Board prepares legislative pitch

As 2024 winds to a close, the bi-annual state legislative session in Austin will get underway shortly after the new year. With public school districts across Texas still feeling the squeeze after the legislature failed to allocate $5 billion earmarked for public education during the 2023 legislative session, the Aledo ISD Board of Trustees is ready to make their legislative pitch.

During the monthly meeting on Monday, Nov. 18, Superintendent Dr. Susan Bohn and Trustee David Lear advised the rest of the board of the two key asks the district will present to legislators in January.

First and foremost is increase to funding. The last time the Texas Legislature passed an increase to school funding was back in 2019. With rampant inflation plaguing the global economy since 2020, districts across the Lone Star State – Aledo included – have been forced to make some excruciating decisions to deal with budgetary shortfalls.

In Aledo’s case, staffing has been cut by way of attrition. As personnel have either retired or left the district, many of those positions have gone without a replacement. Another less than savory mechanism the district has employed is taking on debt to cover remaining shortfalls. 

In 2023 the legislature tethered the school choice question to school funding in an attempt to force the law to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. Lear stated the district intends to ask the legislature to pass a funding increase for 2025 that would at least put schools across the state in a similar financial position to 2019, accounting for inflation. 

What schools across the state cannot handle is for the legislature to hold funding as a political hostage yet again, keeping those dollars locked up in Austin while districts are forced to take the proverbial chainsaw to their budgets to continue operating on funding from a bygone era.

The second ask, while seemingly not as dire, is equally as important. The board will be asking for more local control. With over 1,200 different districts across Texas, a one-size-fits-all methodology coming from elected legislators and unelected bureaucrats in Austin is not conducive to the varying educational needs of each district being met. Lear argued local trustee boards have their fingers on the pulse of the educational needs of students within their respective districts more so than politicians and bureaucrats at the state capitol. 

Giving season

Trustees Jennifer Taylor and Jeremy Pruett took an opportunity during the meeting to provide updates on some recent charitable endeavors around the district. Taylor announced the Aledo PTO recently completed the Big Kahuna Fundraiser – the organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year. 

With the success of the fundraiser, the PTO is currently in the process of distributing funds to each campus across the district.

Taylor also mentioned the AdvoCats are working on their annual Angel Project. Through the Angel Project, AdvoCats will serve 636 students across the district by not only ensuring they have presents under the tree on Christmas morning, but also by providing a holiday meal to the families of those students. 

AdvoCats is still in need of volunteers to shop for gifts and for people willing to donate funds. To find out how you can help, go to aledoadvocats.com and find Angel Project under the Outreach tab.

Pruett’s update from the Aledo Education Foundation’s sixth annual Bearcat Blast Clay Shoot at Defender Outdoors was positive. The AEF had a record turnout and raised the most funds in the six year history of the event.

Next on the docket for the AEF will be their 12th annual Bearcats and Boots event on March 28, 2025. The spring fundraiser held at Stockyard Station is a night of dinner and dancing to raise funds to meet the immediate needs of students and teachers within AISD. For more info on the web, go to aledoef.org.

LMES close-out pushed

Chief Facilities and Construction Officer Chris Campbell gave the trustees an update on the construction of Lynn McKinney Elementary School as part of the 2023 bond. While LMES opened on time with the start of the 2024-25 school year, closeout on the construction has been pushed several times since the start of the school year.
Campbell advised the new closeout plan is to aim for January 2025 due to some concrete work that cannot be completed without disrupting school dropoff and pickup. The plan is to complete the concrete repairs over Christmas break and closeout shortly after the new year.