Texas Education News
March 2009
Copyright © 2009 Queue,
Inc.
IN
THIS ISSUE:
Texas Tops National Average in the Percentage of
Students who Take Advanced Placement Exams
Report on Best Practices in Dropout Prevention
Ballinger Independent School District
Empowers Students with High Performance Network
Texas
Education Report Back Issues (http://www.queuenews.com/TXnews.html)
Education Research Report
Back Issues (http://www.queuenews.com/EduResearchRpt.html)
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The Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the
Kingsbury Center at Northwest Evaluation Association have released a new study,
The Accountability Illusion (http://fordham.citysoft.org/dsp_emailhandler.cfm?eid=196437&uid=42295). It examines the No Child
Left Behind Act as implemented and reveals an enormously uneven and misleading
system of school accountability.
Analysts took 36 real schools (18 elementary, 18 middle) and ÒmovedÓ them from state to state (28 states in all) to see how many would make Òadequate yearly progressÓ under each state's NCLB rules. The alarming results? In some states, nearly all of the elementary schools would make AYP while in others practically none of them would. These are the exact same schools. This tells us that the present system isnÕt working.
A
schoolÕs AYP status depends at least as much on what state it's in as on the
performance of its students.
Here
is the report on how the Texas AYP process stacks up to other states:
http://edexcellence.net/accountability_illusion/Texas.pdf
Texas
exceeded the national average in the percentage of students who took at least
one Advanced Placement exam during high school.
Information
released today by the College Board, which administers the AP program, found
that 27.5 percent of Texas public school students in the Class of 2008 took at
least one AP exam while in high school, compared to 25 percent for the nation.
Universities
often award course credit to students who earn a score of 3, 4 or 5 on an AP
test so a strong performance on these exams can save Texas students thousands
of dollars in college tuition costs.
Of
those who took an AP exam, 14.5 percent of Texas students earned a score of 3
or higher, compared to 15.2 percent for students nationally. Texans were more
likely to earn a score of 3 or higher on AP exams in the areas of art, English
and foreign languages than their peers nationally. They were less likely than
their peers across the country to earn a high score on math, science, and
social studies exams.
AP
participation has steadily risen in this state. Among the Class of 2008, 73,008
students took at least one AP test and many take several exams. That compares
to 65,958 students in the Class of 2007 and 48,628 in the Class of 2003.
The
most frequently taken AP exams in Texas were English Language, U.S. History,
English Literature, U.S. Government and Politics and Calculus AB. The top test,
English Language, was taken by 38,440 Texans and 45 percent or 17,153 earned a
score of 3 or higher.
In
the 5th Annual AP Report to the Nation, the College Board cited a Texas school
for its exemplary program. The report said the AP Calculus AB course at the
Michael E. DeBakey High School for the Health Professions in the Houston
Independent School District had one of the largest numbers of African-American
students who scored a three or higher in the country.
The
State of Texas encourages students to participate in AP courses and to take AP
exams through a multi-part incentive program. The state pays $30 of the $86
exam fee. Additional fee reductions are often available to low-income students.
To ensure rigorous instruction in AP courses, the state reimburses up to $450
for each teacher who completes a 30-hour AP training institute. The Texas
Education Agency also funds campus awards, with schools being awarded up to
$100 for each student who earns a score of 3 or higher.
Report
find Communities in Schools provides positive support to almost 90,000 students
a year
Communities In Schools (CIS) of Texas, a
best practices dropout prevention program, annually provides positive support
that helps keep almost 90,000 at-risk students in school, a new study found.
The
report titled Evaluation of Communities In Schools (CIS) of Texas conducted by
ICF International of Fairfax, Va. found that ÒFor middle and high school
students, CIS was clearly making a difference. It was common to hear students
express how CIS helped them with their attitudes and behaviors both within and
outside of school. As a result of CIS, students indicated they were fighting
less with parents and peers, making better decisions, taking more
responsibility for their actions and accepting the consequences of their
actions, doing better in school on homework, grades and even tests and that
they understood why going to school was important.Ó
CIS provides personalized case
management services to students and coordinates community resources in schools.
Begun in 1979 in Houston, CIS of Texas now has 28 affiliates located in 55
counties throughout the state. The state invests more than $20 million annually
in CIS dropout prevention efforts. The CIS program is part of a national
organization that operates in more than 30 states. Communities In Schools of
Texas is managed statewide by the Texas Education Agency.
The
evaluation, required by the 80th Texas Legislature, found that TEA Òprovides
significant management and technical support to local affiliates. This support
is credited with the implementation of a statewide CIS program that is well
managed and of high quality.Ó
The
evaluation looked at data through the 2006-2007 school year. During that year,
CIS of Texas served 86,836 students in 741 schools. Those students received
2,233,719 hours of service or an average of 26.6 hours of service per student
per school year.
Services
provided through CIS include supportive guidance and counseling; health and
human services, parental and family involvement, career awareness and
employment, enrichment and additional educational services. The evaluation
found that through both direct and brokered services, CIS provides the
necessary services to address risk factors for preventing school dropout.
The
report found that supportive guidance, such as having an adult advocate or
mentor, was one of the most successful aspects of the program. ÒProviding more
hours of general supportive guidance is associated with lower odds of dropping
out of school, greater odds of being promoted to the next grade level and
greater odds of staying in school,Ó according to the evaluation.
This
type of assistance can be helpful as students transition to a new school, such
as moving from elementary school to middle school as this is a period of great
adjustment for students.
Regarding
parent involvement in education, the report found that ÒCIS has been successful
in engaging parents, which is a necessary ingredient to a childÕs success.Ó
The
report concludes that ÒIf CIS can serve more students within a school for a
longer period of time, the impacts, both immediate and long term, are expected
to be greater.Ó
The
full report is available at:
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/opge/progeval/DropoutPrevention/CIS_of_Texas_Final_Evaluation_2008.pdf.
A
new report on Best Practices in Dropout Prevention recently released by ICF
International, in partnership with the National Dropout Prevention
Center/Network, found that three Texas programs had consistent, positive and
meaningful effects on preventing dropouts. The three dropout programs
with the most potential for success were CareerAcademies, Communities In
Schools, and Project GRAD.
Career
Academies operate as alternative schools within a larger high school and focus
on making students career-ready by combining regular academic coursework with
career centered curricula, having students focus on one career track, and
giving them the opportunity to intern with local businesses.
Communities
In Schools is a stay-in-school program utilizing a case management model to
help students by providing services directly or linking students with other
agencies and programs in the community to help them stay in school, attain
better attendance rates, reduce behavior problems, improve academically and
graduate or receive a GED.
Project
GRAD works with high schools and their feeder schools to prevent dropouts and
encourage college attendance by providing scholarships, while focusing on classroom
management, student performance, parental involvement, graduation rates and
college acceptance rates.
The
Best Practices in Dropout Prevention study was a requirement of House Bill 2237,
passed by the Texas Legislature in 2007. The bill, which included a
number of provisions and programs aimed at improving high school completion and
success rates, required the Texas Education Agency to conduct a study on best
practices in dropout prevention.
In
addition to identifying the most effective dropout programs, the study provides
an overview of dropout prevention efforts and research, both nationally and
across Texas. The study found that the most effective dropout programs
utilized the following dropout strategies:
á
School-community collaboration;
á Safe
learning environments;
á Family
engagement;
á
Mentoring/tutoring;
á Alternative
schooling;
á Active
learning; and
á Career and
technology education
The
report also provides legislative recommendations and identifies dropout
prevention programs that have potential for success in Texas.
The
report stated that Òresults indicate that dropout prevention programs are
reporting successes in various settings and with different populations. The
evidence demonstrates that it is possible to achieve positive results using a
core set of effective strategies, even among the highest risk populations.Ó
To
view the full report, go to http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/comm/leg_reports/bpdp_finalreport_20081219_toTEA.pdf
Educational
software for cell phones, a suite of tools developed at the University of
Michigan, is being used to turn smart phones into personal computers for
students in two Texas classrooms.
Their
Mobile Learning Environment includes programs that let students map concepts,
animate their drawings, surf relevant parts of the Internet and integrate their
lessons and assignments. It also includes mini versions of Microsoft Word and
Excel. It is currently licensed through Soloway's company GoKnow! to 40,000
users around the world for larger palm-sized computers. Cell phones change the
game, though.
The
software developers are Elliot Soloway, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the
department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the School of
Information, and the School of Education, and Cathleen Norris, a regents
professor at the University of North Texas.
"This
is the beginning of the future," Soloway said. "The future is mobile
devices that are connected. They're going to be the new paper and pencil."
Cell
phones can be powerful computers, Soloway says. They can do just about
everything laptops can do for a fraction of the price. And many students are
bringing them to school anyway.
Matt
Cook, a fifth-grade teacher from Keller, Texas who started the pilot project,
says the popularity of cell phones got him thinking about how to harness their
power for teaching. About half of the students in his class had phones before the
project started.
Cook
was looking for an answer when he met Soloway at an education technology
conference last year. He got Verizon Wireless involved to donate phone service.
HTC Corp. is donating smart phones. Celio Corp. is donating screens for the phones.
Microsoft is providing training.
The
project equips 53 students in two fifth-grade classes at Trinity Meadows
Intermediate School with a smart phone of their own to use around-the-clock for
the rest of the school year. Students can't text message or make calls with
them. But they can use the cameras, mp3 players, calendars, calculators and
educational software. Cook handed out the phones in late January.
"The
phones will be seamlessly integrated into my lessons," Cook said. "I
think that right off the bat, this will add a level of student engagement.
They'll be more interested in the lessons because we're talking in the
students' language. Any time you can do that, you're a lot more likely to be
heard."
He
explained how the devices will change his lesson on physical and chemical
weathering. He will take the students outside with sidewalk chalk and let them
decorate the concrete. Normally, they would then go outside every day to watch
the chalk fade over time. Now, students will take a photos of the sidewalk
every day and use the Sketchy animation program to create a video of the fading
process.
Soloway
says this type of hands-on, reinforced learning is only possible when each
student has his or her own device.
"People
ask why every child needs a computer and why can't students just share,"
Soloway said. "Well, do you share pencils?"
The
school district is examining several aspects of student learning with these
devices. They'll determine whether listening to recordings of texts enhances
at-risk students' reading comprehension. They are studying students'
technological savvy before and after the project. The teachers involved will
also teach responsible and appropriate use of these phones. Cook and school
officials hope to expand the project next year.
For
more information on Soloway, visit: http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/public/experts/ExpDisplay.php?ExpID=861
Cell-phone-based,
hand-held computers for education at Keller Intermediate School District: http://www.kellerisd.net/kellerisd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=600&Itemid=921
Sachse and Hutto
Students Earn $1,000 Awards, Engraved Medallions and Trip to NationÕs Capital
Honors Also Bestowed on
Youth Volunteers from Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Flower Mound, Irving, Red Oak,
Spring and Tyler
Patrick
Foster, 17, of Sachse and Shelby Romero, 12, of Hutto were named Texas' top two
youth volunteers for 2009 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a
nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism.
The awards program, now in its 14th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial
in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals
(NASSP).
Patrick
was nominated by Sachse High School in Sachse, and Shelby was nominated by the
Williamson County 4-H in Georgetown. As State Honorees, each will receive
$1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an all-expense-paid trip in early May
to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top two honorees Ð one middle
level and one high school youth Ð from each of the other states and the
District of Columbia for several days of national recognition events. Ten of
them will be named AmericaÕs top youth volunteers for 2009 at that time.
Patrick, a senior at Sachse High
School, co-founded a nonprofit organization that has raised nearly $300,000 in
merchandise and cash donations over the past five years to support American
troops serving overseas. On a family visit to South Korea in 2004, Patrick and
his sister, Tania, stopped by a U.S. military base and encountered several
soldiers. ÒAs we spoke with them, my sister and I realized that they didnÕt
receive too much of the spotlight back home due to the main focus in Iraq,Ó
said Patrick. ÒWe believe that every single soldier should be recognized for
the sacrifices they make to secure our freedom.Ó
To
show that recognition, Patrick and Tania devised a plan to support the ArmyÕs
2nd Infantry Division in South Korea. They found an attorney to set up the
nonprofit corporation called ÒDallas Is Love,Ó contacted military officials for
advice, and began seeking donations. They knocked on doors, wrote letters to
corporations, attended meetings of veterans associations, developed a website (www.dallasislove.org), and hosted fund-raising
events. The response eventually grew so large that their organization joined
the Department of DefenseÕs ÒAmerica Supports YouÓ network, and expanded beyond
Korea to Germany, Japan, Kosovo, Africa, Iraq, and Afghanistan. To date,
Patrick and Tania have sent $250,000 in merchandise and $40,000 in gift cards
to more than 20,000 troops on 43 military bases.
Shelby, a member of the
Williamson County 4-H and a seventh-grader at Farley Middle School in Hutto,
organized a charity bicycle ride and other events that have raised nearly
$400,000 over the past three years for a horseback-riding therapy center for
disabled children. Shelby, a horse fan and rider, got the idea when she learned
that her dentistÕs young son received therapy for his cerebral palsy at the
Ride On Center for Kids (R.O.C.K.). ÒI thought it would be cool to have a
community service project that would help kids and horses,Ó she said.
Shelby
began researching benefit bike rides and planning her own. She chose a route,
created directional signs, and recruited volunteers to help manage the event.
Then she called on local businesses for sponsorships; distributed fliers at her
school, her church, and at 4-H clubs; and posted notices on biking websites and
in newspapers and magazines. ShelbyÕs Ride for R.O.C.K. was so successful, she
added a Òfamily dayÓ and barn dance to the bike ride the following year, which
increased her proceeds substantially. The money Shelby raised has enabled the
riding center to build a covered arena and to provide scholarships to children
who cannot afford therapy. ÒI learned that even a kid can make a difference,Ó
she said.
In
addition, the program judges recognized ten other Texas students as
Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each
will receive an engraved bronze medallion:
Britt
Brandon, 17, of Austin, a junior at Hyde Park Baptist High School, created a
blog to find 123 people who would donate $10 each to ÒadoptÓ an orphan in
Thailand. With the $1,230 in donations, Britt purchased clothing, toys, craft
items and school supplies for 123 children at a Thai orphanage. He sent the
gifts with his sister, who is a missionary in Thailand, along with photos and
drawings from the donors.
Justin
Churchman, 16, of El Paso, a sophomore at Coronado High School, helps build
homes for impoverished people in Juarez, Mexico, through the organization,
ÒCasas por Cristo.Ó Justin first worked on school and church teams, then
created his own team in 2006, raising $6,000 to support the project, managing a
team of 30 volunteers, and building a three-room home in only three days.
Jean
Paul Destarac, 17, of Tyler, a senior at Bishop T.K. Gorman Catholic High
School, raised $45,000 to pay for chemotherapy treatments for a cancer-stricken
boy in Guatemala by selling a CD of his saxophone playing and soliciting
donations. Jean Paul has since recorded a second CD and plans to donate its
proceeds to a Guatemalan hospital for the treatment of other children who
cannot afford medical care.
Sydney
Drain, 17, of Spring, a senior at Klein Collins High School, created and sold
T-shirts to raise $30,000 to drill 30 clean-water wells in Sudan. Sydney sold
her shirts in six weeks through her church and several schools, and sent the
proceeds to ÒWater is Basic,Ó an organization that develops water resources for
Sudanese villages.
Emily
Estes, 13, of Red Oak, an eighth-grader at Ovilla Christian School in Ovilla,
has been collecting recyclable materials for six years to buy toys for
disadvantaged children. She collects cans and newspapers from friends,
neighbors, church members, and Kiwanis club members; stores them in her garage;
and takes them to a recycling center several times a year.
Sophie
Galant, 16, of Dallas, a junior at Greenhill School in Addison, founded a
nonprofit organization run entirely by high school students that offers
enrichment and sports programming for underprivileged children, including a
volleyball clinic and a performing arts camp. Sophie has raised nearly $9,000
to fund the program by conducting a student art exhibit and sale and by
organizing bake sales.
Brittney
Herson, 17, of Dallas, a senior at Yavneh Academy of Dallas, helped organize a
basketball tournament that raised $30,000 to support a retreat in Israel for
children affected by terrorism. The proceeds were enough to send 30 children to
Camp Koby, run by the Koby Mandell Foundation in Israel.
Hailey
Hodgkiss, 16, of Irving, a sophomore at Irving High School, solicits donations
of money and products to create gift bags for teenage cancer patients at a
local hospital. The packages, designed to help others cope with the boredom and
despair that she experienced at the hospital while undergoing lengthy
treatments for leukemia, include games, pillow cases, treats, gift cards, personal
items, and soft caps that Hailey crochets by hand.
Christina
Hooks, 17, of Austin, a senior at Westlake High School, has worked with a group
of nine girls for the past seven years to volunteer and raise funds for animal
rescue facilities and habitat preserves. She also has volunteered as a
counselor for the past three years at a camp for disabled children.
Olivia
King, 17, of Flower Mound, a senior at Flower Mound High School, rallied her
school to raise more than $10,000 for the ÒWater is BasicÓ organization, which
drills wells to provide clean water for people in Sudan. To raise the money,
Olivia and a friend encouraged students to forgo their homecoming ÒmumsÓ
(corsages) and garters and donate the money saved to their cause instead.
Pottsboro
Independent School District
The
district is located near the cities of Denison and Sherman in northern Grayson
County, a predominately rural county with an estimated population of 119,000 in
2007. Encompassing 98 square miles and approximately 10,000 residents, the
district borders Lake Texoma, a major recreational tourist draw, which marks
most of Grayson County's boundary with Oklahoma to the north. Its favorable
location along Lake Texoma has led to high-end residential development,
particularly retirement and second homes, which benefit the district's tax base
with minimal impact on its enrollment base. Enrollment trends have remained
stable with an ongoing total of roughly 1,300 students.
Financial
performance has been strong with the district recording positive operating
results in three of the four most recent fiscal years and maintaining no less
than three months of cash on hand since fiscal 2005. The district reported a
very healthy unreserved general fund balance of $3.3 million or almost 28% of
spending in fiscal 2008. In fiscal 2009, district officials anticipate that
modest, near-term capital needs will be met with pay-go spending, resulting in
a moderate drawdown on general fund reserves by year end.
Northside
ISD
Northside
Independent School DistricÕs rising debt burden is due to very large
growth-related capital needs, with voters consistently supporting the
district's bond programs. Serving the rapidly growing northwest portion of
Bexar County and surrounding areas, the district continues to record sizeable
gains in TAV, rising by a compound average annual rate of over 13% over the
last five fiscal years, including a nearly 13% increase in fiscal 2009. To
accommodate its rapid enrollment growth, averaging 3,000 students per year, an
impressive 70% of voters approved the largest bond election in district history
for $693 million in May 2007. The favorable prospect for continued, albeit more
moderate, tax base growth and the strong voter support for the bonds moderate
the credit impact to the district's debt profile.
Annual
enrollment growth has averaged almost 5% per year over the last five years
although growth has moderated in the current year. The district's fiscal 2009
enrollment grew by over 2,400 or 2.8% for a total enrollment base of 87,956 students,
making it the state's fourth largest district. This high-growth mode caused the
district to seek and obtain nearly $1.8 billion in bond authorizations since
1998. The May 2007 authorization funds growth-related needs that include nine
elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school plus classroom
additions, campus renovations, science labs, and technology and transportation
needs. Slowing enrollment growth may lead the district to delay the
construction of one elementary school which was planned for the northern part
of the district.
The
current offering represents the fourth installment of the aforementioned
authorization. The district's current direct debt burden has risen
substantially and now totals over $3,200 per capita and 4.6% of TAV, due in
part to declining amounts of state support for outstanding debt. Overall debt
ratios are also above average at over $5,000 per capita and 7.2% of TAV. The
district's principal amortization rate is slow at 32% in 10 years, but is not
unusual for rapidly growing districts. The May 2007 bond authorization is
projected to increase the district's debt service tax rate to a moderate $0.34
per $100 TAV by fiscal 2012.
Despite pressures associated with consistent enrollment growth, financial performance has been solid as evidenced by undesignated fund balances of 10% or better of expenditures since fiscal 1995, which exceed management's goal of one month of expenditures. For fiscal 2007, the district posted a large $22 million general fund operating surplus due to lower than budgeted expenditures. The district's growing financial cushion is impressive, comprising a $48.6 million undesignated fund balance and $56 million in additional reserves, totaling $104 million or 19% of spending in fiscal 2007. Notably, the district has set aside $52 million in additional reserves for the opening of new schools, to purchase furniture, equipment, and for pre-design costs which it will draw down over the next three years.
ÒOur
school board decided they wanted each staff member in the district and all
students in the junior high and high schools to be equipped with an Apple
MacBook computer this year, so we quickly went to work to find the Wi-Fi
network that would support all the students, deliver the necessary bandwidth,
be easy to install and maintain, and not cost the district an arm and a leg,Ó
said Tim Gau, Director of Technology of Ballinger ISD. ÒWe had roughly six
weeks to have the 600+ computers ready, which meant having the network in place
and the teachers and students trained. By and large, the only way we were able
to make the deadlines was by selecting to go with XirrusÑtheir Wi-Fi Arrays
require far less devices, which is a big deal when you include the installation
costs, the cables for each device that must be pulled and the switch ports that
must be configured. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays required far less than any other
Wi-Fi system we looked atÉand it was the cheapest when all things considered.Ó
ÒSelecting
Xirrus was the right callÑthey came when called, performed a free real-world
site survey, helped install and configure the network, and guaranteed weÕd have
the promised signal strength throughout the schools,Ó added Tim. ÒWe were able
to build, image, and bind the computers across the Xirrus Wi-Fi network far
faster than we could have across the wired network. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays
made it possible to deploy our 1-to-1 computer initiative quickly and
cost-effectivelyÑthey saved us from having to rebuild our wired infrastructure
in the middle of the project. Our students and faculty have been using the new
system since August now and weÕre all very impressed with its performance and
the increase in student/teacher collaborationÑwell worth the effort. You know
you have a top-notch wireless infrastructure when teachers are able to run full
motion video over wirelessly connected computers at the same time. The system
is secure and has not gone down since we brought it online.Ó
As
planned, in fiscal 2008 the district used $18 million of the designated general
fund reserves for the opening of three new schools but the district's financial
cushion remains solid at $97.7 million or 16.1% of spending. The fiscal 2009
budget projects a modest operating surplus and includes the adoption of the
optional $0.04 per $100 TAV maintenance tax levy allowed by law without voter
approval. These 'super pennies' are projected to generate $22 million in
additional local and state revenues and will help offset over $19 million in
new growth expenditures, including the opening of three new schools, plus 4.4%
teacher pay hikes. Aided by year-end budget sweeps and the use of new school
designations, the district projects it will maintain strong year-end reserves
through fiscal 2010.
San
Angelo ISD
The
district's service area encompasses the City of San Angelo, Texas, which is the
home of Goodfellow Air Force Base and Angelo State University, a part of the
Texas Tech University System. The city, which had a 2007 estimated population
of roughly 91,000, is located in western-central Texas. The city's economy is
stable and is anchored by agriculture, education, medicine and manufacturing.
The county's unemployment rate for December 2008 was 4.5%, and wealth levels
are slightly below county and state averages.
The
current offering represents the entire authorization of bonds approved by 52%
of voters in November 2008; the district has no plans to return to voters for
additional authorization for 10-15 years. The projected debt-service tax rate
increase totals $0.14 per $100 taxable assessed valuation (TAV) with state
existing debt allotment (EDA) funding, which will bring the rate to
approximately $0.21. While the current authorization is expected to triple the
current tax rate, the overall tax levy is still relatively low. The district's
direct debt burden is moderate at 3.2% of TAV and $1,032 per capita, with state
support, and 4.6% of TAV and $1,474 per capita without state support. Overall
debt is also moderate on a per capita basis at $2,081 and as a percentage of
TAV at 6.4% with state support, and $2,523 and 7.8% without state support. The
principal pay-out is slow at 30% in 10 years.
Financial results have remained steady with unreserved fund balances of nearly $22 million in fiscal 2008, or over 23% of expenditures and transfers out. Operating results have shown net income for four of the past five years. However, in fiscal 2008 the district reported a net deficit of just over $3 million. The deficit was caused largely by one-time transfers out for capital items, although significant expenditure increases for salary and benefits district-wide, as well as certain programmatic expenses, contributed to the negative results. Nevertheless, Fitch expects financial performance to be favorable going forward, and district officials currently project maintaining general fund balance in fiscal 2009.
Sharyland
ISD
Located
between the cities of Mission and McAllen, the district has transformed into a
relatively affluent bedroom community for both municipalities. Continued
residential development has led to rapid enrollment gains of 6%-10% annually
between fiscal 2002 and 2007. Its current enrollment totals 8,845 and is
projected to grow annually by 4%. Due to the opening of an upcoming bridge to
Mexico within district boundaries, the district expects continued growth in
population and commercial developments. The district's tax base has grown by an
annual average of 17% since fiscal 2002 due to ongoing new construction and
reappraisal. The district reports recent expansion of various commercial plazas
along with the addition of three hotels, two banks and popular retailers such
as T.J. Maxx, Kohl's and Target.
The
district's direct debt burden on a per capita basis is moderate at
approximately $1,629 per capita and also moderately high as a percentage of
taxable assessed valuation (TAV) at 3%, even after adjusting for state support
for 23% of the district's outstanding debt. Overall debt levels are higher but
still manageable at over $2,561 per capita and 4.8% of TAV. Principal
amortization is very slow at 32.6% in 10 years. Plans for additional debt over
the next several years will increase the district's debt burden considerably
although continued tax base and population growth should offset some of the
impact.
The
district's financial performance is historically strong with undesignated
general fund balances typically at or near the district's three-month fund
balance goal. Fiscal 2008 results show an approximate $3 million net deficit,
decreasing the undesignated general fund balance to $15.9 million or 24% of
expenditures and transfers-out. The district planned to utilize reserves in
fiscal 2008 to fund several one-time capital projects, including the
renovations of athletic facilities, the expansion of parking lots and
campus-wide improvements in fiscal 2008. The fiscal 2009 budget is a balanced
budget with revenues equivalent with expenditures.