You may have forgotten that the Texas Legislature is in session. That's ok. You haven't missed a thing.

Those on the legislative payroll haven't forgotten though, and no one is sure if their September 1 paychecks will come through or not.

One week remains in the first called session of the 87th Legislature before its final day--August 6 (unless they choose to adjourn sooner).

Now it's a matter of wait and see regarding what steps those on either side choose to take. Will those in Washington, DC come home in time to pass the Article X appropriations again so that legislative staff will be paid (and risk other legislation passing to which they object)? Or will Governor Abbott call a second special session in August to allow Article X to be funded (among other things)? If he does, are we in the same circumstances we are now...without a quorum? Or will the court will rule that the veto of the funding was unconstitutional and no legislative action is necessary at all?

Perhaps we will know more by the end of next week.

REMINDER: The TEA local property value survey will close at midnight on August 1—that’s THIS SUNDAY.

Hopefully, your district has already completed this process. If not, you can find this survey and complete it by Sunday through the FSP module in TEAL. Districts must complete this survey to know the district’s Maximum Compressed Rate (MCR) and Voter Approved Tax Rate (VATR) for the next year.

The following information is needed to complete the survey:

While we are on the subject of tax rates, here are another couple of reminders:

The Comptroller has posted information regarding Truth-in-Taxation and the two tax rates districts must calculate.

The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) has provided comprehensive information on topics including: the timeline for budget/tax rate adoption and elections, budget and rate adoption for 2021, posting requirements, resolutions to set the tax rate, and more. Links to all of that info from TASB can be found here.

Finally, the Coalition has also prepared a brief with information on School District Budget, Tax Rate, and Election Timelines and Procedures.

Texas COVID Learning Acceleration Supports (TCLAS) is $1.4 billion in funding and targeted supports available through 15 TEA initiatives intended to accelerate student learning in the wake of COVID-19. The good news is that there is a streamlined application process for all of that, and districts need only apply once.

The application is now open (through August 20), and all districts are encouraged to apply.

You can find all the available information, including recorded webinars to help you learn more and on the TEA website for TCLAS. Additionally, TEA released some new tools and information on this topic just this week:

Next week, districts will receive invoices to renew your membership with the Texas School Coalition. We look forward to welcoming you back as a member of the Coalition for the 2021-22 school year. As a reminder, the benefits of membership can be found on our website.

Section 140.0045 of the Local Government Code requires that proposed budgets in certain political subdivisions (including school districts) itemize certain expenses related to directly or indirectly influencing or attempting to influence the outcome of legislation or administrative action, as those items are defined in Section 305.002 of the Government Code. 

The portion of district membership dues paid to the Texas School Coalition that must be itemized in this way for school year 2021-22 is estimated to be 5.5 percent. For your information, we have prepared this table with all the information you may need on this topic.

Please let us know if you need any additional information.