Houston Area Charters and ISDs Face Budget Realities

News from the Chron about how legislative budget cut to public education will affect area charters:

KIPP:

The extended school week — one of the trademarks of the popular charter school system — is going by the wayside, along with out-of-Houston field trips and pay raises for employees.

KIPP will replace Saturday classes for middle schoolers with "independent study projects." That sounds like . . . homework. That's disappointing. One of KIPP's advantages with students in poverty is that they get a commitment from students to participate in extended time in school - including those Saturdays. In non-charters, teachers are desperate for extra time with students who need remediation - and the time is usually not there in the regular, required school hours.

YES Prep:

The YES Prep program, which starts its budget year Sept. 1, will spend the remainder of the summer figuring out how to trim about $2.4 million from its budget. They expect to make do with fewer supplies and trips. Increasing class size is also an option, said Ryan Dolibois, a spokesman for YES.

Clear Creek ISD 

Superintendent Greg Smith told the school board last week that once the legislation is signed by Gov. Rick Perry, CCISD is looking at about $17.5 less in state funding for the 2011-12 school year and $25 million less for the 2012-13 year.

There hasn't been a lot of public information as to how Clear Creek would handle the funding cuts. Here are some details:

The district will not remove the 5 percent Homestead Exemption for 2011-2012 or 2012-2013. The public, through community forums and an online survey, clearly stated its preference for a tax rate election versus eliminating the Homestead Exemption. There are no plans for a tax rate election for 2011-2012 school year.

Interesting that the public in this very Republican area is willing to have their taxes raised, but not have their homestead exemption taken away. CCISD is considering allowing out of district students to pay tuition to attend Clear Creek schools where there is room (interested parents - see their 2011 TAKS data here) , and eliminating some bus routes. The district will begin charging fees for extracurricular programs and transportation in 2012-2013. There will be a 10% cut in all operating budgets beginning this school year. $12.5 million in fund balances will make up the rest of the shortfall.