NEWS
Schools could see $2.2 million if penalty is thrown out
By BARBARA GREEN
Nothing is set in stone in the Texas Legislature. But if a pair of bills related to basic school funding pass, seven school districts in the greater Montague County area could see more than $2.2 million come back into their districts.
State Rep. James Frank (R-Wichita Falls) introduced House Bill 1710 on Feb. 9 which would eliminate the “small district penalty.” There is a similar bill in the Senate, SB 648.
This legislation would correct a 30-year-old problem imposed on districts that are less than 300 square miles in size and have 1,600 or fewer students.
During the ensuing years, the system has changed dramatically. The original legislation adopted two formulas that recognized the additional cost to educate children in a smaller school district.
Small schools were defined as those with 1,600 or fewer students. The state established a cost-based multiplier of .0004 for those districts.
However, an additional formula was added that penalized small school districts less than 300 square miles in size by lessening their multiplier to .00025.
There was no real basis given at the time for this addition; however, many people have said it political and an attempt to get smaller schools to consolidate.
Read the full story and how the passage of these bills could impact the local schools districts in the weekend News.
By BARBARA GREEN
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The Bowie City Council welcomed three newly-elected members Tuesday night and the panel had its annual council orientation of duties presented by the city attorney.
Brandon Walker and Laramie Truax took the oath of office for their respective seats during the meeting. Laura Sproles was sworn in prior to the meeting as she was enroute to the hospital after a fall at home where she injured her hand and wrist. All the candidates had to take the oath by Tuesday night after the votes were canvassed.
City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris made the presentation on council duties and obligations, as well legal requirements. Brent Shaw was elected as mayor pro tem.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Trustees of the Bowie Independent School District welcomed one new member this week following the Nov. 5 election and accepted the 2023-24 outside audit with no exceptions.
Incumbent Trustee Jacky Betts returned to place one and Angie Christmas took the place two seat. After the board officers were dissolved with the new ones taking the oath, officers were elected. Betts will continue as president, Guy Green as vice president and Kent Dosch as secretary.
Paul Fleming of Edgin, Parkman, Fleming & Fleming, PC, presented the audit telling there were no issues and the process went smoothly. He noted the biggest change was the Legislature compressing the district tax rate and additional changes in the tax law. State aid formula grants increased due to the state’s funding formula compensating for lost property tax revenue due to the law change previously mentioned.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Information was the watchword for the second hospital/emergency room community meeting Tuesday night, as the steering committee was announced along with additional financial considerations.
About 50 people attended the meeting. Melody Gillespie, who was named chairperson for the committee, said the goal is to gather information to get it out into the community. This group was formed after the Bowie emergency room was closed by Faith Rural Health System in early October just shy of one year of operating in Bowie.
Kylie Ward, one of the public relations volunteers, said, “This committee is not here to force things on you and there are assumptions already we are proposing a tax. We are not, we don’t have that ability, we are just a research team here to explore all the options.”
Other members of the committee include Tiffany Chandler and Damon Benton handling finance and grant research; Jennifer Tellef, secretary; Valerie Tomerson, grant research; Ann Smith, PR and Margin Latham and Gillespie, legislative research. It was pointed out there are other members of the sub-committees who are helping with research, but they also invite anyone interested to help with the process.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – Jack County Judge Keith Umphress spoke at this week’s steering committee meeting. (Photo by Barbara Green)
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