Plano ISD projects it will pay the state $132,542,473 in recapture during the 2026-27 school year, according to a memo prepared for Tuesday's school board meeting.
Under Texas school finance law, districts with high property wealth per student must send part of their local tax collections to the state, which redistributes the money to property-poor districts. The Texas Tribune's school finance database lists Plano ISD as one of those recapture districts, with $136.2 million sent to the state in its most recent figures.
The district settles the bill through what the state calls an Option 3 agreement, under which it buys attendance credits from the state.
The board item is procedural but required. The contract is now handled online through the Texas Education Agency's Excess Local Revenue module, and only the superintendent can submit it.
To make that possible, trustees must formally delegate contracting authority to the superintendent for the 2026-27 year, and the exact language has to be entered in the board minutes, which are then uploaded to the state system. TEA will not approve the contract without those minutes, the memo from Deputy Superintendent Johnny Hill says.
The item sits on the consent agenda, which trustees typically approve in a single vote.
Building repairs and minor projects
The same consent agenda carries several construction items paid from the 2022 bond program:
- Cox Building: about $1.4 million in estimated construction for new carpet, basement repairs, new controls, and two new boilers with pumps and drives. Stantec would be the architect, and the work would go out as a competitive sealed proposal.
- Academy High School: about $2.3 million to reseal and patch concrete columns, replace four HVAC split systems and the roof, add classroom doors and a digital marquee, and paint teaching walls. Corgan would design it, with a construction manager at risk.
- Job order contracting: staff want another $1.1 million for small repair and renovation jobs handled by CORE Construction. The board approved $4 million for that program on March 10, and the memo says $412,865 remains. Projects listed so far include a $1,176,476 softball field renovation at Plano East Senior High, chiller rebuilds at Plano West Senior High ($805,688) and Bowman Middle School ($736,475), and replacement of all rooftop units at the Solomon ATC ($340,733).
Trustees will also consider a request for proposals for contracted special education services such as speech-language pathology, counseling, therapy, behavior technicians and interpreting, with a listed budget of $5 million in general operating and federal funds. It would run one year with up to four automatic renewals.
The board meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Administration Building board room, 2700 W. 15th St.
Sources
pisd.community.diligentoneplatform.com
pisd.community.diligentoneplatform.com
pisd.community.diligentoneplatform.com
The Texas Tribune
