Do Your Own Research Regarding LGISD Bond

To the Editor:

As early voting approaches for the LGISD bond, I know there are minds that I can’t change. They decided the moment they heard about it and dug in their heels. I am writing this for those who are still on the fence. In the first three letters to the editor regarding the bond, Pastor Martin and I exchanged views. In his response to my letter, he wrote that he agreed with me that we should all do our own research. I have spent several weeks doing my research because property taxes and school finance are two hot button issues in Texas.

Let’s start with the first. Our governor and lieutenant governor have suggested eliminating property taxes in the past. Many jumped on that band wagon. If you look at or listen to their current messaging, they now want to “roll back” taxes. Why the change? Eliminating property taxes would put the full cost of public education on the state government. Without a state income tax, that would mean raising other tax rates. According to taxfoundation. org, the state of Texas collects 6.25 percent sales tax, 20 cents per gallon of gas, $1.41 per 20 pack of cigarettes. One or more of those would need to increase if property taxes are eliminated. Plus, the city would need to collect more sales tax (if the state lets it). Without a huge increase in other taxes or the implementation of a state income tax (unlikely to ever happen), property taxes are here to stay.

Next, let’s look at how ISDs are funded. Funds come from the state, local property tax revenue, and the federal government. The portion from the federal government is small and comes with many rules. Funding for most of the federal programs has remained flat for several years which means that there has been no added funding due to inflation. That leaves us with the state and local funding sources. In 2009, the state per student allotment was $4,765. It didn’t increase again until 2013 to $4,950. There was a slight increase of $90 per student in 2014 which didn’t change again until 2019. The new rate, $6,160 was in place until the last legislative session when it was increased another $55 to $6,215. While that may sound great, districts went for six years with no increase during a time when the state also implemented limits to how much ISDs can tax and costs for everything increased. If that $4,765 allotment from 2009 were adjusted for inflation, the state should be providing at least $7,337. The state has failed the children of Texas by effectively decreasing its funding when adjusted for inflation.

The last bond passed in LGISD was in 2017. Every year since then, the district has lowered its tax rate. Two reasons for that: they are good stewards of our money and the state has multiple rules about how much districts can tax. There is no way for districts to build up funds over time for big ticket items like those in this bond proposal. If districts have excess funds, the state “recaptures” them. These funds were meant to go to property poor districts; however, the funds now go mostly to the charter schools. State funding for charter schools has consistently increased since 2014. But I digress, my point is that the state doesn’t allow districts to set a rate that allows for funds for anything beyond the regular operation and paying down previous debt. The LGISD rate in 2017 was 1.2858 (according to the Fayette CAD site for my property). In 2025, the rate was .773720. The district is doing its part to control taxes; however, the district doesn’t control the appraisal values and shouldn’t beheldresponsibleforthatproblem. Our students shouldn’t be punished for the state’s changes in how appraisals are done. For my home/property, my ISD taxes dropped $238.95 from 2017 to 2025. I know this isn’t true for everyone. That’s why each person needs to do their own research. Someone on social media recently replied to me that her taxes have gone down for two years and she doesn’t want them to go back up. I get that; however, a strong school district that students. . . actually the entire community can take pride in and benefit from is important to me. I encourage you to go to fayettecad.org and research your own property rather than listening to me or anyone else. Much could be said about how the state caused our appraisals to go up.

Hopefully you have a better understanding of state and local funding as well as the LGISD tax rate in the past. If the bond passes, the tax rate will go up to 1.13992. Pause here and look back to the last paragraph at the 2017 tax rate. Even with the bond, the rate will be lower than it was after the last bond was passed. Will I be paying more? Yes, but again, that is not the fault of the school district. My house/property has doubled in value since 2017 which was great for the person I bought it from. Luckily, I qualify for the homestead exemption. If you haven’t applied for that, you should.

The state A-F rating comes up a lot. My guess is that the people throwing it out there have no clue about the history of testing in Texas or how the rating system works. The first state mandated test in Texas was the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS). If you were in school from 1980-85, you probably took it. It was three tests (reading, math, writing) for grades 3, 5, and 9. A student took nine state tests throughout their twelve years in public school. Since then we have had the TEAMS, TAAS, TAKS, and now the STAAR. Students now take fifteen tests from third to eighth grades plus another five in high school. For many of the tests, the reading level of the questions is higher than the grade level of the students taking the test. The scoring changes every year, so the number of questions needed to pass one year might not be the same the next. The A-F system for districts was implemented in 2018. In 2019, 2022, and 2023, LGISD had a B rating. There were no ratings during the two years around COVID. The state has since made revisions that added additional standards and changed others, resulting in LGISD moving from a B to a C. The district didn’t get worse; the state changed the rules. I could keep going, but I want you to keep reading. It’s a flawed system.

I’ve been reading the letters here as well as following comments on social media. I feel like those opposed to the bond are tossing out as many reasons to be against it as they can and hoping something sticks. Here are some of the ones that frustrate me the most: We didn’t have any of that when I was in school and we did just fine. My father had an 8th grade education and wanted so much more for his daughters even though he had made a comfortable income back then. Every generation should hope for better for the next one.

The parents need to do a better job then we wouldn’t need all of this. This came from someone who also said that if both parents have to work to make ends meet, maybe they shouldn’t have had kids. Our economy is vastly different than it was in the 70s. A stay at home parent is a luxury that most can’t afford.

Why do they need shade on the playground? (again with the “we didn’t have that”). Relief from the heat, some protection from the sun for starters. My generation and those older are regularly getting our skin cancers removed. We didn’t know back then. Maybe we could do better for our kids.

We should focus only on what the kids need, not what they deserve. That line of thinking suggests that we shouldn’t have any athletics, fine arts, or other extracurricular programs (all needs in my mind, but not to those opposed to the bond). The items in the bond are not luxuries as some have suggested. Many will make our schools safer, while others are additions and improvements that will serve the district well for many years to come. I’m willing to make that investment in future generations.

I could go on for pages about the misleading and outright false things that have been said and posted. Instead, I will ask those who are still undecided to do your own research.