Keller ISD Employees, 

The Board of Trustees met for its monthly Regular Meeting on Monday, November 13, taking action on several key pieces of business, previewing the 2024-25 Instructional Calendar, and hearing a few important reports, including one on the outlook of the district’s 2024-25 budget. As always, you can view the full meeting by visiting Keller ISD’s YouTube Channel. 

We were excited to open the meeting by honoring Keller High runners Clare Boneau and Bridger Bowcutt, both of whom qualified for the recent UIL Class 6A State Cross Country Championships and represented Keller ISD well. We also recognized our school nursing staff for the efforts they put forth each and every day to care for our students. 

The evening’s action items were highlighted by the Board approving the purchase of security film that will provide a layer of protection for strategically selected building windows, prolonging the time for a forced entry and protecting building occupants from flying debris in the event of severe weather. Trustees also approved a resolution directing the defeasance and/or redemption of a portion of the District’s unlimited tax refunding bonds, Series 2020A. While they may not mean a lot to most outside of the financial world, the step is expected to result in debt savings of an estimated $1.8 million. Over the last five years, Keller ISD has saved more than $33 million through debt refunding. 

Trustees had the opportunity to preview a draft of the 2024-25 Instructional Calendar. The draft has school starting on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, and ending on Thursday, May 22, 2025. It includes most of the same student holidays as the current calendar, but adds in a Student Holiday/Teacher Prep Day on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, considering that many of our campuses will likely be used as Election Day polling locations by Tarrant County. You can click here to view a draft of the calendar, which will be taken back to the Calendar Committee for additional feedback before a final version is presented to the Board for consideration in December. 

The Board also heard two reports, the first regarding the District’s plans to utilize the Teacher Incentive Allotment to identify and reward highly effective teachers with enhanced salary potential. The second report provided an outlook on Keller ISD’s 2024-25 budget, sharing how an imperfect storm of inflation, underfunded mandates, flattening enrollment and student attendance, and an insufficient and complex state funding formula have all put Keller ISD in a situation where our expenses are expected to outpace our revenue by more than $27 million, and that’s after cutting more than $17 million from the budget last year. We would highly recommend viewing the presentation in its entirety, and you can click here for a link directly to that portion of the meeting. 

As you may know, our legislature has convened for a fourth special session after failing to come to an agreement regarding school funding during the recently concluded third special session. School finance is once again on the agenda, and our legislators have the opportunity to provide funding to Texas public schools, where it is desperately needed. 

Like many districts in Texas, we are facing a critical situation with our budget due to a lack of state funding. Despite record inflation, the state has not increased the amount of funding given to schools since 2019. With an increase in costs across the board for everything from utilities, to insurance, to fuel, this lack of funding is unsustainable. 

For the time being, our team of financial experts is looking for every possible solution to create efficiencies in our budget that will have the least impact on our classrooms and students. Even still, we need the state to do its part. 

The state of Texas has a record budget surplus, a portion of which has already been set aside for public school funding. However, without legislation, those funds still sit in limbo. Please contact your legislators and ask them to pass a school funding bill during this fourth special session that would: 

• Increase the basic allotment to account for inflation (from $6,160 to $7,200); 
• Provide for permanent teacher raises – not one-time stipends that leave the burden of continuing to provide for increased salaries on our schools (much like what happened in 2019); 
• Provide funding for safety and technology mandates; 
• Increase funding for special education and other special programs; 
• Switch from funding based on average daily attendance to enrollment-based funding; and
• Provided standardized testing flexibility. 

Without expedient help from the state, Keller ISD is at risk of making some tough decisions in order to maintain our current baseline of operations. You can help by visiting SaveKellerISD.net and filling out a brief form that will notify your elected representatives that you want them to prioritize adequate funding for public schools. Those interested in learning more about Texas public school finance and Keller ISD’s budget situation are invited to attend a Community Budget Education Forum at 6 p.m. Wednesday, November 29, at the Keller ISD Education Center. 

While it’s important to prepare for the reality that our district will face over the coming months, we also want to encourage you not to let these changes distract from our mission to educate, inspire, and challenge our students in preparing them for the future. This district has faced similar challenges in the past, and just as before, we know that our dedicated educators and support staff will persevere and do all that it takes to provide intentionally exceptional learning opportunities for our students. Providing public schools with adequate funding may not be a priority for our elected officials, but we know that our students deserve better, and we will continue to do all that we can to give them the educational experience that they deserve. 

We will continue to keep you informed moving forward, and we thank you for all that you do for the students of Keller ISD. 

Dr. Charles Randklev
President
Keller ISD Board of Trustees  

John Allison 
Interim Superintendent 
Keller ISD