Spring Branch ISD Featured News

 

Dear SBISD Families, Staff and Community Members,

With just one more month of school, our teachers and students are continuing to work hard and finish strong, and I could not be more proud of all that our SBISD family has accomplished this school year. Thanks to each and every one of you for your role in our students’ success and the many accolades and accomplishments that have come our way this year.

Election Reminders

I want to share some reminders about our elections that are currently underway. Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29, is the last day of Early Voting for our Trustee and 2025 bond election. There are eight candidates vying for three trustee positions and there are four separate propositions for the proposed 2025 bond. Voters consider and cast their ballot separately for each proposition. (View sample ballot here.)

Polls are open during Early Voting from 7:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m. at our early voting sites around the district. Election Day is this Saturday, and on Saturday polls are open from 7:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m. Voting on Election Day is at your zoned middle school location.

Full election information is available on the district website.

Additionally, there is a robust 2025 Bond web page on the district website with informational flyers and videos about each proposition, current conditions and opportunities for each facility, financial impact and more.

Should you have questions about the proposed 2025 Bond, please reach out to us at bond@springbranchisd.com and we will get your questions answered.

Bond Funds vs General Funds

As a reminder, bond funds are totally separate from general funds, as bond funds are locally controlled and can only be used for capital improvement projects and the like. They cannot be used for teacher salaries, utilities or the general operating costs to run the school district.

It is on the general fund side where the legislature controls our revenues and has not provided an increase on the basic allotment or other significant funding since 2019.

Watch video - Bond Election, Tax Rate & School Finances

89th Legislative Update

On the Legislative front, last week the Senate followed the House of Representatives in passing SB2- the voucher bill. With a $1 billion dollar price tag, this is the largest initial voucher bill in the country. The bill has been sent to the Governor for signing.

We continue to monitor the public education funding bills which we expect to go to conference committee sometime in the next week.

As we shared recently, the Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 2 (HB2), it’s public education funding bill. The House proposes $8.1 billion for public education, including $5.1 billion for increased investment in public education, including a $395/student increase in the basic allotment and $3 billion for specific schools or programs, including $700 million for small or mid-sized districts, $1.6 billion for increased compensatory education and early education allotments (that would be used in part for full-day PK), and $750 million for teacher performance pay.

The Senate does not include an increase in the basic allotment in their plan to date, with $5.6 billion allocated for public education. Of this total, $4.4 billion is for increases in teacher pay, $700 million is for special education and $500 million is for an increase in safety and security.

Other School Finance Bills We are Watching

• Early Recapture Payment Discount
  House Bill 1939 would provide a 4 percent discount for early payment of recapture. This would be a positive for SBISD and we continue to monitor this bill.
• Full Credit for Local Optional Homestead Exemption (LOHE)
  There are several bills we are monitoring regarding full credit for the 20 percent local optional homestead exemption. These include our Representative Lacey Hull’s HB 1153, as well as HB 558, HB 152 and Senate Bill 2644.

As a reminder, SBISD offers every exemption allowed by law, including the local optional homestead exemption. Bills providing SBISD full credit for LOHE would be a benefit to our general fund bottom line.

Reach out to our Legislative Delegation

With the passage of SB2, the voucher bill, there is speculation that the attitude for funding public schools is diminished both in urgency and in adequacy- meaning the Senate may now be less likely to budge on compromise with the House, if they even stick to what they have proposed.

It's time for our community members to be reaching out like only SBISD can do to let our elected officials know how critical increased funding for public education is for our students, our district and the 5.5 million Texas public school students who are the future of our great state.

Your children remain our bottom line.

Jennifer Blaine, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools