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BUDGET BINDS The state Legislature continues to pass down partially or fully unfunded mandates onto school districts without increasing its nancial support mechanism, causing tight budgets. UNDERFUNDED MANDATES Fort Bend ISD o cials said the district pays at least $43.47 million annually— 5.67% of its expenditures in 2023-24— on state-mandated items with little to no nancial support to back them up.
Popinski, senior director of policy for Raise Your Hand Texas, a nonpro t education advocacy group. “It was a session out of balance,” Popinski said. “It was absolutely surprising. ... All the recommen- dations ended up failing.” Local e ects After passing a nearly $1 billion barely balanced overall budget, FBISD o cials are cautiously wait- ing to see how—and if—the state will provide nan- cial assistance. FBISD Deputy Superintendent Steven Bas- sett said the starting teacher salary of $59,500 is remaining the same in 2023-24 as the previous year because the district does not have the funds to increase compensation. “Part of the reason that we’re focusing on the compensation aspect is because that’s obviously what recruits and retains sta ,” he said. “And so without the state making any movement to adjust teacher salaries, we’re in that same situation going into next year.” At a July 24 meeting, the district discussed a potential voter-approval tax rate election, or VATRE, to pay for increased teacher compensation. The last VATRE held by FBISD in 2022 did not pass, with 54% of respondents voting against the dis- trict’s e ort to maintain a higher property tax rate and avoid a budget shortfall. If successful this time, a potential VATRE would increase the tax rate by 2 cents, or $54 dollars per year. Simultaneously, the district also estimates that the state’s recent property tax bill Senate Bill 2 could reduce taxes by $997 per household if it passes in November. “We have one of the lowest tax rates in the entire area; this is one of the reasons why we don’t have the revenue that others do,” Superintendent Chris- tie Whitbeck said. She said the potential new rate would “not be much of a di erence.” Chief Financial O cer Bryan Guinn said past e orts by the state to increase teacher compensa- tion to improve retention, such as the failed House Bill 100 in the regular session, were “insigni cant.” The failed legislation would have increased FBISD teacher salaries by about $500, or 0.8%, he said.
“We just don’t believe that it’s nancially pru- dent to adopt a de cit budget to fund teacher raises without an o setting revenue,” Guinn said. “The amount that [the state was] proposing was woe- fully inadequate for teacher raises.” FBISD, which projects general fund expenses of $766.6 million, passed the general fund portion of the budget with a small surplus of just over $1 mil- lion. State revenue makes up $236.3 million of the district’s FY 2023-24 general fund, or about 30.8% with local property taxes making up a majority of the remainder, Director of Strategic Communica- tions Sherry Willams said. The general fund is the largest portion of the overall $940.8 million budget, which also includes the debt service and child nutrition funds. The gen- eral fund is spent on district operations, instruction and sta compensation. Guinn said while the state has not provided much additional funding support for schools, it has passed down various mandates to districts over the past three legislative sessions while supplying little to no nancial support to pay for the items. Some of the partially or fully unfunded mandates the state has required of schools include a reading academy, full-day pre-K, special education pro- grams and additional tutorials, and police o cers on campuses. Guinn emphasized the importance of these items but said FBISD is in dire need of nan- cial support to cover them. “They’re requiring us to do it, and they’re not giving us anything,” he said. Guinn said in light of the state’s historic $33 bil- lion surplus, he hopes to see an increase to the state’s basic allotment and assistance with some of the mandates—especially special education, which he described as “perennially underfunded.” The program costs FBISD about $36 million per year, according to budget documents. “We are hopeful that these issues will receive the additional attention they deserve to ensure our schools are well funded and preparing all students for future success,” Guinn said. Zooming out Multiple school districts across the state are either proposing or approving budget shortfalls for
NOTE: ANNUAL EXPENSES ON UNFUNDED MANDATES ARE NOT COMPREHENSIVE. SOME ADDITIONAL PROSPECTIVE COSTS ARE AWAITING TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY APPROVAL AND GUIDELINES. SOURCE: FORT BEND ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT Unfunded mandates Expenditures
$766.6M
UNCHANGED SUPPORT
In ation in Texas has gone up by nearly 20% between April 2019-April 2023—the most recent data available. However, the per-student allotment, which sits at $6,160 , has yet to be increased in that time, tightening school district budgets around the state. Projected allotment with in ation Allotment per student
$7,313
Allotment is worth nearly $1,000 less to FBISD with in ation
$7.5K
$6,969
$7K
$6,437
$6.5K
$6,180 $6,160
$6K
*$6,160 $6,160 $6,160 $6,160 $6,160
$0
April 2019
April 2020
April 2021
April 2022
April 2023
NOTE: ALLOTMENT WITH INFLATION USED A CALCULATOR FROM THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. *THE $6,160 ALLOTMENT WENT INTO EFFECT IN SEPTEMBER AND WAS REFLECTED ON BUDGETS FOR THE 201920 SCHOOL YEAR. SOURCES: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, RAISE YOUR HAND TEXAS COMMUNITY IMPACT
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