| (a) Financial exigency means the financial position
of a school district as a whole is such that the financial resources
of the school district are insufficient to support the district's
instructional programs or the school district is unable to finance
the full compensation of staff for the current or succeeding fiscal
year.
(b) Financial exigency may be declared by a school
district board of trustees under one or more of the following conditions:
(1) a decrease of more than 20% in unassigned General
Fund balance per student in weighted average daily attendance over
the past two years or a projected reduction of 20% compared to the
current year;
(2) a decline in enrollment by more than 10% over the
past 5 years;
(3) a reduction of more than 10% in total General Fund
total funding per student in weighted average daily attendance over
one year or a projected reduction of 10% compared to the current year;
(4) a natural disaster or casualty loss defined as
damage, destruction, or loss of property resulting from an identifiable
event that is sudden, unexpected, or unusual and that requires expenditures
for repair or remediation in excess of 15% of the current year General
Fund budget;
(5) any of the following, or combination of the following,
that exceeds 15% of the current year General Fund budget: an unanticipated
major expense, including significant repair costs; litigation expenses,
excluding lawsuits against the state; or tax refunds; or
(6) any other circumstances approved in writing by
the commissioner of education.
(c) The declaration of financial exigency expires at
the end of the fiscal year during which the declaration is made unless
the school district board of trustees adopts a resolution before the
end of the fiscal year declaring continuation of the financial exigency
for the following fiscal year.
(d) Each time the school district board of trustees
adopts a resolution or an extension declaring financial exigency,
the board must notify the commissioner within 20 calendar days of
the adoption. The notice must include the date the resolution was
adopted and the reason(s) for the declaration of financial exigency
as specified in subsection (b) of this section. The notice must be
signed by the board president and superintendent and submitted to
the Texas Education Agency.
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