The Bastrop ISD board of trustees passed a balanced budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, as well as a compensation package that includes pay raises for teachers and staff funded by legislative changes in June.

What you need to know

Mike White, BISD's chief financial officer, presented a budget and compensation plan for the upcoming budget year, which included mandatory pay raises for teachers. While the Legislature did not outline requirements for additional staff raises in House Bill 2, White said the district has structured in 3% and 5% pay increases for other job categories as well.

"The house had a version that that was a little bit more encompassing to teachers, nurses, librarians, counselors, I think, but you know where we ended up was teachers specifically and that's why we made such a priority to take care of the rest of the staff as well," White said.

The budget approved for FY 2025-26 encompasses just under $146.35 million in revenue, which is equal to the planned amount of expenditures. It is based on a property tax rate of $0.6639 per $100 of valuation. The property tax rate is subject to change based on what the Texas Education Agency calculates for BISD's maximum compressed rate, White said.

Including the $0.401 per $100 of valuation planned for the 2025-26 fiscal year, the district's total tax rate is $1.0649.

The details

Trustees approved the district's compensation plan, which includes the following changes in accordance with HB 2:

• Eligible teachers with three to four years of experience will receive a general pay increase of $2,500
• Teachers eligible for pay increases with five or more years of experience will receive a general pay increase of $5,000

The district will also be able to provide raises for staff who were not mandated by the Legislature to receive pay raises, White said:

• Support staff and paraprofessionals: 5%
• Administrators: 5%
• Teachers with one to three years of experience: 3%

White said the compensation plan for 2025-26 also raises the starting pay for teachers from $56,000 to $57,750 per year.

What else?

Trustees also passed a balanced child nutrition budget of about $10.63 million, with plans to bring operations in-house after previously contracting with third-party vendors.

Additionally, the debt service budget, which pays the districts debts like bonds, is planned for $35.25 million in revenue and $38.87 million in expenditures, leaving a difference of $3.62 million. White said the district will use some of BISD's $25 million debt service fund to cover this difference and facilitate a bond sale in August that will net the district about $7 million in state funding through a hold harmless provision.