The following letter from Superintendent Dr. Schnautz was shared with GCISD parents and staff on Monday, April 1.
GCISD Family,
As we prepare for the 2024-2025 school year, budget planning is underway, and I want to keep you informed of what that looks like in GCISD. After five legislative sessions (the regular session and four special sessions), the lack of support from our Texas legislature and its inaction to spend any of the state’s historic surplus of nearly $40 billion on public education is impacting districts across the state. Texas public schools have realized no increase to the basic allotment of funding per student since 2019, while during that same time period, we are all experiencing an inflation rate of 19 percent.
Additionally, as you may know, after the district’s budget was set for the 2023-2024 school year, the legislature increased the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $100,000, and passed House Bill 3, requiring all campuses to have an armed peace officer present. While both of these pieces of legislation are positive changes, there was little effort made by the state to supplement the tax revenue school districts lost from that homestead exemption increase, and House Bill 3 was grossly underfunded with school districts footing the bill.
You have likely seen news about surrounding districts recently announcing very large deficits and cuts, and while GCISD does not anticipate full program changes or reductions in force, we have had to explore every avenue possible to find cost savings. You may have heard of other districts closing campuses next school year due to large deficits and declining enrollment. This is not the case in GCISD. Through our budget planning process, the district’s priority remains maintaining the high level of academic excellence and student opportunities for which GCISD is known.
Throughout moments like this, it is not uncommon for rumors to be spread throughout the community, but I want to ensure that you are directly communicated with and understand what is happening rather than only hearing speculation.
GCISD is committed to fiscal responsibility, and over the last five years, GCISD’s overall tax rate has been reduced by 47.2 cents, making our district one of the lowest tax rates in the region. Through that same time, our Board has prioritized staff raises annually, and district leadership has the desire to remain a leader in both areas of financial stewardship and employee recruitment and retention through competitive pay.
Some of the cost savings we are currently able to realize are due to positions that are currently unfilled and will not be replaced. Additionally, with declining enrollment, some positions will be reduced through normal attrition, while we stay consistent with our regular staffing ratios. The district will continue to evaluate programs and course offerings across the district to ensure staffing efficiency and equity among campuses. Course offerings are based on the number of student requests during the course selection process and the availability of certified teaching staff to teach each course.
Over the last few years, GCISD has experienced a decline in enrollment, and enrollment growth is the only avenue through which any district in the state is receiving any new funding. This enrollment decline follows trends that districts are seeing across the state and nation, and contributing factors include an aging community that has reached a point where further growth or expansion is limited, rising real estate costs which make it less likely that young families with school-aged children are moving into the district, and the continued impact from the pandemic.
To mitigate the impact of these developing factors over the last few years, GCISD is expanding a few nonresident transfer opportunities to now include Collegiate Academy, and children of any City of Colleyville or City of Grapevine employee to attend a GCISD school. We’ve also targeted marketing efforts to remind our community that other nonresidents eligible for transfers include grandchildren of any GCISD resident and children of residents of the City of Grapevine or City of Colleyville who are zoned for a neighboring district. As a reminder, GCISD’s virtual school, iUniversity Prep, is also open to fifth-12th grade students across the state, and our recruitment efforts remain strong as it is ranked the #1 online public school in Texas.
Additional considerations to respond to budget challenges currently include, but are not limited to, the following:
Identifying areas where efficiency can be improved
Exploring possibilities to generate additional revenue
Evaluating positions that become available
One thing we want to bring to your attention now is that this coming November, our community will have an opportunity to make a decision regarding a Voter-Approval Tax Ratification Election (VATRE). Pending Board approval on this matter, the district will be asking voters to consider an increase of three “golden pennies” to the Maintenance & Operations tax rate, which currently sits at $0.729 and has decreased $0.241 since 2019. Tax funds collected through these additional three pennies would stay within GCISD and not be subject to recapture, also known as “Robin Hood” in Texas, meaning that 100 percent of these funds would remain in the district. This last year alone, more than 30 percent ($63.8 million) of GCISD’s tax revenue was sent back to the state in the form of recapture. While the amount will decrease significantly from years past, our tax revenue has also decreased significantly because of state tax compression and the homestead exemption increase, resulting in no new funding for GCISD. If passed, those three golden pennies alone would bring in approximately $6 million in funding for GCISD, which will allow the district to continue operations without reductions in force and cuts in other areas. Failure to pass the VATRE would result in the district having to consider additional areas where cost savings can be found.
We will continue to keep you informed with more details about the budget and the upcoming VATRE in the months to come, but wanted to let you know where we are as a district early on in the budget planning process.
Thank you for your continued support and investment in GCISD. I am very proud of our staff and our students. The future is bright in GCISD, and it is an honor to serve alongside each of you. I look forward to the excitement of the end of the school year, and hope to see you out and about soon.
Dr. Brad Schnautz
GCISD Superintendent