Gov. Rick Perry unveiled in Abilene today an incentive proposal meant to save school districts money, but it is unclear if Abilene Independent School District would immediately benefit.
The program would reward districts for partnering with other schools, counties, cities, or even private sector businesses to provide administrative services, such as accounting, human resources, transportation, and facilities use.
Districts that participate would receive a one-time grant that’s worth 10 percent of the amount saved by partnering with another entity.
“It’s a voluntary program, but I suspect it’ll be tough for local districts to pass that up — an opportunity to save some money and to get a reward,” Perry said. “I firmly believe that money saved in the state’s investment will be dedicated to further educational opportunities.”
Perry spoke to a group of students and school district officials at AISD’s Academy of Technology, Engineering, Math and Science, which is now on the Texas State Technical College campus. He was joined by Robert Scott, Texas education commissioner.
The program Perry and Scott discussed is a proposal that needs the approval of the Texas Legislature, which convenes in January. It is unclear what the budget for the program will be or where the funds will come from, a spokesperson for the governor said.
After the announcement, AISD Superintendent Heath Burns said the school district already has several partnerships that would qualify for the program. However, Scott indicated in conversations with Burns that the incentives would likely only apply to new partnerships because it would be too expensive to apply the program retroactively.
“We just entered into the (partnership) with TSTC, and literally we may have missed that by months,” Burns said. “Other than that, we’ve got nothing specific cooking.”
After speaking at ATEMS, Perry made a campaign stop at Frontier Texas! and spoke to a group of about 100 supporters, who occasionally interrupted his speech with applause and exclamations of “amen.”
Additional details about Perry’s visits will be available online later and in tomorrow’s Reporter-News.
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