Sunday, May 12, 2024
Last week the HCN presented the first half of an extensive interview with Dr. Jeremy Glenn, Superintendent of the Granbury Independent School District, which focused on the school bond issue proposition on the Nov. 7 ballot. This edition shall present the balance of Dr. Glenn’s interview, focusing on the other proposition on the ballot, the Voter Approval Tax Rate Election or VATRE.
If the VATRE is approved by the community the proposal will enable GISD to secure an additional $8.2 million in additional annual funding, while still reducing the overall school tax rate from the previous year. Due to action by the Texas state legislature, the overall GISD tax rate will decrease in the upcoming year. Rather than compress the tax rate to the maximum level allowed by law, the Board of Trustees of GISD has set the total tax rate at just over 93 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Importantly, much of the $8.2 million created will not be subject to the state “Robin Hood” act which allows the state to recapture money from the wealthier school districts and redistribute the money to poorer districts. In 2023 Granbury ISD sent more than 11 million tax dollars back to the state through this process.
The additional funds created by the VATRE would allow GISD to provide pay raises to teachers and staff, to add personnel thus reducing the student/teacher ratio in classrooms and to pay for security improvements on all campuses.
Opponents of the VATRE proposition believe taxpayers should receive the maximum tax reduction the legislature has provided, and while there will be a reduction if the VATRE passes, the reduction will be even more if the measure fails. There is also concern among voters that with the current economy, taxpayers should not be asked to provide pay increases to teachers when so many homeowners are suffering with rising expenses and inflation.
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Glenn: We are trying to generate more funds so we can compete in a market where Texas has seen a teacher shortage, and we want to have money to improve security across our district. When we talk about the best practice for schools, we know the smaller the class sizes and the more one-on-one between the teacher and student tends to improve the test scores, so these VATRE funds will allow us to do these things.
Publisher: By approving the VATRE proposition the GISD will receive an additional $8.2 million from the state annually. If the voters reject the VATRE proposition, GISD will not receive those funds?
Glenn: That is correct
Publisher: Why do teachers need a raise?
Glenn: For the school administration, we know how hard they work and how valuable an asset they are to what we do. More importantly, our Board of Trustees looks around at other districts in our area, like Crowley, Burleson, Cleburne, and Weatherford. Those districts are paying substantially more than we are paying and we have lost good, experienced teachers to those districts. It is not just in the difference in annual salary but how it affects a teacher’s retirement. Teachers do not receive social security and their retirement is based on their five highest-earning years. So, the top five years are extremely important because they determine the amount a teacher receives for the life of their retirement. When a teacher with experience starts to look at their retirement future, they quickly understand they need to maximize their salary and thus they are inclined to move job locations for a higher paying job. We have lost quality staff to these other districts which pay substantially more, because we are not competitive. I do not think it is our goal to say Granbury pays more than anyone else, but we do need to be competitive to keep quality staff in place.
Publisher: How many teachers are in the district?
Glenn: Approximately 600
Publisher: Isn’t it true a significant number of teachers left last year, and many of those losses were due to compensation issues?
Glenn: The last two years we have seen a heavy loss of staff. Teaching is a hard profession with increasing state mandates. There are a lot of ways we want to improve our culture, but it always starts with fairly compensating the staff. It is an issue that must be dealt with.
Publisher: How does the taxpayer benefit from the district receiving better facilities and retaining their best teachers?
Glenn: Parents want good schools for their kids. As a community, we want to be proud of our schools and the students they produce. We are a growing community and sometimes that can create frustration as we manage the growth. I think if you look at communities in west Texas which have seen businesses dry up and disappear and then the schools suffer, you can see the overall loss in the community. It slowly dies.
We feel like the school is the center of the community. Good schools mean our kids have a place where they are safe, where they grow and prosper, and they have the keys to the American dream of a brighter future.
The economic reality is that good schools are a driving force in increased value for homes. Good schools also bring business to town because businesses want their employee’s children to receive the benefit of quality schools. All of this improves the local business community and thus the local economy.
Publisher: I think many people wonder how we can have teacher pay increases and add more staff, and not have a tax increase. Is the school district misleading the voters?
Glenn: Absolutely not and let me be clear. Because of the action of the legislature the school tax rate will be less next year. The school board believes that not taking the maximum tax compression permitted and utilizing only a portion of it will still reduce the tax burden on our residents, but generate funds to fulfill GISD’s needs. Voters will see a year-over-year reduction. This is what the VATRE is all about… giving the school the authority to not take the maximum compression of the tax rate and using a portion of the compression to fund raises for teachers and additional staff.
Publisher: Can you summarize what both Proposition A and Proposition B are, and their impact on the tax rate?
Glenn: Proposition A is the VATRE. Approval of this proposition will generate more local and state revenue for GISD. We will use this revenue to fund staff raises and reduce student/teacher ratios in classes and enhance security. If approved, Granbury will not decrease to the maximum school tax rate under SB2, but instead will only decrease approximately 6 cents. If approved, our overall school tax rate would be just over 93 cents. Last year the overall school tax rate was just over 99 cents.
Proposition B is a bond for school facilities. If approved by the voters, Granbury ISD will use the $151.7 million to construct a new elementary school, and provide life cycle replacements and renovations to all other district elementary schools and both middle schools. Additionally, the bond would support a new bus hub and 30 additional school buses. The district’s current I &S tax rate of 14.5 cents will remain the same if the bond is approved; however much like a home mortgage, the district will be taking out a 30-year note to pay off these bonds.
