Kaufman County Superintendents United

AUTHORS: OLIVIA RICE & BRYANT MARTIN

Terrell ISD Director of Communications and Marketing

inForney.com Publisher

IN FUN AND SPORT, districts within the same county are often positioned against each other as rivals. Mayors make friendly wagers on whose team will win the homecoming football game, leaving one donning the opposing team’s jersey at the next city council meeting. Superintendents and district leaders playfully compare the number of graduation tickets each graduate will receive for commencement or the district’s policy on staff jean days. While the public often only sees the friendly competition, what they may not see is the collaboration and teamwork happening behind the scenes.

In September 2020, Kaufman County commissioners made a historic pledge that public school children county-wide would benefit from an initial $2 million dollars in federal CARES Act dollars. These funds were further maximized by grant funding, thanks to the extraordinary collaboration and hard work of a group of Kaufman County school superintendents.

In conjunction with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), passed by Congress in March, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) also offered public schools grant money to recover the cost of technology expenses for devices and connectivity infrastructure that was initially absorbed by local districts during the pandemic and onset of virtual learning. This specific TEA grant money only matched COVID relief dollars given to districts by their local counties; therefore, to maximize state and federal dollars, local school administrators needed to solicit the support of local county commissioners. In some instances, this would allow local districts to double their CARES Act dollars.

Kaufman County superintendents saw this opportunity to put aside friendly competition and roll up their sleeves to work together on an initiative that would benefit every student across the county. What happened next was an unprecedented act of collaboration to garner an incredible amount of funding.

“We have always worked closely together and met regularly to share best practices and collaborate on common issues,” Scurry-Rosser Superintendent James D. Sanders said.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, these meetings have become more frequent, more informative and more powerful than ever before. We have realized together during this time that there is a commonality to all of us, but that each district brings its own set of skills and resources to the table that helps benefit us all. It has been extremely special to watch as we have worked together in ways we never would have imagined before,” Sanders says.

Terrell ISD Superintendent Dr. Georgeanne Warnock led the charge to pitch the idea to county commissioners and then rallied the superintendents across the county to agree collectively on how the funds would be distributed among the districts if the commissioners granted the funding.

“We knew we had a strong case to take to commissioners and the county judge that we are stronger together,” Dr. Warnock says. “Their generosity will allow us all to maximize those dollars, and with matching grants, make a huge impact on classrooms across the county like never before.”

According to Dr. Warnock, the first million dollars will be divided amongst the districts based on student population. The remaining million is being divided based on the student population that receives reduced or free lunch. Funding amounts were also adjusted based on the percentage of taxable values within Kaufman County for districts that have boundaries in multiple counties. All the districts agreed that this metric was the fairest division of funds.

Superintendents say they are thankful that the commissioners were willing to share the CARES Act funding to be eligible for additional grant funding, since districts had been hit especially hard with unbudgeted expenses last year that have been carried over.

“We appreciate the continued support of education in our community,” says Forney ISD Superintendent Dr. Justin Terry. “This is a significant contribution, providing much needed additional funds for the safety of students, and ultimately, families across Kaufman County.”

Kaufman County is one of the first counties in Texas to announce such a pledge to schools and it is drawing the attention of districts from near and far.

“I am hearing from superintendents from across the state, calling to congratulate us and ask us how we did this,” Dr. Warnock says. “I am blessed to get to work alongside some of the best superintendents and together we’re a great team and this was a great partnership.”

Kaufman County school districts were presented with their CARES Act funding checks from Judge Hal Richards on March 23, 2021. District recipients included Crandall ISD, Forney ISD, Kaufman ISD, Mabank ISD, Scurry-Rosser ISD, Terrell ISD, and Wills Point ISD.

Photo: Terrell ISD