MFISD builds priority list for state lawmakers
The Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees is putting together a battle plan for the upcoming 89th Texas legislative session. An overhaul to school funding is at the top of the board’s priorities list, along with teacher retention and less state involvement in local education.
The Texas Legislature, which meets every two years, will be in session from Jan. 14 through June 2, 2025. During that time, representatives and senators will determine policies for statewide matters, including public education. Burnet County, and by default MFISD, is represented by Rep. Ellen Troxclair of District 19 and Sen. Pete Flores of District 24.
MFISD trustees aim to have a list of priorities in order by December to lend the district’s voice to the discussion of state education policies that have big impacts locally.
A draft of the board’s potential legislative priorities was up for discussion during its regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 18, but no definitive action was taken. The board is expected to approve a final list or hold serious discussion on district priorities during its next meeting, which should fall on Dec. 16.
School funding policy, a complicated issue, according to board President Kevin Naumann, is of paramount importance to MFISD.
“Inflation is at an all-time high and the cost of education, like everything else, is skyrocketing,” he told DailyTrib.com. “We’re at a place where we can’t keep up.”
State funding was already a problem for the district before the failure of MFISD’s voter-approved tax rate election on Nov. 6. Now, without the $2.2 million that would have come in from that tax increase, more funding from the state is crucial.
“(The failure of the VATRE) puts us in a tight spot,” Naumann said. “We’re going to have to make some difficult decisions across the board.”
MFISD had already trimmed $900,000 from the budget to avoid cutting staff or student programs with the hopes the $2.2 million from the VATRE would ease funding problems, but now those cuts are back on the table.
MFISD is almost totally reliant on funding from the state, and despite rising property values within the district, it is being cash-starved by current state policy and a stagnant per-student allotment dating back to 2019.
The Texas Legislature is responsible for partially funding public schools with an annual per-student allotment, a figure set by the legislature in session that reflects the average cost of giving one student a public education per year. That number, $6,160, has been the same since 2019. Rampant inflation has eaten away at that value. The allotment would have to be around $7,578 in 2024 to be worth the same as it was in 2019.
“It’s almost impossible (to operate the district at the same level) considering that there is no increase in funding (since 2019),” Naumann said. “(School funding) is a complicated discussion.”
State funding makes up 9 percent of MFISD’s budget, but 86 percent comes from property taxes at a rate of 89 cents per $100 property valuation, which is the lowest the rate has been since at least 2014.
Property values in the district are high, at an average of $400,000 per home, but much of the money the district taxes on those properties is sent back to the state in the form of recapture to fund other school districts with lower property values. Even if property values continue to rise, or the district were to set a higher tax rate, much of the money would not end up in the district.
“We look like the bad guys collecting the taxes, but we don’t get much of that money anyway,” Naumann explained.
While the state brought in $39.8 million in property taxes for the 2023-24 fiscal year, $20.3 million of it went back to the state in the form of recapture, according to the latest data from the Texas Education Agency.
Connected to school funding issues and rising property values are teacher recruitment and retention, which are other high priorities for the MFISD Board of Trustees.
“We’re trying to keep up with (teacher salaries) for school districts around us,” Naumann said. “It is about direct money to the teachers but also providing quality programming for students.”
A new teacher at MFISD has a salary of $50,700 for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which is relatively competitive with surrounding districts, like Lake Travis ISD at $57,000, Burnet Consolidated ISD at $52,840, Leander ISD at $56,995, and Llano ISD at $47,000, but the cost of living in the Marble Falls area is high.
The average home in Burnet County was valued at $500,000 in 2024 property appraisals. The average household income is also high, with the latest data from the Internal Revenue Service showing $119,000 for 2021-22.
Naumann also noted that the board would like to see less state involvement in local education.
“Let us be a reflection of our local community, let us do what’s best for our community,” he said. “Leave big politics out of it. If we were able to just levy our taxes and fund our school system, there would be no big deal.”
They’ve gotta cut the fluff. Teach the basics, i.e. reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and throw in some life skills like budgeting, saving, compound interest…and lets stop with all the glorification of sports. Sports should be a “club” activity funded by participants, not the schools.