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Canyon ISD outlines legislative changes, teacher and staff incentives and free tuition opportunity
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Flusche reviewed legislative funding changes, retention allotments and a new 50% tuition offer from West Texas A&M for district employees.
Superintendent Dr. Flusche briefed the Canyon ISD board on several items from the recent Texas legislative session and other opportunities affecting the district’s budget and staffing.
Dr. Flusche described House Bill 2’s teacher retention allotment, which provides $2,500 for teachers with three or four years of service and $5,000 for teachers with five or more years. He said TEA defined eligible teachers as those who work at least four hours per day with students and noted the allotment amounts are gross, with districts expected to cover roughly 10.25 percent in withholdings and related costs unless additional state funding is specified. The superintendent emphasized the district is awaiting TEA rules and timelines before finalizing local plans.
The superintendent also summarized a support‑staff retention allotment of $45 per adjusted daily attendance (to be used for raises for specified support roles), an increase in the basic allotment of roughly $55 per student, and an increase to the school‑safety per‑campus allotment from $15,000 to $33,540. He cautioned that the per‑campus safety allotment will still be substantially short of the annual cost of one school resource officer in Canyon ISD, which he said runs about $90,000 per year.
Other items discussed included a statewide homestead exemption measure (subject to voter approval) that would raise the homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, legislation restricting personal communication devices during the school day, and a change that would require boards to formally opt out if they do not wish to allow non‑enrolled students to participate in UIL activities. Dr. Flusche said the district is awaiting TEA guidance on implementation.
Separately, Dr. Flusche said West Texas A&M University has offered district employees 50 percent off tuition and fees for degree work; administrators said they expect strong interest from staff and that the university has asked the district to estimate participation.
