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Clear Creek ISD delegates authority to purchase attendance credits under TEC to address recapture exposure
Summary
Trustees approved a technical agreement delegating authority to the superintendent to obligate the district to purchase attendance credits from TEA if additional voter-approved pennies are charged, per state law provisions discussed at the Aug. 25 meeting.
The Clear Creek Independent School District Board of Trustees on Aug. 25 authorized the superintendent to obligate the district under provisions of the Texas Education Code for the purpose of approving an agreement to purchase attendance credits from the Texas Education Agency, a technical step required when a district’s property wealth per weighted average daily attendance exceeds statutory thresholds.
Why it matters: For high-wealth districts, certain optional tax-rate increases can trigger state recapture. The attendance-credit process is one option that districts may use to offset recapture exposure; the board recorded its annual delegation and agreement as required by state procedures.
What the board approved Emma Spence, who presented the item, explained that state law requires districts with property wealth per weighted average daily attendance above a statutory level to select among statutory options to reduce the district’s revenue level. Those options include consolidation, detachment, educating partner-district students, purchasing attendance credits, or tax-based consolidation. The district’s property wealth per WADA was presented as $62.06, above the $49.72 threshold mentioned in Spence’s presentation.
Spence told trustees the board must formally record approval of the agreement for option 3 (purchase of attendance credits) annually even when no recapture payment is expected; the action was framed as a procedural requirement the state asks districts to complete before setting a tax rate that would charge available extra pennies. The motion before the board delegated contractual authority to the superintendent to obligate the district under the cited TEC provisions for this purpose.
Board action A board member moved to approve the superintendent’s recommendation to delegate contractual authority and approve the agreement for the purchase of attendance credit; the motion carried with no opposition.
Notes The district staff framed the action as a no-cost procedural step in the current year — the district is not paying recapture now — but required to record the agreement in board minutes. Spence and trustees noted the complexity and technical nature of the statute and that the option chosen (attendance-credit purchase) is the no-charge approach selected for this cycle.
Ending The board’s action completes the annual procedural requirement related to recapture options; any future decision to actually charge additional voter-approved pennies would trigger the practical application of the agreement and possible recapture obligations under the Texas Education Code.
