Area districts plan around budget challenges From the cover
What’s happening?
Fiscal year 2024-25 budget shortfalls per student
Conroe ISD
Klein ISD
Montgomery ISD
Spring ISD
Tomball ISD
$0
Of the 16 Greater Houston-area school districts covered by Community Impact , officials for 11 districts said they are expecting budget shortfalls in FY 2024-25. Comparing the anticipated budget shortfalls per student, using the Texas Education Agency’s 2023-24 student enrollment numbers, MISD’s shortfall of $439 per student was the fifth- largest in the region, while CISD’s shortfall of $245 per student was the third-smallest. WISD officials do not anticipate having a shortfall in FY 2024-25. CISD and MISD leaders have attributed the budget shortfalls to high rates of inflation and a lack of additional funding from the state’s 2023 legislative session, as well as other factors such as increasing personnel needs due to enrollment growth. “There’s just a mix of things that are really pressuring school districts into having to make and adopt deficit budgets or cut programs, … and that is a big problem moving into not only next school year, but the school year after,” said Bob Popinski, senior director of policy at Raise Your Hand Texas, a nonprofit education advocacy group.
-$245
-$200
-$409
-$400
-$439
-$600
-$678
-$737
-$800
NOTE: 2023-24 ENROLLMENTS AND BUDGET SHORTFALLS FOR FY 2024-25 PRIOR TO BUDGET CUTS WERE USED TO CALCULATE SHORTFALLS PER STUDENT.
Budget surpluses, shortfalls since 2015
Actual budget
Projected budget
Conroe ISD Montgomery ISD
Willis ISD
$40M $60M $0 -$20M -$40M $20M
FY 2015-16
FY 2018-19
FY 2021-22
FY 2024-25
SOURCES: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY; CONROE, KLEIN, SPRING, MONTGOMERY AND TOMBALL ISDS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
The breakdown
The impact
Conroe ISD’s budget includes:
2.5% raise for all employees
MISD’s general fund shortfall for the FY 2024- 25 budget stems from a $5.1 million increase in expenses, while revenue increased by only about $798,000, according to district leaders’ June 28 budget presentation. On May 7, MISD trustees approved $650 teacher raises as well as a 1% salary increase “from the midpoint of their pay grade” for all other employees, according to a May 9 email. Personnel additions in CISD’s FY 2024-25 bud- get include 147 new full-time positions, which will add $10.8 million to the projected budget, CISD Chief Financial Officer Karen Garza said. She said many of the personnel additions are in special education, which has seen enrollment nearly double since 2020 because qualifications for eligibility have changed. The preliminary budget numbers include an estimated total revenue of $700.05 million and estimated expenditures of $711.97 million, which reduced the anticipated shortfall from April projections to $11.9 million. This was due in part to increased enrollment projections, Garza said.
To balance the budget in the 2024-25 year, CISD can dip into its fund balance—essentially the district’s savings account—but that is a one-time solution for the problem, Garza said. The fund balance of $152.2 million can be used to cover the shortfall this year, but the fund balance is not a sustainable solution because the district aims to maintain a fund balance of 20% of the budget, or $142.4 million, in case of emergencies, Garza said.
147 new full-time positions, for an added $10.8 million in the budget
27 new special education teachers
Montgomery ISD’s budget includes:
$650 teacher raises as well as a 1% salary increase from the midpoint of their pay grades for all other employees
Conroe ISD fund balance
$1.1 million in increased expenses for new special education positions
Required fund balance: $142.4M
Willis ISD’s budget includes:
$1,500 staff raises with first- year teachers’ salaries starting at $56,000 $500 to $2,500 in retention payments given to returning staff
SOURCE: CONROE ISD/ COMMUNITY IMPACT
August 2024 August 2025
SOURCES: CONROE, MONTGOMERY AND WILLIS ISDS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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