Legislative Priorities
Committed to meeting the needs of our community, New Caney ISD has identified legislative priorities for consideration by the Texas Legislature that align with the priority goals of the Board of Trustees. The legislative priorities were developed by the New Caney ISD Board of Trustees Legislative Affairs Committee, which met during the spring of the 2024 school year to discuss how government action impacts the school district. The committee was tasked with exploring issues that could be considered by state lawmakers in the next legislative session, as well as areas where action by the state could help New Caney ISD better serve students and the community. The four major areas addressed by the legislative priorities are school safety and security, teaching and learning, staff recruitment and retention, and fast growth student enrollment.
New Caney ISD Legislative Priorities
School Safety and Security
New Caney ISD supports protecting and enhancing funding for the school safety allotment and providing local flexibility to ensure school districts can adequately meet student and staff safety needs. The Texas Legislature should consider:
- Increasing the per-student school safety allotment and increase the per-campus allotment.
- Updating state law to allow school districts to exercise discretion in making disciplinary decisions regarding vaping related offenses.
Teaching and Learning
New Caney ISD supports appropriate state accountability for the implementation of effective, locally designed initiatives that respect the professionalism of educators and account for the needs of students. The Texas Legislature should consider:
- Strengthening measures that allow schools to maintain classroom environments that are safe and conducive to learning.
- Reducing reliance on standardized assessment in the state’s accountability system, and emphasizing locally relevant, non-testing factors that have value for students, parents, and teachers.
- Fully funding full-day prekindergarten services through the foundation school program.
- Protecting and expanding opportunities available to school districts designated as Districts of Innovation.
Staff Recruitment and Retention
New Caney ISD supports measures that would increase overall compensation for teachers, support strategic compensation strategies, and reduce healthcare costs:
- Increase the state contribution to healthcare premiums and allow school systems to select multiple healthcare plans to meet teachers’ needs.
- Fund a significant increase in overall teacher salaries by increasing the basic allotment and other state funding mechanisms.
- Subsidize certification and hiring incentives for special education and bilingual education teachers.
- Removing restrictions regarding the use of TRS retirees to allow districts to address staff shortages by employing retirees without financial penalty.
- Allowing school districts greater governing authority to issue local school district teaching permits (SDTPs) to address teacher shortages.
- Allowing school districts more flexibility to hire teachers who are in the process of passing certification programs.
- Removing inhibitive waiting periods and limits regarding certification testing for prospective teachers currently required by the State Board for Educator Certification.
Fast Growth Student Enrollment
New Caney ISD supports legislative solutions that help fast-growth communities manage the financial and structural demands of rapidly growing student enrollment. The Texas Legislature should consider:
- Increasing the capacity of the Fast Growth Allotment to address enrollment growth and reduce proration.
- Providing additional funding for measures that provide relief for fast-growth school districts, including the:
- Instructional Facilities Allotment
- New Instructional Facilities Allotment
- Clarifying requirements for public notice and disclosures related to bond referenda and the local tax implications of the bond issuance process.
- Transitioning school funding from an attendance-based system to an enrollment-based system.