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Community speakers urge stronger school funding; one speaker warns against state ‘Bluebonnet’ curriculum
Summary
During public comment Georgiana Bustos urged the Lewisville ISD board to advocate for full state funding and to reject vouchers, citing a need for a larger per-student allotment. Dale Frey urged trustees to oppose state-proposed curriculum he called religiously oriented and criticized the small funding increase tied to that curriculum.
Two public speakers addressed state education funding and an item they described as the “Bluebonnet” curriculum during the Feb. 18 public comment period.
Georgiana Bustos told trustees that the district and other Texas public schools face “budget cuts, unfunded mandates, and the threat of vouchers,” and she asked the board to join parents and community members in pressing local officials and state legislators for increased school funding. Bustos urged the board to attend upcoming city council meetings and to publicly back advocacy efforts. She urged higher per-student allotments tied to inflation, full funding of mandates, rejecting vouchers and ensuring recapture funds are directed to the state school fund.
Bustos said the Texas Legislature was considering a $5 billion increase but argued that full funding would require substantially more. She called for the district to demand full funding and said, “Our schools are at breaking point.”
Dale Frey, introduced as a resident, spoke separately about the state “Bluebonnet” curriculum. Frey described concerns that the curriculum would introduce Christian theological instruction in early grades, raise questions about denominational differences, and potentially harm students of other faiths. He said accepting the curriculum would yield little funding—he cited an estimate of about $60 per student—and urged trustees to consider the district’s priorities and to think carefully about accepting any such program that could be perceived as religious instruction.
Why it matters: Public comment highlighted two priorities for some community members: stronger state funding and caution about adopting curriculum perceived as religious or narrowly confessional. Trustees and superintendent referenced the state legislative session later in the agenda discussion.
Direct quotes: “I refuse to stand by while our public schools are scapegoated for failure in Austin,” Georgiana Bustos said. “Our schools need at least $9,300,000,000 to be fully funded,” she said, quoting her view of the funding gap. Dale Frey said the curriculum would be “a slap in the face” if it produced only about $60 per student in additional funding.
