Funding Schools in Texas
The big three: local, state, and federal funding.
MISD serves approximately 14,500 students and employs 1,900 teachers and support staff. The district provides a well-balanced curriculum to meet the needs of all students offering advanced academics, concurrent college and high school enrollment credit, career, and technical education career paths and certifications, early childhood, full-day kindergarten, and a strong academic core.
The district is the only public school in Montgomery County to offer the International Baccalaureate Program (IB) for juniors and seniors. IB is one of the premier academic programs recognized by elite universities around the world as an excellent preparatory curriculum.
Breaking Down the Revenue
Magnolia ISD receives about 56% of its revenue for the general operating budget from local tax collections and other local sources. For the 2023-24 adopted budget, local funding sources were expected to reach $74,809,908.
The locally-elected School Board sets the school property tax rate each year, but the district does not determine the market value of homes and business property within the district. Values are determined each year by the Montgomery Central Appraisal District.
State funding accounts for 42% of the district’s revenue and federal funding only provides 2%.
Local
Funding
59%
State
Funding
40%
Federal
Funding
1%
Total Revenue: $134,185,214
One of the challenges in Texas school finance is the fact that schools adopt budgets based on enrollment, but they are funded based on attendance.
Budgeting on Enrollment
MISD receives projections from demographic experts and based on those enrollment projections, we must provide classroom space, desks, supplies, pay the salaries for a teacher and support personnel, and cover expenses like electricity, water, food, and gas. Of course, the district must cover all these expenses because they are necessary based on the number of students we expect to enroll.
Funding on Attendance
Texas is one of only six states in the nation that bases funding on attendance. It’s important to note that Average Daily Attendance (ADA) is a significant factor in public school funding formulas in Texas. The loss in funding each day from absences can reach the equivalent of the cost of one teacher a day or $58,000. And over the course of one school year, that funding loss can reach a staggering $10.2 million.
Good Attendance Pays Off
You heard that right, on any given day in Magnolia ISD, when a certain percentage of students wake up not feeling well, choose to take trips with their family, miss school for a mental health day, schedule a doctor or dentist appointment during class time or opt not to come for a myriad of other reasons, not only is there lost instruction time for that student, but there is a significant loss of state funding.
