Hundreds of school districts in Texas, including Brownwood ISD, have filed suit against the state over public school finance as many districts continue to experience deep cuts in state funding.
Brownwood ISD Superintendent Dr. Reece Blincoe has been asked to testify against the state in one of six lawsuits on the funding issue as well as about a dozen district representatives from across the state. Depositions are due in August for the trial which is expected to take place in October.
According to Blincoe, he did not apply to testify in the suit but received a call asking him to do so.
“I got a phone call one day from the attorneys’ office asking me to testify. They stated that Brownwood ISD had the right demographics and geographic location that would be supportive of the case, and I was told ‘we think you have a good story to tell,’” said Blincoe.
He explained that during an informal meeting with the attorneys in the suit, he was asked to give a deposition and possibly testify in person. Blincoe stated that at the least, his thoughts on the matter will be written down in a deposition which will be given to the judge to read and consider with the other evidence and information in the case.
Blincoe said that he believes school funding needs to be fair and equal for all school districts and that small rural towns depend on their schools, not only for education but for as a major source of employment.
“Rural school districts really take the hit bad, if education funding cuts continue, small schools will die – especially those small schools like in west Texas,” said Blincoe. “Novice is an example of this, if cuts continue we could be looking at schools like Santa Anna and Brookesmith being the next ones to go.”
He explained that the schools are faced with tough decisions such as consolidation with other towns, or simply shutting down. “We can’t let that happen. Every town deserves to have their own school,” Blincoe said.
He explained further, “There are 1100 school districts in the state of Texas and 800 of these have 1000 or less students. These are the ones that are struggling to get by,” said Blincoe. “When teachers are paid in these communities, they are in the grocery stores, gas stations and other retail businesses. If the school is the number one employer in a town, some towns would simply dry up.”
The lawsuits are in response to the state’s decision to cut billions of dollars from Texas public schools. Brownwood and other school districts in Texas are looking at making tough choices as they work on their budgets for the upcoming school year. The common argument in the lawsuits is that the legislature has not provided enough funds to allow school districts to meet the increasing state accountability standards.
“I am very, very optimistic that we will win on the district level. When the suit goes to the state level, I’m not as optimistic,” said Blincoe. “In a previous ruling, West Orange Cove vs. Scott, the court ruled that the state is just barely legal in the way they fund schools, barely adequate. It’s in our constitution that schools will be funded by the state. The state is requiring harder, more stringent tests with less funding to be able to teach the materials; we’re going backward in Texas. I think they will have to rule in our favor, I’m an optimistic guy, and I hope that we prevail and the state is forced to fund in a fair way—that the rural schools will have the same shot as larger schools at those funding dollars.”
BISD receives approximately $5,400 in state funding for every student, according to Blincoe that is nearly $2,000 a student below the state average. If Brownwood received the average amount per student, it would mean an increase of nearly $7 million dollars to BISD.
“Do you know what I could do with that $2000 per student,” said Blincoe. “I could do a whole lot with that.”
BISD Deputy Superintendent Kevin Gabaree provided the BISD Board of Trustees preliminary budget comparisons at June’s school board meeting giving the board a “worst case scenario” regarding next year’s budget. A total decrease of around $1,213,801 was reported due to estimated reductions in local, state and federal revenue. By eliminating some no longer needed construction budget items, optimizing utilities and maintenance, utilizing remaining instruction material allotment funds and current monetary cushions, and combining them with a difficult to suggest salary freeze, Gabaree stated between $900,000 and $950,000 could be saved to provide a bare-bones budget that doesn’t cut into jobs or affect instruction. Gabaree also suggested that if the district still faced a slightly deficit budget, a portion of the current fund balance of $4,044,000 could be used to make up the difference. The estimated decrease in funds from local property tax will likely improve when the Brown County Appraisal District releases estimated values later this month.
