HISD delays magnet vote to June 19

The Houston Independent School District has delayed a scheduled vote on a proposal to change its Magnet school funding program.

The vote was scheduled for tonight’s  HISD Board of Education meeting, but will take place at next week’s meeting, when the board will vote on the district’s proposed 2014-15 budget.

Board President Julie Stipeche used her authority as board president to move the final decision back a week.

At issue is a plan that would standardize how the district funds different types of magnet schools. For example, schools that have an International Baccalaureate program would receive an extra $50 per student enrolled in the IB program, while Vanguard schools serving gifted and talented students would receive an additional $350 per pupil over the base allocation.

The plan would lead to increases in funding for some schools and declines for others. Locally, Lanier Middle School would receive the biggest bump of $349,000 per year, while Carnegie Vanguard High School would lose about $80,000 in annual district support.

The specific funding levels for each type of school and the financial impact that the plan would have on any individual school can be found here.

The original April proposal by Superintendent Terry Grier would have eliminated extra district-level funding for the district’s Vanguard schools (The vanguard schools would still have reaped a state subsidy of $415 per gifted an talented student).

Residents interested in discussing the plan with their representative on the board of education can contact them here.