Thorndale ISD

Volume 1, Issue 4: 9/29/23

Posted on September 29, 2023

Volume 1, Issue 4: 9/29/23

Greetings Bulldogs! Happy Friday!

It is hard to believe that next week is the start of October. In some regards, it is hard to believe it is ONLY October due to all of the things our students and staff have been able to accomplish thus far. In the same breath, it is hard to believe it is ALREADY October because I can remember back to the first days of school so vividly.

This year won’t slow down! So let's continue to make every day count.

Upcoming Events - September 30th - October 18th 2023:

For the most up-to-date information on upcoming events, please visit our Thorndale ISD website. However, here are some highlights of important dates below:

Mark Your Calendars - Oct. 27th - Fall Festival!

TISD will celebrate again this year with a Fall Festival from 6-8pm on Oct. 27th. The event will take place around the TISD campuses with more information to come. You won’t want to miss this great event hosted by our TES PTA.

A PERFECT A+ Financial Rating!

Every public school is rated on the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST).

The state's school financial accountability rating system, ensures that Texas public schools are held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices and that they improve these practices.

Early this school year, Thorndale ISD was informed that, yet again, the district has been given a preliminary PERFECT SCORE on our Financial Accountability.

This is no easy task and is a testament to the commitment Thorndale ISD has shown to financial transparency and efficiency. This could not be possible without the great work of our staff members in finance and purchasing and specifically our amazing Business Manager Rebecca Peel. We are very lucky to have her.

Did You Know? - School Finance Edition!

School funding is a complex process that is difficult to fully understand, especially all of the special funding and formulas.

However, the basics of school finance aren’t as bad. Here is a bit about that:

First, a district's annual funding is calculated based on student attendance also known as the basic allotment. The total amount a school receives for them can be compared to a cup. The more students you have in attendance the bigger your cup, and the fewer kids the smaller your cup. The basic allotment is currently set at $6,160 per student, annually.

But where does the money come from to “fill the cup”? First, local property taxes are collected and placed into the district’s cup. In some districts (image on the left) the property taxes fill up only part of the cup, and then the state pays the rest.

In some districts (property wealthy districts, aka. Recapture districts) the wealth of the community is so large (this could be due to expensive homes, but more likely because of big businesses or oil/gas in the district) that the local property taxes raised is actually more than what can fit in the cup. In this instance, the money that overflows out of the cup is sent to the state… which the state then uses to pay their portion to other districts.

Thorndale ISD is similar to the cup on the left. We receive some state aid to help fill our cup. There is 129.58 square miles of taxable area within Thorndale ISD and most of it is farm/agriculture or homes.

Our district does not have very many businesses and thus our overall taxable value is not as high as some similar districts of our size.

This is all of course way oversimplified compared to the nuances that occur in the funding formula. There are things like Weighted attendance (WADA) where certain students generate additional funding above the $6,160 (SPED and CTE for example), plus there are federal funds (Title 1 funds) and other funds that are earmarked for certain purposes such as state comp ed, bilingual education, and more.

Next time, I will share a little bit about the two different “buckets” of money - Maintenance and Operations (M&O) and Interest and sinking (I&S). I think as a community it is really important to learn enough about school finance to know how it impacts our schools and how our taxes impact our funding.

So Many People to Celebrate in TISD!

There are so many wonderful people to celebrate in Thorndale ISD. Please join us throughout the year as we celebrate various groups that are essential to the success of TISD:

2023-24 TISD Yearbooks are on Sale for Pre-Order:

The 2023 - 2024 yearbooks are on sale! If you wish to purchase one, please go to yearbookordercenter.com, job #6682.

Reminder - Thorndale ISD has a fall delivery date for yearbooks. If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Bouldin at lacie.bouldin@thorndale.txed.net.

Thorndale ISD Middle School Students Literally IN THE NEWS:

This week a group of excited middle school students got the opportunity to travel to KWTX news studio and see behind the scenes. Check out this awesome video of our kiddos (notice, and I quote: “they have been so polite” - That’s what I am talking about Bulldogs! Thanks for representing us well).

Kudos to Mrs. Lake, Middle School Science teacher for coordinating this one of a kind experience for our students.

Video of Students at KWTX

Stay Connected through the TISD Website:

There are a lot of great celebrations and updates on the various Thorndale ISD Social Media pages. Please check each of them out to see stories on Homecoming, Pep rallies, TISD Bass Club, Cross County Success, and so much more!

Most sincerely,

Zack Kleypas
Superintendent
Thorndale ISD
#TISDStrivingForExcellence

“Keep improving, always, in all ways.”