Acceptance of Grant to Fund Long-Range Planning Efforts

April 8, 2016

COMMITTEE OF THE FULL BOARD: ACTION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: ACTION

SUMMARY: The board will consider accepting a grant from the Meadows Foundation to help fund efforts to plan for or create a long-range plan for public education.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Texas Education Code (TEC), §7.102(c)(1)-(3).

PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION: The board in April 2015 approved a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a facilitator for the Long-Range Plan for Public Education. The RFQ, however, was never issued because there was no money to fund the work. A revised RFQ will be considered at this meeting.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: The State Board of Education is statutorily required to create a Long-Range Plan for Public Education. The last report called the Long-Range Plan for Public Education, 2001-2006, was approved by the board in 2000. In 2014, the board created an Ad Hoc Committee on the Long-Range Plan for Public Education. That committee confirmed that the board had a statutory duty to adopt a long-range plan. The Ad Hoc Committee began searching for funding for the effort and also created broad goals for the project. In July 2015, the board decided to seek private funding sources to pay for the development of the plan.

The Meadows Foundation has offered the board a matching grant that will provide $1 for every $1 raised from other funds up to a total of $25,000.

FISCAL IMPACT: The Texas Education Agency in February 2016 budgeted $25,000 to cover a portion of the work associated with the creation of a long-range plan. That funding will be used to match the Meadows grant.

PUBLIC AND STUDENT BENEFIT: Establishing long-term goals for the Texas education system will help the state focus its efforts and resources.

PROCEDURAL AND REPORTING IMPLICATIONS: State law requires the board to vote to accept a gift or a donation in a public meeting. The Meadows Foundation requires that the grantee submit a final report detailing expenditures and progress towards meeting the goals of the project.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: None.

OTHER COMMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES: In a separate agenda item, the board will consider issuing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a facilitator who will help prepare a process for creating a long-range plan.

To expedite work on the long-range plan, the board, in a separate agenda item, will consider working cooperatively with the commissioner to award the RFQ.
 
MOTION TO BE CONSIDERED: The State Board of Education:

Accept a grant from the Meadows Foundation to be used to help fund work associated with the development of a new Long-Range Plan for Public Education.

Staff Members Responsible:
Gene Acuna, Director
Division of Communications and SBOE Support

Debbie Ratcliffe, Director of Media Relations
Division of Communications and SBOE Support