Dear Vega ISD Community,
Summer continues to keep everyone busy with outdoor activities. Basketball camp has been in session this week in the high school gym. This past weekend we celebrated Father’s Day and certainly want to wish all of the fathers in our community another “Happy Father’s Day” greeting.
Many school districts across Texas are facing deficit budgets because the cost of doing business and providing learning opportunities for students exceeds the revenues provided by the State to fund public education. At the time of this writing, in our region alone, a majority of school districts are planning on adopting a deficit budget, including Vega ISD, in hopes of maintaining exceptional learning opportunities for students in the absence of adequate state funding.
In the most recent legislative session, state leaders had access to billions of dollars in surplus funds specifically allocated to schools but these funds were not provided to school districts because of other prioritizations. At the same time, the basic allotment, which is the primary mechanism for funding public education in Texas, has stayed the same since 2019 despite recorded-setting inflation and increases in the costs of operations. As a result, the burden of financing our local public schools while maintaining a high level of expectational learning opportunities is placed with our local community rather than the State of Texas providing the necessary support for all Texas public schools.
School districts have two ways to increase revenue: (1) an increase in student enrollment (and average daily attendance) and (2) maximizing tax rates through enrichment pennies.
We are continuing our efforts to increase our student enrollment. Vega ISD is accepting transfer students throughout the summer for the 2024-2025 school year. Check out our transfer landing page on the district’s website that talks about our school and how to apply for a transfer. Please note that to be eligible to be accepted as a transfer student to Vega ISD, all students must be in good standing with their current school district, have good attendance, and have no discipline issues. If you feel comfortable doing so, please “like” the social media posts and share them on your own social media pages. If you need any help in doing this, please reach out to our office. We would be glad to help.
Many school districts across the state have called for a VATRE (Voter Approved Tax Ratification Election) as a result of a lack of increased funding from the state that matches inflation and provides for increasing costs of goods and services. Many more school districts are considering calling for a VATRE for this upcoming election cycle. A VATRE allows a school district to ask voters for permission to adopt a tax rate that exceeds the district’s state-calculated maximum compressed tax rate (MCR). This additional revenue can be used to fund critical needs for the maintenance and operation of the district, including the ability to provide the enriching educational opportunities found in Vega ISD. The timeline for school districts that choose to ask the voters for permission to maximize the tax rate through enrichment pennies is for them to call for a Voter Approved Tax Ratification Election (VATRE) in August and set the election date for the VATRE in November for the voters.
Our elected public officials provide a voice for the Panhandle. Be sure to let our elected officials know your thoughts about supporting public schools so they know how to best represent our community during the legislative process and legislative sessions. The Representative for Texas House District 86 is John Smithee. The Senator for Texas Senate District 31 is Kevin Sparks.
As always, if you have any questions or if we can help in any way, please reach out to your campus principal or to my office.
Thank you,
Jerry Adams
Superintendent
Vega ISD