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Dear Fellow Trustees,
At our April 1 budget meeting, I discussed the importance of increasing enrollment to reducing our budget deficit for 2021/2022. At a previous meeting, we considered a pilot program for out of district transfers, but it was determined that 1. it would be very difficult to accomplish this year for admin given all the other current demands and 2. Trustees were concerned we wouldn’t have any capacity in our secondary schools. For those reasons, it wasn’t pursued.
I have another option that is less strenuous on staff and limits it to mainly elementary. Right now, FD Local allows the following: “The parent and grandparent of a nonresident student requesting
admission under Education Code 25.001(b)(9) shall provide to the Superintendent the required information on the grandparent’s residency and complete a form provided by the District describing the
extent of after-school care to be provided by the grandparent. The Superintendent shall have authority to approve or deny such admissions requests in accordance with criteria established by the
District.”I would like us to consider expanding FD Local to include all resident family members of non-resident students who provide after-school care for said students.
As the policy is written, the superintendent has the authority to deny the request for various reasons, such as if the school is completely full. And since most of the time students that require after-school care are elementary aged, it would limit the scope.
Obviously this wouldn’t result in substantial increases in enrollment, but even 125 students is $1 million in additional revenue. It’s something to consider.
Trustee Vessa, I really appreciate that you are thinking outside the box to reduce our budget deficit. But I have to be honest. I am not so keen on our push to increase enrollment by means of marketing and other ways. I believe we should focus on giving the best education to our existing students, utilizing our money more efficiently and investing in important areas that have long term impact. During the last few meetings, I actually feel very uncomfortable hearing each student equals to $8k revenue, though I understand it’s the reality and we need to rein in the budget deficit.
Dear Trustee Xiao,
I absolutely agree that providing the best education to our students should be the focus everyday in everyway. And that is my goal. I grew up in a place (California) with very little money and therefore very few supports for students. The classes sizes were large; we had no counselors, no art, PE, or music teachers in elementary. The list goes on and on. It impacted my ability to get a top notch education. My husband, on the other hand, grew up in Wyoming. His district had abundant resources and his education was far superior in many ways to mine. That is where I am coming from. I want the best for our students, but without the resources to attract and retain the best staff, and without staffing supports, the education we provide here in RRISD will grow to look more and more like that which I experienced growing up. I am trying to avoid that.
My focus is always on providing an excellent education for our students. As I said in the 1 Apr 2021 board meeting: What 9/11 did to our country, this pandemic has done to education. It’s unlikely that our enrollment is going to return to the pre-pandemic level anytime soon and certainly not next school year. What I will be advocating for is the same thing I would be advocating in any organization…understand what we do well, focus on that, invest in that, recruit for that. If we try to be all things to all people, we will do nothing well.
There are a wide variety of preferences in our community regarding what folks want in the NEXT SCHOOL YEAR (2021-2022). Most want on-campus education and some want virtual education. Some want mask choice for all and some want all persons to be required to wear a mask until all children have been vaccinated. Some want block scheduling and some do not. We hear from all of these perspectives on a regular basis which is helpful.
No matter what decisions we make on these issues and others, some families will not return to RRISD in 2021-2022 as a result. The pandemic has changed everything. Enrollment has changed. Our goals have changed (we are in that process now). A new superintendent will lead our district in the 2021-2022 school year.
As a trustee charged with oversight of the entire district, I am looking to position RRISD as the competitively superior pre-K-12 education District of Choice for parents and students who reside in RRISD. It is clear to me that the majority of parents and students (but not all) want on campus education and mask choice for the 2021-2022 school year. When we commit to serving the enormous demand for this service, I believe that we will capture the vast majority of students who once populated our schools in large numbers. In addition, I think our enrollment number will grow every year going forward.
When looking at budget decisions for the NEXT SCHOOL YEAR, I will be making decisions and advocating to invest in what RRISD offers that no one else does in the RRISD footprint: A world class free public education for on campus students where masks are optional.
We are all anxiously awaiting the outcome of several bills the Texas legislature is considering which will impact RRISD. And we are all waiting to see if they will grant authority to RRISD to offer virtual learning past May 2021. As of today (14 Apr 2021) that hasn’t happened but there is over a month left in the session.
This ties into our budget strategy. It is clear that our staffing formula is not justified given our current 48k student enrollment. This isn’t my opinion, it comes from funding and allotment limitations that are decided at the state level. Payroll constitutes almost 90% of our M&O budget. Decisions need to be made.
I am not inclined to embark on an endeavor to recruit students outside of RRISD to grow our enrollment number. The parents/guardians of these students will have no say in trustee elections. They will have no vote at the ballot box in future bond elections. I seek to provide clarity to our community on what they can expect in the 2021-2022 school year. I will invest in the staff that will execute that mission. I will make budgetary decisions (as one of seven votes) that will ensure a world class education for our students. If the legislature approves RRISD to offer virtual learning in 2021-2022 and funds it, let’s make it a great virtual campus and serve (with fidelity) the unique needs that students in that learning platform deserve.
Trustee Vessa,
Thank you for thinking of ways to help with enrollment and to help make life a little easier for family members serving as caregivers in our community.
I support your idea, not as an enrollment idea but as a way to help families in RRISD and outside RRISD. I would imagine it’s a small number of people, but just like grandparents; aunts and uncles and cousins are often called on to help family members with child care. A person living and voting within the Round Rock ISD community who is going to pick up a child from another district for after school care at their home, in the RRISD footprint, is providing a valuable service to everyone involved. That child will be playing at the park with RRISD students after school and probably will be attending scouts and other afternoon/evening activities with the RRISD students who live near their family caregiver. To me this is more of a service to our community members than it is a boost in our enrollment to allow that child to be in school at the RRISD campus near their caregiver (provided there is space on the campus).
These are hard times for some members of our community and if we can make it easier for children in our area to have better access to childcare provided by a member of their family who lives in the RRISD footprint, then I’m all for it.
Thank you Trustee Weir for bringing up such valid points. It spurred me to think of other ways it could bless families and improve student outcomes.
One of the hardest things on kids is switching schools. If you look at our Title 1 campuses, they have the highest mobility rates. And this pandemic exacerbated that problem. So if these most at risk students could remain at the school where their more stable family member lives who cares for them after school, that would help improve their student outcomes.
Furthermore, if that family caregiver, who likely cares for multiple children family members, could have all the kids at the same school, that would enable that family caregiver to be more involved at the school. Maybe that family caregiver could volunteer at the school, could be involved in PTA, could sit in on the parent/teacher conferences, etc.
I keep thinking of more ways this could be a blessing. I bet those reading this will send us emails. I encourage them to do just that. Board_of_Trustees@roundrockisd.org
I forgot to specify that it is shown that moving schools (especially districts) hurts student outcomes. I can find the data, but it is pretty widely acknowledged.
Thank you President Weir. Now I am convinced.
I believe I am one of only two current trustees whose children grew up on RRISD Title 1 campuses. I am very familiar with the challenges including mobility children experience. I’m not opposed to this idea Trustee Vessa. Perhaps you can reach out to the administration and see if there has ever been any request for this from community members. I’d be curious to learn what level of interest has been expressed. Like Trustee Weir, for me this is less about growing enrollment for the financial benefit of RRISD and more about being a good steward in the community.
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