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McKinney ISD Board of
Trustees
Eye on the Texas State
Legislature
The Texas Legislature concluded its 79th session
without resolving the school finance issue. This issue is of utmost importance to the McKinney
Independent School District and the district is closely monitoring the
various legislative actions affecting the funding of public schools.
As many people know, the city of McKinney is the fastest growing
city in the nation with populations greater than 50,000. McKinney
ISD is the third fastest growing school district in the state, and
we have reached the $2.00 tax cap mandated by the state.
Our tax rate consists of two components. The maintenance and
operations portion of the tax rate is $1.50 and pays for most of the
day-to-day activities of the district, including salaries and
benefits, utilities and supplies. This portion of the tax rate is
comparable to most other districts in the state. In fact, for the
2003-04 school year, 828 of the 1,031 districts in the State (more
than 80%) were at or above a $1.40 rate. Per current state law, the
district cannot exceed the $1.50 rate on the maintenance and
operations portion of the tax rate. MISD has met the tax cap for the
past two years.
The other portion of the tax rate is the debt service rate. This
portion is used exclusively to pay the principal and interest on the
district's outstanding bonds (long-term debt). For McKinney ISD,
this portion of the tax rate is $0.50, the maximum rate allowed. As
a result of the fast-growth, the District sold the maximum amount of
bonds it could sell with a 50-cent tax rate this past summer and
will likely continue this process annually to avoid having severely
overcrowded campuses. Therefore, even though MISD continues to grow,
the current funding formula creates restrictions that could cause
classroom overcrowding and budget cuts that would impact the high
quality of education expected by MISD patrons.
Additionally, over the past several years, the state’s share of
funding for public education has significantly decreased, causing
the local homeowner to share more of the cost of public education
through property taxes. Currently, about 82 percent of the funding
for McKinney ISD comes from the local property owner. In 2000, the
local taxpayer contributed 73 percent of the funding, and in 1996,
the local taxpayers contributed 63 percent.
In cooperation with the Coalition to Invest in Texas Public Schools,
the McKinney ISD Board of Trustees has developed several
principles that indicate the
district’s stance on the school finance issue. MISD has developed
the “Eye on the Legislature” section of the website to not only
share the school board’s stance on school finance, but to also keep
interested patrons informed of the actions of the Legislature and
provide parents with a way to contact their elected officials on
this issue. The “Eye on the Legislature” will also feature different
websites that will help summarize the daily actions of our elected
officials.
MISD Board Principles
Learn more about the MISD
Board of Trustee's Principles.
Senate Bill 2
Click
here for more
detailed information on
Senate Bill 2
McKinney ISD appreciates the community's continued support and
interest in such a historic legislative session.
Important School Finance Links
School Agency Finance Web Pages
Invest in Texas Schools
Texas Education Agency -
(TEA)
Texas Education
Crisis - (Parents/Businessmen/Citizens-involved in public school
financing)
Texas
Association of School Boards - (TASB)
Texas
Association of School Administrators - (TASA)
GoArts.org -
(Sign up to support fine arts programs in public schools)
State Web Sites
Texas
Legislature
Texas School Finance Project
Texas
School Finance Committees and Members
Texas House of
Representatives
State Contacts
Click
here for a list of contacts regarding school finance and the
state legislature |
