Bailes files HB 2113 increasing funding for schools experiencing ‘Hypersonic Growth’

This aerial rendering shows the layout of Elementary No. 6 and Middle School No. 2 for Cleveland ISD. Both schools will be located on part of a 145-acre property that the District purchased from Ranier Timber in the Grand San Jacinto community south of Plum Grove.

State Representative Ernest Bailes filed HB 2113 on Tuesday, Feb. 23, in order to ensure Texas school districts who are experiencing unusually high rates of growth are properly funded.

State Rep. Ernest Bailes

“District 18 is experiencing an extreme amount of growth which is seriously impacting our school districts,” stated Bailes. “My office and I have been working closely with school leadership to come up with practical solutions.”

HB 2113 provides a “hypersonic growth” allotment for schools growing at a rate of 15 percent per year, with an increase of at least 500 students. According to data obtained from the Texas Education Agency, in most recent years, a small number of school districts in the state have been impacted by hypersonic growth.

 “Our district will double in size in the next five years and almost triple in size in the next 10 years,” stated Cleveland ISD superintendent, Chris Trotter. “This supplemental funding will allow us to continue to provide our students with reasonable class sizes and stable facilities.”

The 86th Legislature created a Fast Growth Allotment, recognizing that fast-growing districts had extra one-time expenses associated with rapid student enrollment. This new hypersonic growth allotment will go a step further in supplying those qualifying school districts with the state funding they require, to effectively provide a quality education for the children of Texas.

About Representative Bailes

Elected in 2016, State Representative Ernest Bailes represents House District 18, including Liberty, San Jacinto, and Walker counties. Bailes, a lifelong rancher and agriculturalist, was raised on his family’s dairy and beef cattle operation in East Texas. He grew up in Shepherd and earned his B.S. from Texas A&M University in 2004.

Ernest and his wife, Courtney live in Shepherd, Texas with their two sons, Cinco and Rigby. Both sons attend Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD where Courtney is a school teacher. Ernest is active in the community and serves on various boards, including the San Jacinto County Fair Association, San Jacinto County Farm Bureau, and the SISD Technology Advisory Committee.

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Before creating Bluebonnet News in 2018, Vanesa Brashier was a community editor for the Houston Chronicle/Houston Community Newspapers. During part of her 12 years at the newspapers, she was assigned as the digital editor and managing editor for the Humble Observer, Kingwood Observer, East Montgomery County Observer and the Lake Houston Observer, and the editor of the Dayton News, Cleveland Advocate and Eastex Advocate. Over the years, she has earned more than two dozen writing awards, including Journalist of the Year.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Let the illegal invaders build their own schools. Or better, let them build their own schools in their own countries!

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