Education
BY JAMES T. NORMAN, HANNAH NORTON & HALEY VELASCO
Education Edition
2025
Welcome to Community Impact’s annual Education Edition. This year’s edition features a deep dive into Clear Creek ISD’s 2025-26 compensation plan, which totals $18 million. Meanwhile, our cover story this year focuses on a shortage in speech pathologists and how both local and statewide entities are addressing the challenge. Readers can also learn about the old schoolhouse building in League City, as well as recent actions from Clear Creek ISD.
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Clear Creek ISD faces possible shortfall despite new funding from state
HB 2 highlights and CCISD funding
$3.7B for teacher pay across state $1.3B for xed costs across state, such as transportation and insurance $850M for special education resources across state
$430M for school safety across state $55 increase to per-student basic
Despite the state o ering an additional $8.4 billion in funding for various school expenses— such as increased teacher pay—school districts, such as Clear Creek ISD, are looking at a possible shortfall
which, for example, covered $12 million of $18 million needed for the district’s new compensation package, Benzaia said. CCISD is facing a projected $13.5 million shortfall for FY 2025-26 as of mid-July, documents show. Zooming out School funding advocates, such as Raise Your Hand Texas, have noted the billions in funding for schools, but believe it wasn’t enough. RYHT Dean of Policy Bob Popinski said the new funding that went toward the basic allotment was carried over from other funding mechanisms. In short, the state opted against raising the funding amount for one area and instead placed it into the basic student allotment. As a result, advo- cates like Popinski have argued that the additional funding isn’t new.
allotment $13.5M*
projected shortfall for CCISD’s 2025-26 budget
for scal year 2025-26. What you need to know
*THE PROJECTED SHORTFALL DOESN'T ACCOUNT FOR A BUDGET UPDATE GIVEN AUG. 11, WHICH TOOK PLACE AFTER PRESS TIME. SOURCES: CLEAR CREEK ISD, TEXAS LEGISLATURE COMMUNITY IMPACT
The state addressed a number of areas, such as increasing the basic student allotment, which is the amount of money a district gets per enrolled student. However, CCISD Chief Financial O cer Alice Benzaia said the state’s funding approach this session was more restrictive than previous ones. “In prior legislative sessions, the funds would have been built into the basic allotment, and then districts could utilize those funds for how they felt was best for their district,” Benzaia said. Still, CCISD o cials highlighted the new funding,
“It’s a really complicated way of saying they froze one program to fund another,” Popinski said. However, lawmakers and dozens of school associations across the state praised the bill, with some calling it a “lifeline” for cash-strapped schools, Community Impact previously reported. Stay tuned CCISD o cials expect to adopt the district’s budget at an August meeting.
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BAY AREA EDITION
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