Eanes ISD board of trustees unanimously adopted a $152.5 million budget for the 2016-17 school year—a $14.5 million increase in revenue from last year’s budget—on June 21.
EISD’s revenue increase is largely due to the increase in taxable value from properties in the district, which is expected to be at 9.7 percent said David Edgar, assistant superintendent for business services.
The district will contribute $82 million to recapture, a state-mandated system through which property-rich districts such as EISD are required to send money to the state to be redistributed among property-poor districts. The contribution is up $11 million from last year, Edgar said.
Including the contribution to recapture, the district expects to spend $154.3 million from the general fund to cover payroll and other operating expenses, he said.
Edgar said EISD is expecting 8,156 students for the 2016-17 school year, an increase from the 8,053 students enrolled in the 2015-16 school year.
The board of trustees voted May 24 to increase salaries by 2 percent over last school year for faculty and staff and increase the amount the district contributes to healthcare benefits by 5 percent over last school year. The board also added 11 full-time equivalent positions, or FTEs, for the 2016-17 school year.
Hourly compensation
The board also voted June 21 to spend an additional $155,000 to raise hourly pay grades of the district's employees by 1 to 2 percent, depending on the employee's pay grade.
The employees benefiting from the raise—which comes in addition to the 2 percent district-wide pay increase passed May 24—include bus drivers, teaching assistants, administrative assistants, after-school workers, custodians, child nutrition and maintenance workers.
“I think [the pay raise] shows how much we value our employees,” trustee Ellen Balthazar said.
Trustee Jennifer Salas echoed Balthazar’s sentiments.
“We’re overdue with this type of adjustment,” she said. “The cost of living in Austin has skyrocketed in Austin in the last decade. I think we have a responsibility to take care of our staff.”
She said the district fell short of its planned $2 million draw on the fund balance—the district’s savings account—by only drawing $1.7 million in the 2016-17 school year. The difference can be used for the hourly pay raises, she said.
‘This staff is so important,” board president Colleen Jones said following the vote. “They are the face[s] that the kids see over and over again.”
