Education Agency LAR Includes $32M in IT Exceptional Items

The Texas Education Agency's (TEA) fiscal year 2028-29 Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR) includes about $32 million in technology-related exceptional items, led by a $21.2 million request to expand cybersecurity services for public schools.

The funding includes $21.2 million for K-12 cybersecurity, about $6.8 million for instructional technology at the Windham School District and $4 million in IT costs associated with developing curricular resources. The LAR also includes about $97 million in baseline capital funding, $35.5 million of which would support a data privacy initiative for K-12 school systems.

The largest technology exceptional item would expand TEA's existing K-12 Cybersecurity Initiative, which currently serves 557 school systems. According to the agency, the initiative protects more than 372,500 endpoints and provides cloud email security services for more than 86,000 school staff members.

TEA reports 152 cybersecurity incidents involving Texas K-12 systems during the preceding 12 months, with phishing accounting for 48 percent of incidents, ransomware for 5 percent and other causes for 47 percent.

The $21.2 million request, entirely allocated to FY 2028, includes $18 million in grants and $3.2 million for professional fees and services. The funding would expand endpoint protection, cybersecurity assessments and services delivered through regional security operations centers.

The agency says IT services would be purchased through the Department of Information Resources (DIR), including cybersecurity assessment services, endpoint detection and response and regional security operations center services.

TEA also reports that its existing cybersecurity initiative has blocked more than 54,000 cyber attacks and neutralized more than 17,000 ransomware threats. The agency says additional funding would allow more school systems to participate in the shared services program.

Another technology-related exceptional item involves the Windham School District, which provides educational programs within Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities.

Windham is requesting about $6.8 million across the biennium to support ongoing instructional technology costs following the implementation of a technology plan in FY 2026 that expanded classroom bandwidth connectivity across 102 campuses.

The district is seeking about $3.4 million annually for secure network management, recurring bandwidth charges and equipment maintenance. Those costs include about $1.3 million per year for network management, $550,000 for bandwidth and $1.5 million for equipment maintenance.

The funding would support online instructional resources, assessments and industry-based certifications for students in correctional facilities.

A separate exceptional item for curricular resources includes $4 million in estimated IT costs during the biennium. The technology component is part of a larger $117.8 million request to develop instructional and training materials aligned with revised state curriculum standards.

TEA is also requesting $1.43 million in professional services funding for its complaints and misconduct investigations initiative. The funding would support additional automation for complaint processing and investigations.

The agency anticipates another $300,000 annually beginning in FY 2030 for system operations, maintenance and enhancements. TEA does not formally classify the $1.43 million exceptional item as having an IT component.

Beyond its exceptional items, the LAR includes about $97 million in baseline capital funding for FY 2028-29.

The largest category is acquisition of information resource technologies, totaling about $47.9 million across the biennium. That includes $35.5 million in FY 2028 for the Data Privacy Initiative for K-12 School Systems.

Other baseline capital funding includes about $33.9 million for data center and shared technology services, $13.2 million for open education resource instructional materials and $2 million for the Centralized Accounting and Payroll/Personnel System.

The agency's Information Systems — Technology strategy separately includes about $185.5 million in requested base funding across the biennium, consisting of $113.6 million in FY 2028 and $71.9 million in FY 2029. That strategy funding overlaps with the capital budget categories.