Ott's Outlook
May 2025
I wanted to provide you a post-legislative session update. This session is nearing the end and Temple ISD has played a pivotal role in advocating for our students, teachers, and families of public education. Temple ISD took several grassroots advocacy steps which included the following:
- Temple ISD Board of Trustees conducted listening circles with church leaders, business leaders, Temple Education Foundation members, principals, high school seniors and a mixture of community leaders, parents and grandparents included in these groups.
- Temple ISD gathered this input and formed legislative priorities. These priorities included an increase in funding, support for safety, support for student special programs, reform in testing/accountability and removal of outdated unfunded mandates.
- Temple ISD Board of Trustees formally adopted these legislative priorities at the November 2024, Board Meeting. This was sent out in a previous Ott’s Outlook, posted online, covered in the Temple Daily Telegram, and provided to various groups I have presented to in the community. These have also been shared with the leadership of Temple College, City of Temple, Temple EDC, Central Texas Workforce, Temple Business League, and the Chamber of Commerce.
- Temple ISD Board of Trustees held legislative luncheons here with Representative Hillary Hickland, Senator Flores, and Representative Buckley to share and discuss these legislative priorities. We worked together on strategy and plans for supporting these priorities, which in most cases, lined up with our representatives’ priorities.
- Temple ISD Trustees and I made visits to the capitol to receive legislative updates and discuss priorities. I was able to be part of invited testimonies and actual bill drafting on several of these priorities and am thankful for the close working relationships with local legislators to afford these opportunities.
- Temple ISD Board of Trustees and I also took a group of community members that included business leaders, parents, teachers, and community leaders to visit with each of our representatives and receive legislative updates over the progress of Temple ISD’s legislative priorities.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this process. As a result of these efforts, we are excited to present some policy outcomes related to our priorities. Public schools will be receiving a funding bill that will provide funding for an increase in student services (basic allotment), include an increase in teacher pay, funding for special education, safety and a bill that was filed by Representative Hickland to require the Texas Education Agency to list all previous unfunded mandates in order to evaluate their relevance and fiscal requirements. Next steps will be to continue collaborating with our representatives to ensure the funding gaps accrued since public education received the last installment of additional funds (2019) are closed with inflationary adjustments. At this point, we are receiving more funding, but early runs show school districts being well short of these gaps. We are grateful for the work of our legislators and recognize the efforts to provide additional funding. We look forward to a continued partnership and are proud of their work on these issues!
Sincerely,
Bobby Ott
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You can nominate a special Temple ISD alum for our Alumni Spotlight!
Temple ISD has a long history of excellence and we have had many, many graduates who have gone on to exemplify our vision to become influential and impactful leaders in their local communities and beyond. Temple ISD Alumni Spotlight will feature alumnus and alumna that have represented our community and our district in a positive way.
To nominate yourself or a Temple ISD graduate, please complete our online Alumni Spotlight Nomination Form. Nominations will be reviewed and candidates selected by the Temple ISD Board of Trustees Policy Committee
