Spring, Klein ISDs start school year amid budget gaps From the cover
What’s happening?
Projected fiscal year 2024-25 shortfall per student
Conroe ISD Cy-Fair ISD Humble ISD Klein ISD Spring ISD Tomball ISD
$0 -$200 -$400
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 shortfalls before budget cuts to the Texas Education Agency’s 2023-24 student enrollment numbers, SISD’s shortfall of $737 per student was the third-largest in the region, while KISD’s shortfall of $678 per student was the fourth-largest. Data shows Houston and Cy-Fair ISDs have the top shortfalls per student. KISD and SISD leaders have both attributed their budget shortfalls to high rates of inflation and a lack of additional funding from the state as well as other factors. KISD’s shortfall was largely a result of an approximately $4.8 million reduction in federal funding and roughly $71.3 million reduction in property tax revenue compared to last year, KISD Chief Financial Officer Daniel Schaefer said. “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
-$309
-$409
-$600
-$678
-$737
-$800
-$600
NOTE: ENROLLMENTS FROM THE 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR AND BUDGET SHORTFALLS FOR THE 2024-25 FISCAL YEAR PRIOR TO ANY BUDGET CUTS WERE USED TO CALCULATE THE SHORTFALL PER STUDENT.
-$1,170
-$800
Historical district budget shortfalls and surpluses
Spring ISD Klein ISD Actual budget
Projected budget
$40M
$20M
$0
-$20M
-$40M
FY 2015-16
FY 2018-19
FY 2021-22
FY 2024-25
SOURCES: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY; CONROE, CY-FAIR, HUMBLE, KLEIN, SPRING AND TOMBALL ISDS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
The breakdown
The impact
Spring ISD budget cuts
According to SISD’s website, the largest FY 2024-25 budget cuts include: $9.8 million in staffing and position cuts
In a split vote June 11, SISD’s board of trust- ees passed a balanced budget that includes $20.4 million in potential revenue that would be earned should a voter-approval tax rate election, or VATRE, ballot initiative be called by Aug. 19 and passed by voters in November. A net loss—employees cut plus employees added—of 100 full-time SISD staff members equaling $9.8 million in savings, makes up the largest portion of the $13.4 million in budget cuts made to SISD’s FY 2024-25 budget. In a June 11 interview with Community Impact , SISD Chief Financial Officer Ann Westbrooks noted the district worked to find other open positions for staff whose positions had been eliminated as part of the budget cuts. “We were still trying to take care of our Spring [ISD] family and have a place for them next year,” Westbrooks said. While KISD’s budget was unanimously adopted by board members, several trustees voiced con- cern about taking $33.8 million from the district’s fund balance for next year’s operating expenses.
On June 11, Briantè Jackson-Gibson—a choir student at Spring High School—spoke to trustees about her choir director, who she said was laid off due to budget cuts. “This woman is somebody that I consider a role model in my life, and it saddens me to think that future students won’t have someone like her. ... SHS needs teachers like this—the teachers who see the good in us when nobody else does, the teachers who have faith in us when everyone else has lost it,” Jackson-Gibson said. Sarah Welsh, a mother of two band students at Springwoods Village Middle School and Spring High School, expressed concern about band assistant director positions being cut at both campuses. “This will put strain on our directors [and] even more countless hours than they already put into our programs,” Welsh said. “The [assistant director] who was cut is a very important part of the band [and] ... helps make our band successful.”
$2.4 million from the central office budget $685,000 from closing the dual language program at the School for International Studies at Bammel $550,000 in savings from reducing the English as a Second Language allotment from $1,100 to $1,000 per student
Klein ISD budget cuts
According to KISD budget documents, the main FY 2024-25 budget cuts include: $1.4 million reduction in school leadership costs—costs incurred by
campus administrators supervising the school and evaluating staff members $1.7 million reduction to the facilities maintenance and operation budget $795,000 reduction in data processing services
SOURCES: SPRING AND KLEIN ISDS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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