million to $14 million over the last 6 years.  Robin Hood started in 1992-93 with 35 outlier districts contributing $135 million to the state and that has evolved into 374 districts contributing $1.2 billion annually and has become the state of Texas 4th largest source of revenue.  In 1992-93, the top 10% of wealth was subject to Robin Hood; now, it is the top 35% of wealth.

Glen Rose ISD is very supportive of equity among school districts and has contributed over $520 million local tax dollars to the state for equity.  This would have funded GRISD until 2042.  The state must find a reliable stream of revenue to improve equity and no longer continue to increase Robin Hood.  The system must be fixed as originally intended to bring bottom funded districts up to an equitable level rather than continue to bring high property wealth districts down.  The state of Texas has lowered the standard of wealth by continually increasing the number of districts associated with Robin Hood obligations.

When looking at expenditures per student, one must also include the amount of federal funds the district receives.  You must also look at additional cost measures that it takes to operate within the boundaries.  For example, Glen Rose ISD must have and maintain double the number of buses of most districts due to emergency evacuation requirements.  Insurance costs in certain areas of the state are higher than some, utility rates are not equalized, and cost of living is not equalized.

Any court decision on the current system being unconstitutional goes back to the legislature to “fix” the funding and to address the court ruling.  The legislature will convene in January 2013 and there will be much media attention regarding school finance.  Some legislators propose to “fix” the system with a $1.00 per $100 evaluations statewide property tax.  This plan is Robin Hood on steroids.  Most districts are already at or above $1.00 with Glen Rose as an exception.  This generates no additional revenue but rather changes how the “pie” is sliced and our slice would be much smaller.

I will certainly keep all of you informed as things progress and encourage you to contact our elected officials.

Thank you for your support of Glen Rose ISD!

Public Hearing on the 2012 Budget and Proposed Tax Rate

Mr. Rotan presented information regarding the proposed 2012 budget.  The proposed budget includes a revenue budget of $36,382,988, which includes general operating, debt service, special revenue, and construction funds and an expenditure budget of $34,367,372 made up of the same funds.  Please note: the expenditure budget includes $13.8 million in recapture money OR money that will be sent to the state for the Robin Hood payment.  Proposed tax rates of .825 Maintenance and Operations and .069 Interest and Sinking for a total tax rate of .894 were approved at the August 2, 2012 Budget Workshop.  The proposed rates are the same rates the Board has adopted since 2008 and are the lowest M & O budgeted expenditures since 2006-2007.

Following his presentation, time was allowed for public comments, however no one signed up to speak.

Public Comments/Audience Participation

None

Superintendent’s Report

Mr. Rotan presented the following information to board members:

1. Enrollment – Opening day enrollment was 1,689. Overall, the district is up by six students over the projected enrollment and up by 32 students from the last day of school in 2011-2012.
2. Campus Activities – The HS Auditorium Chiller unit will be replaced on September 10.  The old chiller system will be auctioned off.
3. Wireless Internet is scheduled to be installed on activity buses September 4.
4. Volleyball vs Dublin @ Glen Rose on August 28, 2012
5. August 30 – JV @ Carrollton Ranchview at 5:30; 9^th graders @ Granbury at 6:30; Volleyball @ Dublin Tourney; Pep Rally in Tiger Arena @ 2:20
6. August 31 – Carrollton Ranchview @ GR/ Senior Night @ 7:30
7. Sept. 3 – Labor Day/School Holiday

2012-2013 Budget Discussion

Mr. Rotan and board members reviewed:

1. Budget Development
2. Legislative Impact Summary
3. Preliminary Property Values
4. Revenue Projections
5. Salaries, Benefits, Staffing & Enrollment
6. Expenditures and Projected Fund Balances
7. Projected Recapture
8. Outstanding Debt Service
9. Proposed Tax Rate vs. Rate to Maintain

The Board took the following action:

1. approved a proposed Maintenance & Operating tax rate of .8250 and a proposed Interest and Sinking tax rate of .06900 for a total proposed tax rate of .8940.

Adjourned – Time 6:26 p.m.

Invocation

Andy Snow

Pledge of Allegiance:

Students Jacqueline Condy and Blake Kramer led board members in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Public Comments

None

Reports and Presentations:

TASB Media Honor Roll Presentation

Mr. Rotan presented a certificate to Kathryn Jones of the Glen Rose Reporter and Roseanne Espino of the Glen Rose Newspaper.  Sponsored by the Texas Association of School Boards, the Media Honor Roll program recognizes reporters statewide for fair and balanced reporting of news about public schools.

Update/Overview of Powerset and WIT programs

Dianne Habluetzel gave a brief overview of the two programs and the Blake Kramer and Jacqueline Condy presented their report to the Board.  Reci Brooks, the teacher sponsor for Powerset also addressed board members.  Doug Ogletree (not in attendance) is the Workforce Industry Training program teacher sponsor.

Superintendent’s Report

Mr. Rotan presented the following information to board members:

1. Preliminary report of the district’s school FIRST rating.  The district made a perfect score and was ranked Superior Achievement.  The final report will be presented in October at a public hearing.

CONSENT AGENDA

Kevin Taylor made a motion to approve the consent agenda, which included:

1. Minutes of the June 25, 2012 Regular Board Meeting
2. June 2012 Financial Report
3. District Monthly Investment Report
4. Budget Amendments
5. Custodial supply bid by Baxter Chemical & janitorial Supply Co. of Stephenville, TX for 2012-2013 school year
6. Renewal of property and general liability coverage with TAPS (Texas Association of Public Schools and vehicle and school legal liability insurance with TASB for the 2012-2013 school year
7. Renewal of student insurance for the 2012-2013 school year with Texas Student Resources for Student Athletic/Activities (Premier Plan) for a cost of $38,692.00, plus catastrophic coverage with a cost of $2,679.86.

Andy Snow seconded the motion

All voted Aye 5-0

Motion Carried

ACTION ITEMS

Student Code of Conduct

Mr. Rotan explained to members that two important legal changes came out of the 82^nd legislative session with a delayed implementation date to become effective with the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.  The revisions are required to be incorporated into the district’s Student Code of Conduct prior to the start of the 2012-2013 school year.  There were a few other revisions throughout the Student Code of Conduct for clarity and to incorporate recent changes made to other policies.

The major revisions include the following:

• HB 1942 amended the definition of bullying to include written or verbal expression through electronic means, and clarified that this is behavior that can occur not only on district property, but at school-sponsored or school-related activities or in a vehicle operated by the district.  As school officials investigate allegations of bullying, the focus in making a determination will be on whether the behavior exploits and imbalance of power between the student victim and the student doing the bullying and whether the behavior interferes with a student’s education or substantially disrupts the operation of a school. The definition of bullying has been revised in the glossary and the editorial notes have been updated in the General Conduct Violations section.
• HB 968 amended the Education Code regarding permissive expulsion from a DAEP.  A district can no longer expel a student from DAEP for the more broadly interpreted definition of “serious or persistent misbehavior” as used previously.  Effective with the 2012-2013 school year, “serious misbehavior” is defined by law and includes a list of the specific actions that do not constitute this offense for purposes of discretionary expulsion from a DAEP.
• Another significant change is in the section on Participating in Graduation Activities

Mr. Rotan recommended approval of the revisions to the Student Code of Conduct.

A motion was made by Brady Brown and seconded by Wade Busch to approve Mr. Rotan’s recommendation.

All voted Aye 5-0

Motion Carried

Educational Software for Grades 4-5

Curriculum Director Dianne Habluetzel presented information to board members about an interactive comprehensive curriculum including a digital teaching platform to manage classroom activities and deliver personalized curriculum to every student.  The digital platform is aligned to CSCOPE curriculum, which the district will be implementing in the 2012-2013 school year.  The cost estimate for providing Time 2 Know digital learning platform for a five year period is $165,520.

Mr. Rotan recommended approval to enter into a contract with Time 2 Know to provide a digital learning platform for grade 4 and 5 Reading and Math for the school years 2012-2017 with a budget amendment to cover all costs.

A motion was made by Brady Brown to approve the administration’s recommendation.  Andy Snow seconded the motion.

All voted Aye 5-0

Motion Carried

Closed Session

Personnel

Mr. Rotan recommended hiring Allison Stone for the High School Spanish Teacher.  She will replace Andres Betancur.

A motion was made by Wade Busch and seconded by Brady Brown to approve Mr. Rotan’s recommendation.

All voted Aye -5-0

Motion Carried

ADJOURN

There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned by consensus.

7:04 p.m.

 2012-2013 Budget Discussion

Mr. Rotan and board members reviewed:

1. Budget Development
2. Legislative Impact Summary
3. Preliminary Property Values
4. Revenue Projections
5. Salaries, Benefits, Staffing and Enrollment
6. Expenditures and Projected Fund Balances
7. Projected Recapture
8. Outstanding Debt Service
9. Proposed Tax Rate vs. Rate to Maintain

TAKS, EOC, and STAAR Testing

Curriculum Director Dianne Habluetzel reported that the district’s students exceeded the state’s test averages in every area.

Superintendent’s Report Mr. Rotan presented the following information to board members:

Board meeting dates for 2012-13.  All meeting dates are set for the 4^th Monday of the month with the exception of the following:

1. December 24, 2012 moved to December 20, 2012 (District closed on 12/24/12)
2. January 28, 2013 moved to January 24, 2013 (TASA Mid-Winter Convention held on January 28)
3. May 27, 2013 moved to May 28, 2013 (Memorial Day-School Closed on May 27)

Budget Workshops will be held on

• July 25, 2012 at 5 p.m.  (vote on proposed tax rate)
• August 2, 2012
• August 27, 2012 at 6 p.m. (adopt budget and tax rate)

2012-2013 Budget Discussion

Mr. Rotan guided board members in a budget discussion.

Board members approved hiring the following:

Jessica Huffman (3rd Grade Teacher)

Rachel Beauchamp (4th Grade Teacher)

Keri Flippen (4th Grade Teacher)

Lisa Andress (HS Math Teacher)

Kivett Gresham (HS Social Studies Teacher)

Carrie Lytle (HS PE Teacher/Girls’ Assistant Coach)

Adjourned – Time 7:37 p.m.

Mr. Rotan and Board Members awarded certificates to the following:

Barnard’s Mill People’s Choice Winner

Payte Treadaway

Academic UIL State Qualifiers

Cody Burtscher – Computer Applications

Nathan Burrough’s – Informative Speaking

Weston Snow – Science

Doug Ogletree – Sponsor

State Track Qualifiers

Blake Eschbach

Coach Todd Swearengin – Sponsor

Class of 2012 Top 10% Graduates

Katelyn Betsill (not in attendance)

Maria Ayala

Samantha Culpepper

Taylor Rhodes

Jaylan Dillard

Brannan Cockerham (not in attendance)

Ashley Hess

Denver Hufstedler

Samantha Seitz

Oliver Thompson

Melissa Cook – Salutatorian (not in attendance)

Weston Snow – Valedictorian

GRES Recognized by TEA

The Texas Education Agency recently recognized the Glen Rose Elementary School as  a Title I A Distinguished Performance Texas School.  This prestigious recognition is bestowed on schools that have consistently demonstrated strong academic performances over a three-year period.  All have achieved Academically Exemplary rating for the present school year and have a residing population of 40% or more low income students.

Principal Debbie Morris accepted a certificate on behalf of the Glen Rose Elementary School for their TEA recognition.

Oath of Office Administered

Judy Shipman administered the oath of office to incumbent board member Tom Lounsberry.

Public Comments

Parent and GRISD employee David Culp publicly thanked GRISD Board Members for all that they have done in making GRISD a great school district for students and employees.  Angela Bankston asked board members a question regarding a student.  Board President Phillips responded that only items on the agenda may be discussed in open session, therefore the Board could only listen to the comments and were not permitted by law to enter into discussion unless it’s on the posted agenda.

Reports and Presentations:

Superintendent’s Report

Mr. Rotan presented the following information to board members:

1. Enrollment – As of today, district enrollment is 1,658, which is up 16 students from the last day of the 2010-2011 school year.
2. Reviewed the PK and K Round-up numbers
3. Semester exams being held this week.
4. Thursday is the last day of school for students.  Early release is at 1:00.
5. Staff undergoing MacBook training this week.
6. Staff Awards Breakfast will be held Friday, June 1 @ 9.
7. Senior graduation is Friday, June 1^st.  Board members need to arrive at 6:40.
8. ACU Visioning Training will be held on Monday, June 11 from 9-4 at the Technology Center.  He encouraged board members to attend if at all possible.
9. Board members will be leaving on Wednesday, June 13 for the TASB Summer Leadership Institute held in San Antonio.
10. Possible budget workshop dates for board members to consider included June 11 or 12.  Asked board members to let him know if either one of those dates would work with their schedule.