As legislation has started at the capitol, the Eanes ISD board is pushing for an increase in school funding, the need for additional resources is urgent as the district is thousands behind in the basic allotment funding.
The basic student allotment for the state currently sits at $6,160, a number that has not changed since 2019. Inflation significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. That level of cash isn’t to sustain the students in the district. The board is advocating for a $1,340 increase in the budget per student to stay even with inflation [in order to fund salaries and maintain services].
“Almost all of our funding comes from either the state or the federal government,” school board member Heather Scheffield said. “Most of it comes from the state government, and then a smaller amount comes from the federal government, but that is primarily for special education.”
Although the district receives donations from parents through The Eanes Education Foundation (EEF), with them receiving $2.5 million in 2024 as well as revenue from renting out venues and facilities, contributions like these are minor compared to state and federal funding.
“We’re asking for the increase to pay [for] teacher pay raises,” Scheffield said. “We can cover special education. We can also cover safety and security because we just added the [district] police department”.
The district has continued to face challenges in funding special education, and it is an issue that has grown more urgent in recent years, as the ratio of special education students has grown from 1/18 students, to 1/10 students. Eanes ISD now has 780 students in the special education program. However the board is roughly $1.5 million short to ensure students with disabilities can receive the support they need.
School security is a pressing issue in the district. The state increased the security and safety allotment in the 2023 session, but the board is advocating for a larger increase. The current sum is not enough to cover salaries of school resource officers.
“They raised it last session by a whopping 26 cents,” Sheffield said. “We have to pay our officers more than $15,000 per campus. At high school, we have several officers plus security guards, so it’s just not enough.”
As the Texas legislative session progresses, school funding has remained a major topic of discussion. Gov. Greg Abbott made private school vouchers his top priority. He proposed allocating $10,000 per student to private school tuition, which significantly surpasses the current public school total allotment.
“It does not seem like a deal at all for the public education system here at all,” Sheffield said. “If it was flip-flopped, maybe we could have a conversation about that.”
The district has continued to push for an increase in basic allotment, special education funding and safety funding to continue running their schools efficiently
“At this current time, it doesn’t seem like there is care for public education at all” Sheffield said.
