Education
BY SIENNA WIGHT
More than 1,000 employees at Hays CISD will be a ected by $12.25 million in budget cuts for scal year 2026-27. This comes following approval from trustees at a March 30 meeting—just four days after district o cials said the cuts would create a surplus budget and rebuild the fund balance after several years of nancial struggles. Because almost 90% of HCISD’s budget is spent on salaries, o cials said the amount of cuts they needed to make could not be achieved without a ecting jobs. The proposed cuts include the loss or change of 125 positions and the suspension of 970 stipends. Other cost savings include increasing class sizes, resulting in student- to-teacher ratios ranging from 24-1 to 30-1; social services; virtual learning models; ne arts and athletics. O cials outlined plans to reduce the e ect of these changes to students, such as the introduction of a fth quarter to sporting events to allow all students to participate in lieu of some sporting teams being cut. Hays CISD cuts budget by $12M
What they’re saying
Breaking down the budget cuts
1 Increased class sizes: $5M 2 Central o ce and district sta personnel cuts: $2.7M 3 Suspension of certain sta stipends, incentives and surcharge payment coverage: $2.3M 4 Library and social services reductions: $860K 5 Fine arts and athletics reductions: $826.7K 6 Restructuring of attendance and PEIMS (Public Education Information Management System) reporting: $550.9K
“As class sizes grow, it becomes increasingly more di cult for me as their teacher to meet those needs fully,” HCISD kindergarten teacher Anaissa Ortiz-Wong said at the meeting. Ortiz-Wong added that larger class sizes make it more challenging to ensure consistent supervision to meet each learner’s needs. Trustees also shared their perspectives on cuts and the state of public school funding. Several trustees, including Esperanza Orosco and Vanessa Petrea, defended Superintendent Eric Wright amid criticism over his salary and leadership. Petrea said that Wright is recognized as one of the best superintendents in the state.
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Positions to be a ected More than 1,000 out of 3,600 total positions will be directly a ected by cuts. Chief Communication O cer Tim Savoy said there are 32 employees who do not currently have a position for the 2026-27 school year.
“We get no joy from making these hard cuts. No joy at all.” ESPERANZA OROSCO, HAYS CISD BOARD MEMBER
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1 Positions cut or changed: 125 2 Positions with stipend suspension: 970 3 Positions not directly
Total: 3,600
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a ected: 2,505
SOURCE: HAYS CISD COMMUNITY IMPACT
How we got here
when waiting for funding to come in. The district initially anticipated cutting $20 million and 200 positions over three years, but Savoy said they would not be able to do that without “signi cant damage” to the educational product.
student to compensate for in ation. HCISD has been pulling from the fund balance to maintain operations since 2021 and it has depleted to approximately $20 million. According to the district, the fund balance should be at least $65 million to cover three months of operating expenses
The Texas Education Agency provides a basic allotment of $6,215 per student to public schools. This is a $55 increase from the previous rate of $6,160, which was set in 2019. Chief Communications O cer Tim Savoy said the state would need to provide about $7,000 per
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