BY HANNAH JOHNSON & JONATHAN PERRIELLO
Diving in deeper
A closer look
What’s next?
The district will host listening tours for affected families to have a chance to ask questions, express concerns, and share feedback in person. There will also be a survey shared for feedback in November. Families affected by these decisions will get more information directly about these upcoming meetings. The board anticipates final decisions will be made by December 2024 that will take effect for the 2025-26 school year. All staff at schools being closed will maintain positions within LISD. District officials will allow staff to indicate preferences for new schools and work to try and honor those preferences as much as possible. The district also plans to host welcome events and support new families and students at the schools they are moved to. There will be no changes that will cause a student to change feeder patterns. This means students will attend the middle school and high school they are currently zoned to. “We’re making these decisions carefully to balance our district’s financial health with the needs of our families,” Rapp said.
Inflation has increased the cost of trash pickup, water and gas usage, insurance and other district expenses, impacting LISD’s budget. Over the past four years, the price of elec- tricity for the district has increased by $3.4 million—a 61% increase. Property and casualty insurance has increased by 113% and water usage has increased by 39%, according to district documents. Statewide school funding would need to increase by around $1,400 per student to provide LISD the same buying power they had in 2019, according to district documents. LISD plans to advocate for more funding for public schools as its costs are not being met amid rising inflation, Superintendent Lori Rapp said in an email. “This funding is critical to making sure we can continue to provide the quality education our students deserve,” Rapp said.
The Lewisville ISD board in August approved the FY 2024-25 general fund budget, which included a $4.5 million shortfall. “There is no doubt that in 21 years in the central office that this is one of the hardest budgets I have ever been a part of working on,” Rapp said at the August meeting. Further efforts—such as reductions in central office staff, lowering substitute fill rates and decreasing insurance premiums—were made to reduce the shortfall, according to district doc- uments. District officials also plan to cover the remaining shortfall by dipping into LISD’s fund balance, which is similar to a savings account. Based on daily attendance, the state allots school districts $6,160 per student, an amount that has not increased since 2019. LISD’s graduating class of 2025 has 4,015 students while the current kindergarten enrollment is 2,767 students, which could affect future revenue.
Lewisville ISD adopted general fund budgets
Cost per student in Lewisville ISD
State funding allotment: $6,160
Revenue
Expenses -$16.2M -$14.9M -$4.5M
$12K $10K
$600M
$8K $6K $4K $2K $0
$400M
$200M
$0
2022-23
2023-24
2024-25
2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24
School year
Fiscal year
SOURCE: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: LEWISVILLE ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Health & Wellness Edition Advertise in the
ADS@COMMUNITYIMPACT. COM PRINT + DIGITAL PACKAGES | DIRECT MAIL
11
FLOWER MOUND - HIGHLAND VILLAGE - ARGYLE EDITION
Powered by FlippingBook