Education
BY BROOKE SJOBERG
Georgetown ISD administrators said they may have to make some tough financial decisions for 2025-26. Administrators said a minimal increase to part of the public school funding formula proposed in the Texas House of Representatives as part of the legislative session will not be enough to close the gap. A reduction in teacher positions could be an option to remediate the shortfall, if a more significant increase to school funding is not passed by the Texas Legislature, said GISD Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Hanna in a March 3 board workshop. Superintendent Devin Padavil said the district is considering these reductions now to avoid having to make harsher cuts in future years. Based on current conditions, Hanna said the school district is projecting about $172.09 million in expenditures for the 2025-26 school year as it anticipates about $168.37 million in revenue. GISD preps for budget cuts
What’s next?
What they’re saying
When it comes to campus closures and staffing cuts implemented by districts across the state to make up the difference in projected shortfalls, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath said in a Feb. 25 hearing that it is more a consequence of planning for unrealized enrollment growth than a true need for additional funds. “There is no magic number that makes [funding] enough,” Morath said. GISD administrators will present the next budget update in April. Hanna said administrators will continue to provide updates to the board on development of the 2025-26 fiscal year’s budget, which is set to be voted on for final approval in June. GISD’s new fiscal year will begin July 1. “The reality is that if we do not embrace these hard decisions now, the decisions that we’re going to have to make next year ... will be worse,” Padavil said.
Budgeted expenditures, Hanna said, are the same for the 2025-26 fiscal year as the previous school year, meaning no raises for employees are factored into the proposal. To close the gap between projected revenues and expenditures, she said administrators would have to either dip into GISD’s fund balance—where any surpluses from previous budget years are kept to help manage cash flow—or identify efficiencies. Trustees were critical of the proposal to cut teacher positions, and asked administrators to explore options for reducing budgets for extracur- riculars, such as athletics, to minimize the impact to GISD’s academic program. Place 6 Trustee Jen Mauldin suggested cutting athletics and extracurricular programs first, rather than focusing on classroom roles, could be a better option and could increase community engagement with the state regarding funding. “Is [extracurricular and athletic programming] the priority over our academic program, where we’re working so hard to get to an appropriate level that they’re not in this group of what we’re looking at?” Mauldin said. “Would there be more interest in the budgeting in our state if we started talking about cutting athletic programs and we started cutting extracurricular programs? I know that the parents would be at the state capitol in two shakes.” Board president James Scherer suggested the district could cut athletic programs that have a high cost to student ratio to reduce the number of teaching positions considered in budget cuts. “If we have 10 kids in this thing and it’s costing us a million bucks ... you get rid of the 10 kids’ program and apologize,” Scherer said.
House Bill 2, introduced in February, would update basic allotment. • Existing basic allotment: $6,160 • HB2 proposal: $6,380 • Difference: $220 Proposed increase
March 3: budget workshop April-May: Development of proposed budget June: Board review and public hearings Late June: Budget adoption July 1: Implementation of new budget Budgeting process
*DISTRICTS ARE ALSO FUNDED FOR CERTAIN POPULATIONS AND PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAMS LIKE SPECIAL EDUCATION OR CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
SOURCE: GEORGETOWN ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: TEXAS LEGISLATURE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
PROVIDING EXCEPTIONAL ORAL & MAXILLOFACIAL SURGICAL CARE
HE IS RISEN
DR. MARK OPPENHEIM
DR. BRAD SCHAFER
WISDOM TOOTH REMOVAL DENTAL IMPLANTS � EXTRACTIONS JAW SURGERY � ORAL PATHOLOGY PROUD TO LIVE AND WORK IN THE COMMUNITY THEY SERVE
1500 W. UNIVERSITY AVE SUITE 108-109, GEORGETOWN � 512-737-3266 � WWW.CTXORALSURGERY.COM
19
GEORGETOWN EDITION
Powered by FlippingBook