273 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 10 HURST-EULESS-BEDFORD INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT “We’re doing amazing things with our kids, but our square footage at both of our schools is significantly under what you would expect for big 6A high schools. We don’t have enough athletic space, we don’t have the fine art space, we don’t have the academic space. It’s just absolutely amazing what our people have been doing, but we plan to take this opportunity to continue to modernize our facilities and make sure that we’re meeting Texas Education Agency requirements as we continue to move into the future.” Board Vice President, Rochelle Ross, emphasizes how efficiently the district has managed its resources, recounting that in 2018 they passed a bond with strong community support, allowing for extensive renovations in junior high schools and the construction of two elementary schools, including one rebuild. The district has also managed to fund two and a half additional elementary schools with cash from its general fund, a testament to its fiscal responsibility. “I like for people to understand that that general fund is cash that we saved. I want everybody to be proud of what our business operations and what our superintendents have done to make that possible. Hopefully, the community will see that we are above average when it comes to being judicious with the money,” she relays. Prioritizing Safety Despite Financial Challenges HEB ISD has taken significant steps to enhance safety in its schools in response to changes to Texas school safety standards. This commitment to safety is a primary focus, but it comes with financial challenges as Harrington relays, “Our board authorized us to move $6 million out of our fund balance into an account for our safety director to begin all these initiatives. The state provided us with $1 million to do the same initiatives. The math didn’t work, but we made a decision that that’s what we had to do. We’re going to continue to evaluate what needs to be in place, from updating our software that gets you into the buildings, to
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