Shawnda Kracja doesn’t want her daughter to be known as “the deaf girl.”
Kracja’s daughter is entering third grade at Davis Elementary School, which has hosted a regional day school program for the deaf and hard of hearing for decades. But Davis’ other deaf and hard of hearing students will move to Harrington Elementary School for the 2025-2026 school year. The Plano ISD board recently voted to close Davis and three other schools, citing budget concerns.
Plano is one of many Texas school districts facing difficult decisions due to funding shortages. Disability advocates say funding for special education in Texas is about $2 billion short, leaving school districts to foot the bill. And even wealthy districts are struggling to come up with the missing funds.
Plano ISD votes to close four schools, move regional deaf program
More and more Texas students are enrolling in special education services. Until 2018, Texas had a cap of approximately 8.5% for enrollment in special education services. Now that the cap has been lifted, Steven Alemán, senior policy specialist at Disability Rights Texas, said more students are enrolling in special education services.
Special education students have a harder time teaching, which Alemán said should mean the state would provide districts with additional funding to supplement the additional spending. Districts typically receive extra money for special education from state and federal dollars. But Alemán said the amount of money districts receive from the state for special education is not enough to meet the growing need.
“There is a shortfall or a gap between what districts are spending, that is, what it collectively costs to educate students with disabilities, and what the state is responsible for,” he said.
Aleman said the deficit amounts to about $2 billion. On top of that, Texas schools lost $300 million in federal special education funding. funds at the end of last year. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission lost an appeal to a federal audit that found it was overbilling Medicaid for special education services.
Alemán said that the loss of that federal check in addition to the state’s funding deficit hurts the pockets of the districts.
“Those federal and state reimbursements just aren’t keeping up,” he said.
Community integration
Liz Whitaker is not deaf. But the new fourth grader has learned some sign language.
“So I can communicate more with my friends,” Whitaker said.
Kracja said the inclusive culture at Davis makes a difference for her daughter.
“My daughter is just one of the girls,” she said. “They don’t see her as, ‘Oh, that’s the deaf girl.’”
Kracja said it took years to build that culture on campus and moving the program to Harrington means starting over.
It’s not just about the students. Kracja said Davis teachers are accustomed to the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students. Some of them have ASL interpreters. Others have a hearing aid or cochlear implant that connects to a microphone their teacher uses.
Sarah Wainscott, assistant professor of deaf education at Texas Woman’s University, said it will be an adjustment for Harrington teachers who haven’t worked with deaf or hard-of-hearing children. And Wainscott said having a teacher who understands the different needs of deaf and hard of hearing students makes a difference.
“Having a teacher who knows those things intuitively based on experience is a game-changer,” he said.
Parents react as the Plano ISD board votes to close four schools, including Davis Elementary, during a special session Monday, June 10, 2024, in Plano.
Higher costs
There is extra money allocated in the state budget for regional day programs like the one at Davis Elementary School. Districts that contribute dollars can send students to a nearby location that meets their needs if they don’t have a program. The special education funds those students receive follow them to the district they attend for the day school program.
Alemán said that, in theory, the money should be enough to fund the day school program and meet the educational needs of deaf and hard of hearing students.
“That’s not reality,” he said. “They are let down, just like every other student with disabilities in the state.”
There are not many students who are deaf or hard of hearing. According to the United States Census Bureau, between two and three of every 1,000 children in the country are born with detectable hearing loss. National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. That’s why the Davis Elementary School program serves so many districts.
But Wainscott said teaching deaf and hard of hearing students is more expensive.
“Our technology has gotten better and better, but it’s also more and more expensive,” he said.
Plano ISD said closing schools was a difficult but necessary financial decision. The district has had a growing budget deficit since 2017. Plano Chief Financial Officer Johnny Hill said at the meeting that closing these campuses will save the district about $5.2 million a year. Other savings include a one-time capital spending reduction of $20.1 million and avoiding the cost of rebuilding all four campuses, which would have cost at least $340 million. All four schools were built during the 1970s.
The Plano Independent School District is in an area with great real estate wealth, but it can’t keep all the property tax dollars it collects. The state sets a certain amount of money that school districts receive per student. It’s called basic allocation. It is approximately $6,160 per student. Special education students typically receive additional dollars through an additional allowance.
Any extra money Plano ISD collects is sent to the Texas Education Agency to be redistributed to districts with less property wealth.
The base allocation has not increased since 2019. But Plano ISD Superintendent Dr. Theresa Williams said at a recent school board meeting that inflation has increased the district’s expenses.
“From compensation to our employees to the rising cost of construction and the cost of materials, resources, insurance, protection and utilities, the cost of doing business today cannot be adequately covered by 2019 budget dollars,” Williams said.
There was a bill in the Texas House of Representatives during the last legislative session that would have increased the base allocation. Alemán said the bill also included changes to the state’s special education funding formula, something he said Disability Rights Texas advocated for. He said the current formula is too complex and outdated.
The bill did not advance after the House amendment approved to remove school voucher funding from the bill. Gov. Greg Abbott said he would veto any education funding legislation that did not include money for what he calls “school choice.”
Alemán said Abbott’s political differences over vouchers killed the bill.
“If that wasn’t achieved, then nothing would be approved in terms of school funding,” Alemán said.
Parents react as the Plano ISD board votes to close four schools, including Davis Elementary, during a special session Monday, June 10, 2024, in Plano.
Powerful problem
Plano ISD is not alone in its struggles. Irving and Richardson school districts also recently closed schools due to declining enrollment. Fewer children in classrooms means less state money and more empty desks. Hill said too many seats in schools is inefficient: Schools can’t offer certain programs because there aren’t enough participants, and the district ends up paying for more facilities than it needs.
Plano ISD enrollment has dropped by 7,700 students over the past 12 years. And Hill said it is projected to continue to decline by more than 3,000 students over the next five years. There are currently about 18,000 seats available in Plano schools. Hill said if the district does nothing, the number will increase to 21,500 open seats.
“That’s just not sustainable over time,” he said.
The closure of the campuses was an emotional moment. Parents wearing Davis Elementary School T-shirts left the school board meeting in tears after administrators voted unanimously to close all four campuses.
Even school board president Nancy Humphrey shed a tear.
“I’m sorry,” Humphrey said as he choked up before the board vote. “I’m human.”
They are thinking of children like Liz Whitaker.
“I don’t think we should close Davis because we have an amazing community of a lot of amazing people,” Whitaker said.
But as expenses increase and funding remains stagnant, school districts will continue to face difficult decisions, even wealthy districts like Plano ISD.
Dylan M. Rafaty, president and CEO of the North Texas Chamber on Disability, said he understands parents’ concerns about the closure of Davis Elementary School. But Rafaty, who is deaf in the right ear and partially deaf in the left, said the rest of the world is not as inclusive as Davis.
“I encourage those parents to understand that as you integrate into society, everything becomes more challenging,” Rafaty said.
The Plano West graduate said he is confident the district will do everything it can to ease the transition for Davis families. And he said the best way to rebuild the culture at Davis is for deaf and hard of hearing students to learn to advocate for themselves.
“We want to be part of our community,” Rafaty said. “We want to commit. We just need the support of those around us to understand us, welcome us and accept us.”
Do you have any tips? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Carolina Love is a Report for AmericaKERA News staff member.
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