Education
BY BRITTANY ANDERSON
Leander ISD adopts 2025-26 budget with $20 million shortfall
changes, resulting in a $10.5 million reduction in this aid. The district previously received about $23 million, of which about $13 million would have gone toward teacher salaries, $4 million for non-teacher salaries and $5 million to buy-down the shortfall, Pape said. “District leaders are actively advocating for a res- olution, and conversations are ongoing with school finance consultants and legislators, who agree this loss appears to be an unintended consequence of the bill’s design,” district officials said in an announcement. “The ultimate authority to interpret and potentially correct the issue lies with the Texas Education Commissioner.” What else? Under current law and approved with the budget, LISD officials project a property value growth of 5.69% between Travis and Williamson counties. This could decrease to a -0.41% growth under HB2. Additionally, the budget denotes a tax rate of $1.0671, but this could increase to $1.0869 under HB2. The board is expected to adopt the FY 2025-26 tax rate in August. Looking back In February, LISD officials said it would cut around $17 million from the 2025-26 budget ahead of a then-projected $34.4 million shortfall. The shortfall would have been $21 million above the board-approved deficit parameter, according to district officials. The cuts included over 200 positions, which offi- cials intended to reassign to open positions created through natural attrition, according to previous Community Impact reporting. Officials also presented three potential facility
Leander ISD is heading into the 2025-26 fiscal year with a $20.2 million budget shortfall as it and other school districts across Texas await final guidance from school funding bills filed during the 89th Texas Legislative session. The board of trustees adopted the budget in a 6-1 vote June 19. Trustee Paul Gauthier was the
Leander ISD FY 2025-26 expenditures The majority of LISD's general operating budget will go toward staff payroll. Payroll: 88%
Supplies/materials: 4%
dissenting vote. The breakdown
Utilities: 2% Travel: 2% Contracted services: 3%
The general operating fund, which covers day-to- day district expenses, includes $460.6 million worth of revenues against $481.2 million worth of expen- ditures and $350,000 of other uses and transfers, resulting in the $20.2 million shortfall. The debt service budget, which covers funds for bonds and construction projects, will have a balanced budget of $166.1 million. The child nutrition budget, which covers student breakfast and lunch programs, includes $16.9 mil- lion worth of revenues against $19.1 million worth of expenditures, resulting in a $2.1 million shortfall. Chief Financial Officer Pete Pape said this is “intentional” as it aligns with federal requirements to spend down excess fund balance. Something to note House Bill 2, an $8.5 billion public school funding bill, will bring state-mandated pay raises for teach- ers, a slight increase to the basic allotment, school safety and special education allotments, and more. However, district officials said the bill changed funding formulas for a hold harmless provision that protected LISD from revenue losses caused by earlier state-mandated reductions to the tax rate. Pape said LISD is one of ten school districts which will no longer qualify for this provision due to the
Capital expenditures and debt service: * less than 1%
*NUMBERS HAVE BEEN ROUNDED
Leander ISD cuts The $17.8 million worth of cuts include:
$12.8M in campus positions $3M in central office administrative positions $2M from the discontinuation of its staff grant fund
SOURCE: LEANDER ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
optimization actions to the board in May that could be implemented in the 2026-27 school year and save millions of dollars, including combining some elementary schools and repurposing the vacant campuses for other district needs. “Next year’s budget is not going to be easy,” trustee Anna Smith said. “We’re going to have to make some hard choices. It’s going to come from every bucket we have: athletics, band, instructional time for our students. It’s going to hurt our district.”
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CEDAR PARK - FAR NORTHWEST AUSTIN EDITION
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