The $402 Million of facilities needs identified by SAISD’s Facilities Advisory Committee will be considered by the Board of Trustees at its Special Meeting this evening at 5:45 p.m. at the SAISD Administration Building 1621 University Drive in San Angelo.
Ordinarily the Board’s first meeting of the month is a Pre-Agenda Workshop. Pre-Agenda Workshops are typically used to do preliminary work and determine what items will be placed on the agenda for the regular meeting for action. In most cases no action can be taken at a workshop meeting because that is not what it is for. Today’s meeting is called as a Special Meeting, not just a workshop meeting, and includes action items for calling the 2025 Trustee Election for Single Member Districts 1,2,3,4, and to consider an order calling for a bond election at the same time.
Although nothing official has been announced, sources tell The Concho Democrat that Superintendent Dr. Christopher Moran may recommend less than the full $402 Million worth of projects for the bond. Passing a bond election is one of the Superintendent’s Goals—to create innovative learning spaces. What exactly the bond will include, how many propositions the voters will be asked to consider, and its total impact on the ad valorem tax rate will be decided tonight. You can read more about the potential bond projects in our previous story, What Projects Will Be Part of School Bond?
The Board also will receive a presentation from Deputy Superintendent Farrah Gomez titled High Quality Instructional Material. This means the Board will likely be taking up the new K-5th Grade Bluebonnet Curriculum created and approved by the TEA. A great deal of controversy surrounds this curriculum. It was approved by only eight of the fifteen TEA Board members and has drawn a great deal of criticism because of its heavy inclusion of Biblical teaching. Critics also argue that it glosses over uncomfortable aspects of American History including slavery, lynching and segregation.
While use of this curriculum is not mandatory, the State is offering a financial incentive to districts to adopt it. The State of Texas will provide $60 per student for districts that use the curriculum. This is a tempting offer for many school districts since the state legislature, with a projected budget surplus of $24 Billion, continues to refuse to constitutionally fund its public schools, putting more and more of the financial burden on local property taxpayers. More than 50% of public school districts are operating with deficit budgets this year. You can read more about the curriculum controversy here: State Board of Education approves Bible-infused curriculum.
Various groups are urging districts to reject the curriculum on First Amendment and other legal grounds. At least one district, South San Antonio has chosen to adopt it, while others like Denton ISD have declined for now. Financial subsidies to adopt the curriculum also raise questions about whether the state is, in effect, adopting and establishing a certain version of Christianity as the official state religion, in violation of the First Amendment. This could leave the local districts in a bind as it is the individual districts who would be sued over adoption of the curriculum and have to bear the expense of defending the lawsuits.
The curriculum itself was not available for review as of the last Board meeting. In Texas all parents are entitled to review the curriculum their children will be taught before hand.
Other items on the agenda this evening include:
- Receiving Management Oversight Report
- Summary of Findings of TEA Intruder Detection Audit
- Facilities Update
- Finance Reports
- Reviewing the Proposed Agenda for February 18 Meeting.
