Texas’ insurance crisis is hitting an unexpected target: Public schools

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Port Aransas Independent School District when it hit in 2017, damaging every classroom and prompting weeks-long school closures. The district is still facing ripple effects today, but in a new form: its insurance costs have skyrocketed, forcing superintendent Sharon McKinney to choose between giving teachers raises and insuring school buildings. School districts across Texas have struggled to keep up with rising property insurance costs as severe weather batters school buildings. Insurance costs for districts have increased by 44% statewide since 2020, according to financial data from the Texas Education Agency. Now, state lawmakers are considering two proposals to help offset these costs – at least in coastal counties, where the crisis is particularly acute. A provision in House Bill 2, the major school finance package that passed the House last week, would reimburse school districts in the 14 coastal counties covered by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the safety net insurance plan, for property insurance increases above the state average.

And a bill filed by state Rep. Todd Hunter, a Corpus Christi Republican, would give districts in coastal counties a credit against recapture payments for wind and hail coverage. Hunter’s bill covers Tier 1 and 2 counties, which would include Harris County and Houston ISD. (Because it includes Tier 1 only, the provision in HB 2 excludes Harris County.) “You don’t want education to suffer because you’re worried about getting money to cover buildings for the kids,” Hunter said in an interview. At the hearing on Hunter’s bill, school superintendents from three districts near Corpus Christi told lawmakers that high insurance costs have restricted funds that could be used to pay teachers and provide services for students. In Port Aransas, McKinney said, the school district now spends 10% of its $10 million annual budget paying for property insurance. In Rockport, the cost to insure school buildings has nearly tripled from $1 million in 2019 to $2.8 million in 2024, said Rockport-Fulton ISD superintendent Lesley Austin.