Join Dr. Karen Engle, Alice Benzaia, and Elaina Polsen for this episode of Let's Talk CCISD--a podcast for Clear Creek ISD employees to keep them updated on what's happening in our District. Through listening sessions and feedback from our staff, we cover hot topics on the minds of our employees. And today, we're going to talk about the big one. And that's our budget.
00;00;05;05 - 00;00;23;17
Speaker 1
Welcome to Let's Talk CCISD I'm Elaina Polsen. I'm the chief communications officer for Clear Creek Independent School District. And this podcast is intended for our employees so that they know what's happening in our district. The hot topics that we know that are on the minds of our employees. And today we're going to talk about the big one. And that's our budget.
00;00;24;00 - 00;00;42;24
Speaker 1
We know that we've been going out to campuses and doing listening sessions. We did them in the fall. We're doing them in the spring. And many of you have asked the question, how are we doing financially? What can they do to help and what measures are we taking to get us stable? And we have two important people with us today that can help us answer all those questions.
00;00;43;06 - 00;00;58;17
Speaker 1
First, we have Dr. Karen Engel, our superintendent of schools, and Alice Benzaia our chief financial Officer. And so we're just going to go ahead and get started. Dr. Engel, when you've been going out to campuses, I know you've had some really great visits with teachers and staff. What are they sharing with you?
00;00;59;14 - 00;01;24;22
Speaker 2
You know, I will say right now here this spring, we're getting some they're excited about what they're doing with children. They are excited about the learning that's been happening. I'm going to say it feels like we are back, you know, after completely back up after COVID, I guess, and I hate to use that word, but open and welcoming to families, parents, children, a lot of engaged learning all across the district.
00;01;25;06 - 00;01;44;28
Speaker 1
There's definitely a lot of sunshine on CCISD this year. And there's certainly the clouds that are coming in that people are worried about. So let's talk about it financially. We are a very stable school district. I mean, we have really clean audits, good balance sheets. I spend I what kind of what what challenge are we facing today?
00;01;45;14 - 00;02;10;16
Speaker 2
So the challenges we're facing are common among various, many school districts across the state. Last year and this year, the district operated in a deficit mode. We had to tap into our savings by $9 million. We're going to do that again this year, but unfortunately, we can't continue to do that. So there's really three main factors. If I had to narrow it down that have have led to our financial constraints.
00;02;10;26 - 00;02;40;18
Speaker 2
The first is our student enrollment. So CCISD is not no longer a growing school district. In fact, we've lost just over 1500 students since the 20 1819 school year. Many of you know school districts are funded by the state based upon student attendance, and we receive a per student allotment of $6,160 per student. But this enrollment has drop has resulted in just over a 9 million drop in revenue annually.
00;02;41;12 - 00;03;08;15
Speaker 2
And the second factor that has provided a challenge to us is our student attendance is a major component of our state funding, our student attendance. So that attendance rate was pre-pandemic close to 96%, but we've seen that rate drop to 93% over the past couple of years. Said that results in another drop in revenue. Remember, the state funds this on students in attendance, not an enrollment.
00;03;08;27 - 00;03;31;23
Speaker 2
So that drop in revenue is close to $6 million per year. And finally, we've all felt the impact of inflation in our lives recently. All of us, whether it's at the grocery store, the gas station, or when we pay our insurance premiums, the school district is feeling this pressure as well in some of the areas that CCISD has been hit hard with include our property insurance premiums.
00;03;31;23 - 00;04;04;12
Speaker 2
We own over $1,000,000,000 in buildings across the district. We're sitting on the Gulf Coast, and the cost to insure our assets is tremendous. We just renewed our annual property insurance policy with a $1.5 million increase in premiums over last year. We also are dealing with inflation in our fuel cost. We've need to run our school busses, our all of our vehicles, and that cost has risen by about $700,000 per year in fuel costs alone.
00;04;05;00 - 00;04;36;04
Speaker 2
And overall and supplies, paper costs, all of that inflation has hit those areas. So really, just to summarize the effect of inflation, I want to mention that since 2019, our consumer price index has increased by 17%. I mentioned earlier that the state provides a $6,160 per student in attendance per year. And in order for us to have the same buying power we did in 2019, the state would need to raise that amount to 70 $200 per year.
00;04;37;19 - 00;04;44;06
Speaker 1
And Dr. Ingle, I know that you've been talking with superintendents across the region where this isn't an issue that's isolated to Clear Creek.
00;04;44;06 - 00;04;58;16
Speaker 2
I know everybody's talking about how can we what budget cuts do we need to do revenue, How can we raise revenues? I mean, all of these conversations are definitely happening across the state.
00;04;58;26 - 00;05;28;08
Speaker 1
And across the state. We are seeing even enrollment declining across the state. I do know that in our community we can reference to just where maturing. So we're seeing families stay in their homes longer. And so you're not seeing neighborhoods turn over like you would previously. We're not seeing significant growth and new parts of the district. So we need to start getting used to this steady enrollment unless we do something to infuse enrollment into our school district, which is also part of our vision 2030 discussion.
00;05;28;08 - 00;05;30;27
Speaker 1
Do you want to talk about a little bit about the pre-K plans that we have?
00;05;30;27 - 00;06;02;29
Speaker 2
Yeah, absolutely. And we are looking at how to bring our children in and our Vision 2030 Plan provides an opportunity for tuition based pre-kindergarten garden. And we know that once we get our children in as early as four years old, we will keep them. We have the most amazing teachers and facilities and opportunities for young children. So our Vision 2030 has an opportunity for us to have literally tuition based pre-K, and we'd like to expand that across the district.
00;06;02;29 - 00;06;22;06
Speaker 2
We'll start small, but we're starting next year and looking at the opportunity, it is in wonderful value for families to have CCISD teachers as their pre-K teachers that get them into these schools and allow those children to begin thriving as early as possible.
00;06;22;15 - 00;06;46;17
Speaker 1
And that's a way to introduce them to Clear Creek ISD early and also to help job R and enrollment there. Student attendance. We've had campaigns, we've had and all we've brought back our policy on final exemptions is tying it to attendance. So everyone is doing their part to make sure that students understand the importance of coming to school every day, not just to get a good education, but also from the funding side.
00;06;47;17 - 00;07;05;11
Speaker 1
We are some questions that have come up from employees is we recently had made some staffing announcements through attrition and that no one's losing their job. But the question is, are there more coming this school year? And I think it could be okay for us to say the school year is going to end the way that that it is today.
00;07;05;12 - 00;07;27;04
Speaker 1
There are no additional changes that are going to happen. We do have a team coming together as early as next week, our strategic budget team, and they're really here to help us brainstorm and really look forward and see what we need to do to help balance our budget. Do you either any of you want to add to that process?
00;07;28;01 - 00;07;55;21
Speaker 2
Well, I think we're very excited about Bree because we have community members, business people, and we are looking I know we do have a citizens Financial advisory committee in the district currently, and now we're looking to bring those people as well as others experts in our community to help us look with a different lens, you know, to kind of see things maybe sometimes we we focus in and we have done everything we can to look at our positions.
00;07;55;21 - 00;08;08;05
Speaker 2
How can we if we can repurpose something, if we can streamline our our efficiencies, what can we do? And now we need some help. We really do need some outside an outside lens to look at it.
00;08;08;23 - 00;08;19;20
Speaker 1
Another challenge that the committee is going to be looking at and one that you've been dealing with, is the end of Esser Funds. Can you explain how that works and what impact that has for Clear Creek ISD?
00;08;19;20 - 00;08;45;11
Speaker 2
Sure. So back in Leave, it was about two years ago we received a three-year entitlement through the elementary and secondary school Emergency relief funds. Due to the pandemic, the funds were used to not only help us respond to the specific specific needs presented by the pandemic but also to help us to respond to the financial issues that were impacting us.
00;08;45;11 - 00;09;03;26
Speaker 2
With the loss in revenue due to enrollment and attendance, those funds are going to end at the end of the 2324 school year, and the expenditures that were covered by those funds will return back to the general fund. So that will present an additional challenge that we will need to face and trying to balance our budget.
00;09;05;09 - 00;09;26;12
Speaker 1
And there's also the legislative session that's going on at this very moment. And we've been closely watching the bills that have been filed and going through a committee, and there's still a lot happening. So it's still too early to say where this is going to land. But we do know that the state has committed $5 billion more in public education.
00;09;26;22 - 00;09;49;00
Speaker 1
And so the dollar amount is promising. But how they dole it out is what we're still waiting to see that happens. And there's different models that are out there. It's too early to say. But I think and correct me if I'm wrong, I mean, the ones that I've seen do do have money does have money for teacher raises in there.
00;09;49;00 - 00;10;06;14
Speaker 1
But it's still we're still waiting to see how that works. I haven't it's gone through some committees, so we won't know what the school finance situation will look like until probably the end of May for sure, but hopefully sooner so we can communicate that. Do you have anything you'd like to add about the legislative session?
00;10;06;24 - 00;10;31;15
Speaker 2
Well, no, but I do think that there districts across the state have been very engaged in watching. And we are looking at the the allocation for teacher raises. But then also the amount of money that they're allocating overall and that that has a direct impact on what that looks like. So, you know, after looking at it this week, there was a lot of activity this week.
00;10;31;15 - 00;10;33;23
Speaker 2
So I think we just need to continue to monitor.
00;10;33;24 - 00;10;58;12
Speaker 1
Right. And we I think our message to our legislators, Dr. Engel, and our legislative Affairs Committee shared some communication with our local legislators, as well as the Public Education Committee, about increasing that basic allotment without those strings attached to it. If they could just increase that basic allotment, maybe, But we would love it to be up to that 7000.
00;10;58;12 - 00;11;15;22
Speaker 1
But that's we haven't seen that number come out. But to definitely do what they can to increase that basic allotment. So for our employees that and talk to our lawmakers are involved in the legislative process, please be sure to tell your law, your local legislator, the importance of increasing that basic allotment.
00;11;16;15 - 00;11;38;13
Speaker 2
And on top of that, in our Galveston County consortium, we have a group of superintendents in districts all across Galveston County that have a top priority with their legislature is to increase that basic allotment. So it is certainly something that we have communicated with our our legislators, but it is across the district and across the state.
00;11;39;25 - 00;12;07;04
Speaker 1
And we're having this podcast at a time where homeowners are receiving their property values statements and it's been it's amazing how much our property values have increased in Clear Creek ISD And so I know I get this question all the time. If I'm paying more in property, if the property values are going up so significantly, there should be a windfall, there should be some funding that comes directly to Clear Creek ISD, but in actuality that is not true.
00;12;07;04 - 00;12;08;04
Speaker 1
And can you explain that?
00;12;08;15 - 00;12;38;04
Speaker 2
Yes. So our school, the finance system here in Texas is established by the state legislature and our funding is really comprised both of local tax revenue from our local taxpayers and state aid. So as our taxpayers property value rises, we receive less state aid. And under our current law, school districts are limited to additional revenue from only additional tax revenue from only a two and a half percent growth in our property values.
00;12;38;04 - 00;13;04;05
Speaker 2
So what that means is that the state will come in and require us to reduce our tax rate when those values rise over the past five years, CCISD is actually reduce our tax rate the part of our tax rate that funds our daily operations by close to $0.20. So while your property values, which by the way, are set by your county appraisal district, not the school district arising, you'll actually see that our tax rate has dropped.
00;13;04;12 - 00;13;20;12
Speaker 2
But it is a balancing act. It's when our tax prop, when our property values and our tax revenue goes up, the state funding goes down. So we are not receiving a large windfall from those increases in property values.
00;13;20;22 - 00;13;23;17
Speaker 1
It's pretty much what we received in 2019, right?
00;13;23;25 - 00;13;41;25
Speaker 2
It's all those increases are offset by state aid and the opposite can happen to it's tax revenues go down, the state will go up. So it's all set as a specific formula to really control the amount of revenues that school districts across the state receive.
00;13;43;04 - 00;14;00;25
Speaker 1
Dr. Engel, As we close out the year, what message do you have to our employees for the following year? I know as we talk to employees, there is some concern, some hesitancy, some wonder, and certainly they want to help too. They want to be part of the solution. So what would you like to share with them in closing?
00;14;01;07 - 00;14;27;01
Speaker 2
Well, always thank you. To start with, so grateful for the work that our employees do day in and day out, serving our children. There's no important no more important work, in my opinion, and we are so grateful for what they do. If anything, contact your legislators, you know, join in that that voice of supporting public education. And I think we've all tried to communicate that.
00;14;27;01 - 00;14;54;26
Speaker 2
But, you know, there's power in numbers and just ensuring that assuring everybody we're doing everything we can. We have not raised class sizes. We've kept that ratio, the class ratio that we're staffing the same. We know the importance of of quality education, and we're doing everything we can to look at things outside of our classrooms and how can we, you know, cut costs, what can we do?
00;14;55;00 - 00;15;21;16
Speaker 2
But then also just assuring everybody the amazing job you're doing and we are going to support that and do everything we can to maintain what we know to be the shining star and Clear Creek ISD And we will continue to get better, in my opinion, because of the staff. Every time I go out and see what is happening, which was even today, you just know that it's all about people and everything we do.
00;15;21;16 - 00;15;32;16
Speaker 2
90% of our payroll or 90% of our budget as people, but 100% of what we do is about people. So we are grateful for that and continue to do the great work that you do.
00;15;38;06 - 00;16;01;08
Speaker 1
Thank you. And Alice Benzaia, I thank you for joining us today. And as always, I'm just going to close this out. If any employee has recommendations on how we can improve not just in finances but overall, please be sure to send a note to Dr. Engel or to anyone on Cabinet, and we're taking that feedback seriously. So thank you very much for joining us.
00;16;01;08 - 00;16;02;24
Speaker 1
And until next time, have a great day.
00;16;03;27 - 00;16;04;05
Speaker 3
And.