Texas Association Of School Boards Inc

Tasb offers school districts and other governmental entities the opportunity to participate in a wide array of programs and services that lessen the burdens of government. Basic member services to boards of texas school districts include, but are not limited to, governmental relations, representing the interests of members at the texas legislature; board training credit and tracking; and a subscription to tasb's flagship publication, texas lone star. In addition, tasb provides legal advice and support to members. Tasb attorneys are knowledgeable about public school issues and provide counsel to school board trustees and their administrators and attorneys daily. Through tasb membership, other services and programs are available to members on an additional fee basis. Tasb services were made available to 1,044 active, 200 associate, and 74 affiliate members during the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Cooperative purchasing - the local government purchasing cooperative (purchasing cooperative) is an administrative agency of cooperating local governmental entities organized under the texas interlocal cooperation act. Through a service agreement with the purchasing cooperative, tasb provides administrative services relating to competitive procurement for governmental entities in texas, such as school districts, community colleges and universities, counties, municipalities, and special districts. The purchasing cooperative served over 1,800 governmental entities that purchased approximately $2.0 billion in goods and services during the 2023-24 fiscal year. Through a service and license agreement, tasb also provides administrative services relating to competitive procurement for governmental entities to the national purchasing cooperative (national cooperative), an administrative agency of cooperating local governmental entities across the united states, excluding texas. The national cooperative served over 900 governmental entities across the united states, excluding texas, and these entities purchased approximately $163 million goods and services during the 2023-24 fiscal year. Tasb has also made online cooperative purchasing available to non-profit organizations. Revenue generated from these non-profits has been reported as unrelated business income on this form 990, and the form 990-t has been filed as required. These three purchasing instrumentalities operate as, and are known as, buyboard, a tasb-trademarked name. Program revenue also includes administrative fees earned through a service agreement between tasb and the tasb energy cooperative (energy cooperative). The energy cooperative is an administrative agency of cooperating local governmental entities organized under the texas interlocal cooperation act. The energy cooperative offers energy aggregation and competitive procurement services for school districts and other governmental entities and allows them to obtain electricity services and fuel from awarded vendors at a competitive rate. There were 215 entities participating in the electricity program during fiscal year 2023-24, with 1.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity purchased. The energy cooperative also offers a transportation fuel program that provides fixed-rate pricing for fuel commodities, including gasoline and diesel, over pre-set periods of time, or terms. There were 109 entities participating in the fuel program during fiscal year 2023-24, with over 7.4 million gallons of transportation fuel delivered. The purchasing cooperative, national cooperative, and energy cooperative assist their respective members by facilitating compliance with governmental procurement requirements and providing members with economies of scale in purchasing services and products. As a result, school districts and other governmental entities can operate more efficiently and effectively, thereby lessening the burdens of government.

I. Board development services is committed to enhancing the effectiveness of texas public school leadership teams through training, publications, planning and consulting, and facilitation services created specifically for school boards. Training opportunities include in-district training, team building sessions, leadership tasb (including cost-subsidized training for a limited number of participants), and the online learning center. These services, products, and training opportunities support public schools and related entities, and lessen the burdens of government. During fiscal year 2023-24, board development services performed 118 consulting engagements and had 3,300 online training courses viewed.ii. First public, llc (first public) - directly and through a service agreement with lone star investment pool, a public funds investment pool established in accordance with the texas interlocal cooperation act and the texas public funds investment act, first public provides investment services to local governments, such as school districts, cities, and counties, as well as other governmental entities. First public assists these entities in managing and offering investment programs. First public services help governmental entities reduce the time and expense of managing their investments, and provide for investment diversification. These services enable governmental entities to operate more efficiently and effectively, thereby lessening the burdens of government. During the 2023-24 fiscal year, there were almost 700 participating local governments in the lone star investment pool.through a service agreement, first public also provides overall management and program administration to the tasb benefits cooperative (benefits cooperative). The benefits cooperative is an administrative agency of cooperating local governmental entities organized under the texas interlocal cooperation act. The benefits cooperative was created in an effort to assist texas school districts with attracting and retaining good employees by providing group benefits coverage and administration to district employees and their family members, thereby lessening the burdens of government. First public's program administration activities include, but are not limited to, procurement assistance in the selection of providers, marketing, participant enrollment, and implementation of benefits cooperative initiatives. There were 25 participating texas school districts in the benefits cooperative during fiscal year 2023-24. (see part iv line 33 statement in schedule o.)iii. Facility services provides its participants with assistance on environmental regulatory compliance issues, access to professional training, and access to fee-based services such as asbestos sampling, integrated pest management, indoor air quality, asbestos management planning, and facility assessments. Facility services also has a data sharing and license agreement with an outside provider to allow the provider to use the tasb facility dashboard. Additionally, in march 2024, tasb entered into a wireless infrastructure program agreement with an outside firm to establish and promote a new program through which the outside firm, as exclusive provider for the program, will work with participating school districts and other governmental entities to offer their property for cellular tower and antenna leases.facility services also offers facility planning, demographics, a construction consulting service, and other facility consulting services in conjunction with or solely through an outside firm. In addition, as part of the tasb environmental services program, facility services offers expanded environmental services through an outside firm. The services offered by the outside firms are both complementary and supplementary to the services provided by tasb facility services.these services and programs allow governmental entities to operate more efficiently and effectively, thereby lessening the burdens of government. During the 2023-24 fiscal year, facility services had over 670 participants and performed 415 consulting engagements. Applicable revenue earned from the outside firms/providers, as well as revenue earned by making facility services subscription and contract services available to other nonprofit organizations, has been reported as unrelated business income on this form 990, and the form 990-t has been filed as required.iv. Hr services participants have access to publications, training, and expert consulting services in the area of human resource management. Services include salary survey data, in-district training, model job descriptions, model employee handbooks, and a human resources library. These services and products support public schools and related entities, and lessen the burdens of government. During the 2023-24 fiscal year, hr services had 1,070 participants, performed over300 consulting engagements, and sold almost 5,100 publications. Hr services has also made consulting services available to other non-profit organizations. Revenue generated from these organizations has been reported as unrelated business income on this form 990, and the form 990-t has been filed as required.v. Policy service provides subscribers with services and resources that help school district trustees and superintendents master their respective roles in providing excellent local governance. Services include legal reference policies and updates, localized policy manuals, policy review sessions, and access to an internet-based tool for hosting district policies. These services support public schools and related entities, and lessen the burdens of government. There were over 1,030 subscribers to policy service and 75 consulting jobs conducted during fiscal year 2023-24.vi. School service solutions offers a school medicaid services program that helps texas school districts seek reimbursement for services eligible under the school health and related services program. Participating districts have the ability to file medicaid claims electronically, utilizing a platform available through tasb. Electronic filing is cost effective and is an efficient way to maximize district reimbursements while maintaining control over medicaid claims. During fiscal year 2023-24, participating districts submitted approximately $34 million in medicaid claims. School service solutions also offers a student solutions program that is designed to help participating districts stay on top of best practices, maintain compliance, and provide the skills, programs, and environment students need in order to thrive. During fiscal year 2023-24, there were over 320 districts participating in one or both programs. Both school service solutions programs allow participating texas school districts to operate more effectively and efficiently, thereby lessening the burdens of government.vii. Legal services - in addition to supporting membership activities, legal services offers in-service training, seminars, and publications on legal topics for educational and informational purposes. In support of basic member services, legal services responded to over 2,300 legal inquiries from members during the 2023-24 fiscal year.through a community college services program, tasb provides legal expertise and comprehensive policy development and maintenance responsive to the needs of texas community colleges that are members of tasb. Services include a local policy maintenance program and access to an internet-based tool for hosting community college policies. As of august 31, 2024, community college services had 47 subscribers.under a service agreement with the tasb legal assistance fund (laf), a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt entity, tasb provides administrative services to laf, primarily through the legal services division. Laf's mission is to assist participating texas school districts by advocating on issues or causes that generally affect, or will affect, the public schools of the state of texas. As of august 31, 2024, laf had 768 members. These services support public schools and related entities, and lessen the burdens of government.