NEWS
Texas schools to receive $2.2 billion next biennium
Because of strong investment returns, the State Board of Education (SBOE) voted to increase the funding provided for school operations, instructional materials and technology to $2.212 billion in the 2020-2021 biennium, an increase of $172 million over its preliminary spending rate decision. This figure includes $55 million that the School Land Board agreed to send to the SBOE.
Both the education board and land board oversee the Permanent School Fund (PSF). The SBOE oversees investments of $34 billion, while the land board oversees about $9 billion. For the first time in the Permanent School Fund’s 160+ year history, the land board in August decided to bypass the SBOE and send funds only to the Available School Fund (ASF). Funds distributed through the SBOE are given a direct route to every classroom funding textbooks and technology.
The $600 million in land board funds will be unavailable to help fund new textbooks and technology unless the legislature intervenes and adds ASF dollars to the Technology and Instructional Materials Fund, something the legislature has not done historically. The SBOE has been strongly encouraging the land board to reconsider its earlier decision.
In a meeting Monday, the three-member School Land Board maintained its initial $600 million decision but voted to send an additional $55 million to the PSF-SBOE.
“We appreciate the School Land Board’s decision to send some funds to the SBOE. This funding will help pay for the purchase of technology and new instructional material for our largest call for textbooks for English and Spanish language arts and reading,” said State Board of Education Chair Donna Bahorich.
“The State Board of Education and our Permanent School Fund investment staff have worked hard to produce the maximum return for our students. Due to outpacing expectations for rate of return over several years, we felt comfortable increasing our PSF-SBOE distribution rate for the next biennium from 2.75 percent to 2.9 percent,” she said.
“Land board funds will increase the distribution rate to the Available School Fund to a total of 2.981 percent. The percentage distribution is calculated from the asset base that includes all SBOE-managed assets and SLB discretionary real assets investments and cash in the state treasury derived from property belong to the fund,” Bahorich explained. “However, because the land board did not reverse its initial decision, the overall distribution by the SBOE will result in about $259 million less than the $2.47 billion released this biennium. Without the legislature adding support, the Technology and Instructional Materials Fund will not cover the needs in the classroom the 2020-2021 biennium.”
The second community meeting on needs for an emergency room or hospital in Bowie is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Bowie Community Center.
This is the second meeting to discuss these needs following the closure of the Faith Community Health Center emergency room on Oct. 6, just shy of a year of operation. More than 200 people attended that first meeting, where discussion centered on the creation of a taxing district to support any sort of medical facility.
Citizens in the Bowie area are encouraged to attend and take part in these discussions.
The Bowie City Council has moved its Nov. 18 meeting to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 where three new council members will take the oath of office.
Councilors include Laura Sproles, precinct two, Brandon Walker, precinct one and Laramie Truax, precinct two. After the votes are canvassed and the oaths given, a mayor pro tem will be selected.
The new members will jump right into training as City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris provides an orientation and discussion of duties for council members.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will make his monthly report on the following topics: Nelson Street, which opened last Thursday, update on the sewer line replacement project, substation transformer placement and information on medical companies.
A closed executive session on the Laura McCarn vs. City of Bowie lawsuit is scheduled. The suit arose in November 2022 when the city broached selling some 25 acres it owns on Lake Amon G. Carter, originally part of the land purchased for the 500-acre Bowie Reservoir completed in 1985.
McCarn challenges the ownership of the property stating it should revert to the original owners since it was not used for the lake.
This 24.35 acre tract is located at the end of Indian Trail Road surrounded by the lake and the Silver Lakes Ranch subdivision.
One of Bowie’s major thoroughfares, Nelson Street, was reopened Thursday after one busy block has been closed since August 2021 when a section of the street failed.
Construction finally came to an end on Thursday when the street, including the Nelson and Mill intersection were reopened. Mayor Gaylynn Burris, City Manager Bert Cunningham, Councilors TJay McEwen and Stephanie Post, Engineer Mike Tibbetts and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance met at the site Thursday morning and removed the barricades. It only took a few minutes for vehicles to start arriving and drivers were excited to go through on the new roadway.
This section of Bowie has endured flooding and drainage problems for many years and in the summer of 2023 the city council finally bit the bullet and sought bids for the repair work expected to top $3 million. In August 2021 a one block section of Nelson was closed when a large sinkhole appeared on the north side of the street. Traffic had to be diverted including all the school traffic flowing from the nearby junior high and intermediate.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – (Left) Mike Tibbetts, engineer with Hayter Engineering, talks with Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham as they look over the massive drainage project on Nelson Street.
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