Dear Lovejoy Community,
The State of Texas has a legitimate budget shortfall. All school districts in our state
need to make reductions to expenditures to help close the budget gap. Lovejoy ISD has
been working since November to identify potential areas of cuts to reach a total of $ 3
million in expenditure reductions.
The district has committed to find the $3 million in cuts (10% of the total budget) in this
priority order:
· First cuts come from central administration, both personnel and operating budgets.
· Second layer comes from campus operating budgets and effective utilization of
current staff.
· Next layer comes from campus support positions.
· Finally, cuts will be made from those positions that provide direct services to kids,
including teachers, administrators, counselors, and librarians.
To date, we have identified over $ 1 million in cuts from the central administration
budget and another million from the second level of cuts. We believe that we can get to
the $ 3 million level without impacting positions that provide direct services to kids.
While the state has a model authored by Senator Florence Shapiro that will result in a
balanced state budget with no new taxes, districts funded at the level of Lovejoy ISD will
take a 10 % cut. There is a bill in the Texas House, HB 2485, that would redistribute
the available funds so that every school in the state operates on the same level of
revenue per student with no regard to the level of local tax effort; this means that our
operating budget would be slashed from between 30% and 50%. It would be impossible
to maintain our programs with this level of reduction.
It is time for us to communicate to our elected officials in Austin. In my opinion, the
elected folks in Austin need to consider these points:
· There is support in Lovejoy ISD for no new taxes.
· There is support for Senator Shapiro’s hybrid model of school finance that would
share a portion of the reduction with all school districts, but in the interest of
equity, would require higher levels of reduction in the highest funded school
districts.
· There should be a cap on the level of reduction so that no school district gets hit
with more than a 10% reduction below current law revenue.
· There is support for an equitable level of funding to support an adequate education
for all Texas school children. When revenue becomes available, the state must
find new revenue sources to enhance low wealth districts.
· It is unacceptable to create a new form of Robin Hood that creates a level of equity
by taking revenue from higher wealth districts and using it to increase funding to
low wealth districts. Making all school children attend schools that are
underfunded is unacceptable to the taxpayers in the State of Texas.
Senator Shapiro has been a strong supporter for the hybrid model for school funding,
when you contact her, thank her for her work that supports the bulleted points above.
The Honorable Senator Shapiro, Ph (512) 463-0108,
E-mail Florence.shapiro@senate.state.tx.us.
If you believe that the state should balance the budget without cutting Lovejoy’s level of
funding by 30%-50%, then please contact these legislators:
Representative Jodie Laubenberg
Ph (512) 463-0186
E-mail jodie.laubenberg@house.state.tx.us
Representative Ken Paxton
Ph (512) 463-0356
E-mail ken.paxton@house.state.tx.us
Representative Jerry Madden
Ph (512) 463-0544
E-mail jerry.madden@house.state.tx.us
Representative Rob Eissler
Ph (512) 463-0797
E-mail rob.eissler@house.state.tx.us
Lt. Gov David Dewhurst
Ph (512) 463-0001
E-mail david.dewhurst@ltgov.state.tx.us
Speaker of the House Joe Straus
Ph (512) 463-1000
E-mail joe.straus@speaker.state.tx.us
Respectfully,
Ted Moore
LISD Superintendent