San Marcos - Buda - Kyle Edition | March 2026

Hays CISD braces for cuts amid dwindling fund balance From the cover

By the numbers

Hays CISD budget history HCISD’s budget, revenue and expenditures have increased over the past ve years.

Hays CISD fund balance history TEA guidelines indicate the fund balance should stay around $67 million.

Revenue

Budgeted expenditures

The Texas Education Agency provides a basic allotment of $6,215 per student to public school districts. This is a $55 increase—provided by House Bill 2 in June—from the previous rate of $6,160, which was set in 2019. Basic allotment is calculated on attendance rather than enrollment, so HCISD budgets with a 93% attendance rate. Savoy said the state would need to provide approximately $7,000 per student to compensate for ination. While education state funding has maintained a similar rate, the U.S. dollar has less spending power. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI Ination Calculator, $1 today has the same buying power as 77 cents in 2019. “We still have to buy the same goods and services that we always have … yet utility costs have gone up, fuel has gone up, everything,” Superintendent Eric Wright said. “Just like your own personal budget. The same holds true for the school district.” To maintain operations and services amid ination and rising costs, HCISD has been pulling from the fund balance since 2021, which has diminished to an estimated $20 million. This is roughly $47 million lower than suggested by the TEA, according to district documents. The board of trustees called for a tax ratication election in August to raise the property tax rate and increase district funding. While the proposed rate of

Ending fund balance

Expenditures

$71.75M

$240M $260M $280M $300M $320M $340M $360M

$60M $67M $80M

$40M

$20M

2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25

Fiscal year

To learn more, go to www.communityimpact.com .

SOURCE: HAYS CISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

*REPRESENTS AN ESTIMATED, UNAUDITED ENDING FUND BALANCE

$1.2746 per $100 valuation was a 12 cent increase, it remained below the scal year 2022-23 rate of $1.3423 per $100. The proposition ultimately failed at the polls in November, and the current tax rate is the same as scal year 2024-25. Looking ahead, the district intends to pass a surplus budget to start rebuilding the fund balance, which should be approximately $67 million to cover payroll and bills during months when the district is waiting for taxes and state

funding payments to come in. While Wright said that they cannot yet announce specic cuts, the district aims to absorb as many as possible through attrition and turnover—meaning vacant positions will likely not be replaced. Previously released documents indicated o¡cials would consider cutting sta¢, increasing class sizes, cutting special programming and increasing fees in order to create a surplus budget.

Breaking it down

Ongoing Hays CISD bond projects

I can tell you [a 2027 bond] will not be as high as the last

Percentage completed

In May, six months before rejecting a proposi- tion to raise the tax rate, voters passed the largest bond in the district’s history—at almost $1 billion. Savoy said he doesn’t think the TRE failure re ects the community’s support for public schools. While bonds provide funding for new facilities and materials, that money cannot be used to maintain and operate those facilities once they are open. Payment for teachers, sta and operational costs comes from the maintenance and operations portion of the tax rate and state funding. Brandon Nutting, HCISD Facilities and Bond Oversight Committee chair, said due to continued growth, the district anticipates presenting a bond package to voters every other year. By late April, the committee will begin reviewing demographic data and projects left o the 2025 package to prepare a 2027 bond package. “The number one issue is going to be Middle School No. 7,” Nutting said. On Jan. 26, district ocials approved a zoning

Lehman High School Auditorium • Timeline: August 2023-January 2026 • Funded: 2023 bond, $53.1 million Elementary School No. 18 design • Timeline: March-August 2026 • Funded: 2023 bond, $4.2 million Middle School No. 7 design • Timeline: November 2025-October 2026 • Funded: 2025 bond, $6 million Elementary school and middle school renovations and expansions • Timeline: August 2025-August 2027 • Funded: 2025 bond, $200.9 million Comprehensive High School No. 4 construction

100%

one. Nowhere near as high. BRANDON NUTTING, FACILITIES AND BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CHAIR

10%

25%

map to address capacity issues at several cam- puses. However, Savoy said the long-term solution for overcrowding at McCormick Middle School would need to come in the form of a new facility. District-wide rezoning will likely begin in the fall of 2029, around when Comprehensive High School No. 4 will open. The 2025 bond provided funding for projects such as High School No. 4, elementary and middle school renovations and expansions, and the design for a new middle school.

25%

• Timeline: May 2026-May 2029 • Funded: 2025 bond, $396 million

To learn more, go to www.communityimpact.com

SOURCE: HAYS CISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM