TEMPLE, Texas — Temple ISD Superintendent Bobby Ott is encouraging school districts to get behind a proposed bill aimed at changing how schools are funded.
HB 1246 is a proposed bill to fund schools based on enrollment and not attendance. The bill was filed by Texas House Representative Gina Hinojosa.
Currently Texas public schools are funded based on student attendance. The state average for student attendance is 95%, meaning your average school only gets 95% of the total money it could get.
Dr. Bobby Ott said he has supported the concept of funding based on enrollment many years. He said when planning a budget, districts hire teachers and buy materials based on the number of students enrolled.
"Why are we not funded based on the number of students we have enrolled in our school system? We can’t control the attendance issue. We can use truancy officers, we can send them out to homes, we can have incentive strategies to get students here, but ultimately student attendance is out of our hands," Ott said.
He also said school districts have seen several complications of being funded based off attendance in the last year with the pandemic and remote learning.
"Tracking attendance for remote learning is extremely difficult,” Ott said. "Which is why the Texas Education Agency has recognized that and held districts harmless for the last 18 weeks and looking at possibly continuing to do that for the rest of the year to preserve funding. They have seen the complications school districts have trying to track attendance for those who are remote learners. Texas is one of many states that funds schools based on attendance and not enrollment."
