Advocacy Update

HISD Advocacy: Wednesday, April 23 at 1pm the HISD Board of Managers will hold a meeting that includes a budget workshop. A few things to watch for:

HISD has increased average salaries, but it has not increased funding for non-NES schools (called PUA schools because those schools–including Heights–are funded on a Per Unit Allocation (PUA) model) enough to cover those increases. It is unclear whether funding is effectively being cut from PUA schools to pay for the cost of the NES program.
HISD’s prior workshop slides regarding PUA funding do not match numbers from HISD’s own budget book. Can the administration explain this difference?
HISD has removed a funding stream called the High School Allotment from high schools. Why was this done, and what is the impact on high schools?
Funding for PUA schools is based on number of students, weighted for attendance. HISD has changed the way that it calculates average daily attendance. Why, and what is the impact of that change on schools?
Projected 2025-26 budgets are based on enrollment projections. Are those accurate?
There is additional funding from various sources for economically disadvantaged populations. Is that funding following the student so that all economically disadvantaged students, no matter what school they attend, receive the intended benefit of that funding?

The Board of Managers has to approve the budget, so look to them to ask these questions (and if they don’t, urge them to).