Parents plead Spring Branch ISD to save charter school programs during budget cut meeting

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Spring Branch ISD parents packed the Board of Trustees meeting for at least the second week in a row Monday night as they considered the second round of budget cuts to address the district's $35 million deficit.

Last week, the Board passed the first phase of resolutions to save about $2.9 million. It included adjusting the staffing ratios for high schools, increasing Pre-K tuition, and pausing rebuilds for four remaining elementary schools from the 2017 Bond Program.

"The district and trustees are in a really hard spot. But I felt like the decision was made very fast, and we don't have the reason for why they made that decision or why those schools are up for consideration," said Audrey Persch, a parent who spoke during public comment.

During their workshop meeting Monday night, the Board discussed what could be next in phase two of budget cuts. It included the end of their SKY Partnership with charter school programs, which is an acronym for Spring Branch ISD, KIPP, and YES Prep.

Nicole Marino's older son graduated from a YES Prep school and now attends Boston University, thanks to a full tuition scholarship. Her younger son is currently at a KIPP school, but she fears he won't have the same opportunities as his older sibling.

She is one of several parents who told ABC13 that these programs benefit students in Spring Branch ISD's most diverse and underserved communities.

"This is a community where most of our kids are first-generation college students. I get really emotional, and I'm pretty sure I may cry at tonight's board meeting. One kid told me this will change the trajectory of their whole family," Marino told ABC13 Monday morning.

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Kiara Diaz said she has a 5th and 8th grader at KIPP Courage College Prep at Landrum Middle School. She said both of them had just come back from college field trips and could potentially become the first in her family to attend college once they graduate.

"That's something that outside schools don't do, and it's just an opportunity, a chance that they get that encourages them to go to college. It's going to impact us because I want my kids to go to college," Diaz said.

Parents expressed that they feel like the only schools that are being targeted by budget cuts and changes are campuses located north of I-10, impacting the district's most economically disadvantaged families. Lisa Alpe, the board vice president responded that "no part of Spring Branch ISD will be untouched by these $35 million cuts."

"One of the very first things we did was raise our student-teacher ratios at our southside high schools. We didn't do that for the northside campuses. Our administration feels like a lower class size helps with learning and so we decided to protect and give that extra protection to our most vulnerable students," said Alpe.

Alpe explained that this budget shortfall came from a combination of the "perfect storm" with record inflation and no additional money from the state since 2019. She said the district's hands are tied until Texas legislators can address the need for more public school funding.

"We get feedback from our community, heartfelt emails from parents begging us not to cut a program that their child is involved in, telling us all the wonderful things about that particular program. It's very difficult because you don't want to disappoint anyone in your community," Alpe said.

Spring Branch ISD still only receives $6,160 in funding per student, and trustees said that number needs to increase by at least $1,000 to make up the shortfall.

Officials said they are frustrated with the "lack of action taken by state legislators," as Texas sits on a budget surplus of $33 billion. No additional funding for public schools was passed in the 88th Legislative Session or any of the three subsequent special sessions.

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The district projects it will make up about $6.2 million if charter school programs are eliminated. Administrators said the majority of the deficit will be addressed by cutting salaries, which make up 80% of the district's budget.

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