Call To Action | We Need Your Help
May 25, 2023
LISD Stakeholders,
We believe that our students in LISD deserve a quality education and the lack of investment in funding for public schools is alarming. The letter below was shared with state representatives today by LISD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lori Rapp and the LISD Board of Trustees.
Visit LISD.net/Legislative for a full list of our district’s legislators in both the Texas House and Senate, and please reach out to them with your thoughts on the support needed by our schools, and Texas public schools across the state.
To Our Elected Officials:
We believe that our students in LISD deserve a quality education and the lack of investment in funding for public schools is alarming. We urge you to prioritize our children - their learning, their safety, and their schools.
As officials who are charged with the trust of public education for the 48,000 students across 127 square miles of the Lewisville ISD (LISD) community in Denton County, and as one of the largest school districts in Texas, we want to continue to raise concern about decisions that are being made in the 88th Legislative Session that will have a negative impact on Lewisville ISD.
- Both taxpayers and public schools need relief which can happen this session with prioritizing tax compression and an increase to the basic allotment.
- With over $2B in a historic $33B surplus from school district recapture payments (of which $60M of that comes from the LISD recapture payment), no funding increases to address inflationary costs, student safety, or pay for educators has been allocated to public schools.
- Under current law, public schools are funded at $6,160 per student for the Basic Allotment, but the Senate has included $8,000 per student for a voucher. So families who are choosing public schools will have their schools funded less per student than families who choose to take a voucher or participate in an educational savings account. In fact it is estimated by the year 2028 the voucher proposal will cost taxpayers almost $2B per year.
- With statewide staffing shortages, now is not the time to divert money away from public schools, especially when LISD schools are losing money per student due to the high recapture payment.
- With schools facing increased needs related to safety and security, now is the time to provide more than a mere $10 per student.
- Texas public schools have historically been under-funded, ranking near the bottom of the 50 states on the amount allocated per student.
- An increase of $900 to the Basic Allotment would address inflationary costs and help us provide competitive pay to our staff to combat the staffing shortages.
From the beginning, Lewisville Independent School District has committed to ensuring all students are confident, equipped with the knowledge and skills to thrive and adapt for their future. Visit Best Schools in Texas for more information about joining the LISD family. Need this update in a different language? Visit LISD.net/translate.