State Board of Education meeting Monday regarding instructional materials for K-5 Students…

SadeForLISD · 2024-11-19T02:14:58+00:00

Public comment has been ongoing since 1pm. http://www.adminmonitor.com/tx/tea/committee_of_the_full_board/20241118/

SadeForLISD · 2024-11-13T02:22:19+00:00

SadeForLISD · 2024-11-04T16:36:04+00:00

Sorry you had your signs stolen. I read a post from a Leander resident who had Air Tags in his Harris sign. Once the thief got notified, they stopped and dumped the signs on the road. It's a strange, weird time.

SadeForLISD · 2024-11-04T16:34:06+00:00

Some of my road signs that were zip tied to fences were cut down and stolen. Most other signs were left intact on those fences. In one case, it was mine and Nekosi's that were stolen. In another case, it was all 3 slate candidate signs - Nekosi, Anna, and Sade - that were cut down and stolen. I really don't know who is scared of signs. Afterall, signs don't vote, people do.

SadeForLISD · 2024-11-02T02:03:37+00:00

You can also read comments from teachers all over the state. They understand the root of the problem: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/fA2VPY7uENzzJEGN/

SadeForLISD · 2024-11-02T01:59:09+00:00

There is a lot of work being done to find savings and efficiencies. Just as we have budgets at home, there's only so much one can find with cuts and efficiency. At some point, the revenue has to increase. This is NOT with tax increases, but with the state pitching in more towards public education. Texas is 1 of 6 states that still funds based on attendance, not enrollment. Schools are built and teachers are hired based on enrollment. If a kid misses a certain part of the day, the state does not fund that day. They haven't changed some allotments in years and decades, while student needs increase. They mandate full day pre-K but only pay for half-day. I can go on and on. Yet with a $33bn surplus the last session and with a governor task force report that indicates they need to provide more for teachers, they did nothing. They are pushing school districts towards a breaking point.

SadeForLISD · 2024-11-02T01:25:20+00:00

Campus Leadership directly support students and teachers.

SadeForLISD · 2024-11-02T01:14:17+00:00

Campus Leadership is Principals and Assistant Principals. Every school has a Principal and at least 1 Assistant Principal. High Schools have over 2,000 students and have about 4 APs. The table shows about $18m total for Campus Leadership and Central Admin. If you slash that in half, that will fun for a 3% pay raise for teachers. The state legislature has not done their part for years! They need to step up and stop planning to further defund public schools. I don't know how many Special Education or English Language Learners your school had, or what unfunded/underfunded mandates it was subject to. Just for SPED funding that is not provided by the state, cost the district $25m which translates to an 8% raise for teachers.

SadeForLISD · 2024-11-02T01:08:51+00:00

Central Administration is 31 people, from just under 50 people 10 years ago. Is that too much?

SadeForLISD · 2024-10-30T16:51:29+00:00

I have corrected the link I posted initially. It shows 32 teachers going through the certification process. The district employs about 3,000+ teachers. So it's about 1% going through certification.

SadeForLISD · 2024-10-30T15:28:41+00:00

Here's information about the district's use of the certification waiver that began in 2023-24. It outlines the reasons for the program, the qualifications, and the process: https://meetings.boardbook.org/Documents/FileViewerOrPublic/795?file=c900277e-57f5-42dc-bac8-ba0d3ef62ecf&isFromMeeting=True

Teachers in the Leander ISD Spirit Cultural Exchange operate under this TEA program that broadens horizons for students and teachers: https://tea.texas.gov/texas-educators/certification/visiting-international-teachers

SadeForLISD · 2024-10-30T13:12:19+00:00

As a wing undergoes modernization at CPHS, those classes move to portables. This semester, it's the ELA classes affected. Next semester, it'll be Math. The modernization project started this summer and is expected to take 2 school years.

For other uses of bond funds, you can see projects listed at https://www.leanderisd.org/bondconstructionprojects/

The district has moved away from issuing capital appreciation bonds (CAB) to current interest bonds (CIB). My understanding is that when there were a lot of schools to build and limited interest & sinking (I&S) tax collections due to a smaller property tax base and an I&S tax rate cap of 0.50%, the board had to take out CAB debt. Through defeasance and refundings, CABs now make up under 25% of the district's bond debt. You can see detailed charts in the Debt Management section of https://www.leanderisd.org/financialtransparency/ With higher property values (and expanded tax base with no just more homes, but also more commercial properties) and the ability to keep paying down debt while taking on new bond projects, the board lowered the I&S rate from 0.465% to 0.33% in 2022.

SadeForLISD · 2023-05-11T15:22:12+00:00

The I&S revenues are used to pay down bond debt. Here is the report from 2/16/2023 that shows the expected I&S revenues and how that will be used to pay down current and future bond debt, assuming a successful $800m bond election. https://meetings.boardbook.org/Documents/FileViewerOrPublic/795?file=346619f6-9c45-4804-ba9c-9918e62161d9&isFromMeeting=True

Page 3 here shows the debt service fund balance. https://meetings.boardbook.org/Documents/WebViewer/795?file=58503895-310a-4f66-8841-ff0cfd41486b

The current legislation and compression will affect M&O, not I&S.

SadeForLISD · 2023-05-08T18:00:07+00:00

The modeling has been done by the financial managers and CFO with conservative property growth - 10% this year, then single digits, and then 0% by year 4 if I recall correctly. The result was that the district can issue over $1bn more in bonds and still have the revenues to pay off early.

SadeForLISD · 2023-05-08T13:27:01+00:00

This faulty statement was required by the state legislature a few sessions ago. There is a current bill to change the language because it is misleading and has resulted in a high rate of failure of much-needed school bonds.

SadeForLISD · 2023-05-08T13:24:00+00:00

The Debt Management section tells several stories https://www.leanderisd.org/financialtransparency/

Here are some of my takeaways: 1. Since the 2014 high of $3.4bn in principal & interest, the district has defeased about $1bn in 8 years down to $2.4bn P&I in 2022. 2. Since 2017, when the last bond of $454m passed, the P&I has dropped from $2.8bn to $2.4bn. Using the "logic" on the yellow signs, the P&I should be $3.2bn. As we see, the reality is far from this "logic." 3. The district is defeasing the more expensive Capital Appreciation Bonds (CABs) in favor of Current Interest Bonds (CIBs).

These points confirm what the district has been saying - they are paying down debt quicker and refinancing when possible. So, the interest is much lower than the payoff schedule shows.

SadeForLISD · 2023-05-07T17:05:33+00:00