In separate school board meetings last week, two area schools voiced reservations and concerns about state legislation proposing vouchers, basic allotments and school safety.
Thrall Independent School District held its monthly school board meeting on Wednesday, March 19, and the Coupland Independent School District board met the following day, Thursday, March 20. Much discussion in both meetings centered on state legislation and bills affecting Texas schools.
In Thrall, school board president Bryan Holubec delivered a legislative update. He said, “Legislation that really matters is the school funding, the vouchers. Last session the vouchers were all on one bill…but the voucher bill has taken a life of its own.”
The Senate and the House each have their own bills regarding school choice and vouchers, SB2 and HB3. SB2 passed in the Senate but has stalled in the House as it’s pushing its own version of the Senate bill, HB3.
On Feb. 18, Coupland ISD superintendent Earl Parcell and two school board trustees, Andrew Gonzalez and Royce Hatch, attended the Texas Association of School Administrators/ Texas Association of School Business Officials Legislative Conference in Austin. Presentations about the school voucher bills were given at the conference and both Gonzalez and Hatch appreciated the information.
Gonzalez said, “Being able to hear both sides of it gave me a clearer picture.”
Hatch agreed. “We got both sides of the story, the pros and the cons. But legislative wise, I think it’s still in the making.”
Hatch believes changes are coming in regard to school choice, but he thinks it could be an advantage to Coupland ISD.
“People want to send their kids to a good school,” Hatch said. “Coupland (ISD) can provide that education. I think it stands out.”
Gonzalez said that was the reason he and his wife chose to place their children in Coupland ISD.
“I think people are going to want to come to this school district,” Gonzalez said. “We’re like a private school district in a sense because of our (smaller) class sizes.”
Coupland school board president Crystal Ward pointed out that people can still seek out Coupland school with transfers, they don’t need vouchers to attend.
Tommy Hooker, superintendent of Thrall ISD, had a different takeaway concerning the voucher bill. He assumes the push for school choice and vouchers is coming from the larger school districts due to the problem of disciplinary issues.
Holubec referenced HB6, which he said creates an expedited process to remove a student who’s been causing problems that affect physical safety from the classroom.
“It’s good for the teachers and the classrooms and gives the teachers and the school districts more control,” Holubec said.
Hooker added, “We don’t deal with a lot of those issues in this district… The bill wants to put more power back into the schools so it seems there would be less reason to make a school choice measure.”
Besides school vouchers, HB2 wants to increase basic allotment and teacher retention allotment, which were also topics of conversation for both Coupland and Thrall trustees. Basic allotment is the portion of funds the state pays to school districts for every enrolled student and teacher retention allotment is an increase to teachers’ salaries.
“For smaller school districts like Thrall or Granger this is huge and can really make a difference,” said Hooker. “When we talk about our teachers and the pay raise they deserve, we need that sooner than later. We need that basic allotment to stay in place.”
Both Thrall and Coupland trustees are worried about the loss of revenue due to the property tax relief bill; while providing relief to homeowners it will leave school districts, especially the smaller ones, short of necessary funds.
Until any or all of these bills pass, Thrall and Coupland trustees know that their concerns are merely speculation, but they also have to be prepared for the outcomes.
