By Mary Whitfill

Features Editor

Coppell ISD, eight year holder of the Highest Rating of the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas, will hold a tax rate election (TRE) on Sept. 11, to address the proposition of a 13 cent Maintenance and Operation tax increase effective this year.

“I am in favor of the tax rate increase because I, as far as I understand, it is leading to great programs for the Coppell schools,” Coppell parent Kim Pickett said.

The Maintenance and Operation (M&O) tax rate provides salaries for educators, utility up keep, supplies, insurance and equipment. Seventeen million dollars is needed to cover the cost of routine CISD operations with the ability to cover any unexpected costs. Any changes in this tax rate above $1.04 must be approved through a citizen election.

“The TRE passing would result in the district continuing to provide academic programs at the current level,” CISD chief financial officer Kelly Penny said.

House Bill 1 froze school district revenues per student in 2005-2006 but due to inflation, the cost of having the students at the school has increased but the amount of funding has not. In 2009 legislature provided a $120 dollar increase in funding per student, but that money was dissolved by state mandated pay raises and no further financial relief is expected to come from the 2011 Legislative Session.

If the tax rate increase fails, the school board will have to consider larger class sizes, reduction in programs and co-curricular courses and non state mandate courses might be eliminated.

“If the TRE does not pass, the Board of Trustees would have to look at restructuring the CHS day, giving teachers one less off period,” Penny said. “We would also have to look at eliminating athletics, and while the state does require a school to offer music and art, we do not have to hire separate teachers for those positions.”

If the TRE does not pass, the district will have to decide which classes are worth keeping and which are not.

“The concern is that if we don’t get the increase, what electives will be cut?” photojournalism teacher and Round-Up yearbook adviser Rachel Pellegrino said. “Media and technology?”

Budget cuts have already begun, resulting in the elimination of 38 CISD positions last year and 23 additional positions in the 2010-2011 school years. With these and other changes, the grand total of reductions that occurred from 2008 to 2010 is $4.6 million.

If the increased tax rate passes, the cost to a tax payer of a home valued at $250,000 (the average price of a house in Coppell) will be $25 per month or $306 per year while residents 65 and older will not be affected by the change. The increase will generate about $5.28 million dollars of financial recapture.

Election Day Voting will be held at the Town Center / Coppell City Hall and Cimarron Recreation Center on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.