Impact
The Funding Gap
Alamo Heights ISD is one of the best school districts in Texas. It is also required by state law to send a significant share of its local property tax revenue back to Austin every single year. That's the funding gap, and it's the reason this Foundation exists.
What Is Recapture?
Texas school finance law requires property-wealthy districts to send a portion of their local property tax collections to the state, which redistributes those funds to property-poor districts across Texas. This system, commonly known as "recapture" or "Robin Hood," has been in place since 1993.
Alamo Heights ISD sits in a property-rich area, which makes it a donor district under this system. In practice, that means a substantial share of the taxes our own community pays does not stay in our own classrooms.
How it Plays Out
Local property taxes are collected.
Alamo Heights homeowners and businesses pay property taxes intended to fund local schools.
The state recaptures a share.
Because AHISD is classified as property-wealthy, a significant portion of that revenue is sent to the state instead of staying in the district.
The district plans around the shortfall.
AHISD frequently adopts a deficit budget to account for recapture, which has led to program and staffing cuts in recent years.
The Foundation helps close the gap.
Community gifts to AHSF fund teaching positions and programs the district's budget alone cannot fully support.
Local property taxes are collected.
Alamo Heights homeowners and businesses pay property taxes intended to fund local schools.
The state recaptures a share.
Because AHISD is classified as property-wealthy, a significant portion of that revenue is sent to the state instead of staying in the district.
The district plans around the shortfall.
AHISD frequently adopts a deficit budget to account for recapture, which has led to program and staffing cuts in recent years.
The Foundation helps close the gap.
Community gifts to AHSF fund teaching positions and programs the district's budget alone cannot fully support.
The Numbers
Year Recapture Began
Recaptured Since the 1990s
Students Served by AHISD
Foundation's 2025-2026 Gift to AHISD
Paying More, Keeping Less
It's easy to assume a community like Alamo Heights doesn't need outside support. The truth is more complicated. Recapture means the district often builds its budget around a shortfall before the school year even begins, and that shortfall has translated into real cuts to programs and staff in recent years.
This is precisely the gap the Foundation was built to close. Community gifts don't replace what the state provides. They fund the teaching positions and programs that would otherwise be the first to go.
Be Part of the Solution
The Foundation cannot change state law, but it can make sure Alamo Heights classrooms don't feel the full weight of it. Every gift is a direct, local answer to a state-level problem.