Education
BY BROOKE SJOBERG
Round Rock ISD earns ‘A’ financial accountability rating Round Rock ISD earned an “A” rating in the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas for the 2024-25 financial year, admin- istrators shared in October. What you need to know The Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas scores districts as A through F. This rating is based on 15 different metrics, such as audit and governance disclosures, cash and investments, tax collections, fund balance, debt management, administrative costs, capital projects, and staff levels. This year, RRISD earned a rating of 96 out of 100, translating to an A or “superior” rating, similar to the rating it received in the previous school year.
RRISD budget forecast uncertain amid legislative changes A quarterly budget update from Round Rock ISD staff urged caution around projections for a budget surplus in the 2025-26 financial year. What you need to know RRISD Chief Financial Officer Dennis Covington told the board of trustees that legislative changes around school funding implemented this year, combined with uncertainty about an increase to the homestead exemption, has projections for the budget somewhere between an $11 million shortfall and $5 million surplus. Covington said this puts RRISD in the company of several other districts in the state that may lose a significant amount of revenue, should the mea- sure pass, as school districts are typically “held
“At the end of the day [Mike Morath] promised all the legislators that that money should be given to school districts because that was passed in the last legislative session.”
DENNIS COVINGTON, RRISD CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
harmless” and provided additional state funding to make up the difference of funds lost. Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez said RRISD has communicated with Commissioner of Education Mike Morath about the matter and that districts can expect to be made whole. What’s next? Azaiez said the district will have a better idea of how funding will be addressed around February or March, when the Texas Education Agency will run a “settle up” analysis of enrollment to deter- mine the amount of state funding the district will receive.
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ROUND ROCK EDITION
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