Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura presented a recommended $181 million budget cut package June 4, including moving to part-time library positions at 23 schools that have under 400 students. (Jessica McLaren/Community Impact)
Austin ISD officials released recommended budget reductions totaling $181 million for the 2026-27 school year, affecting 558 positions districtwide and resulting in community pushback ahead of a June 18 board meeting.
The big picture
Austin ISD's projected budget shortfall grew from $49 million in FY 2025-26 to $181 million for FY 2026-27, driven by a decrease in property values, declining enrollment and the delay of a $26 million property sale, according to previous CommunityImpactreporting.
Superintendent Matias Segura and Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery presented the proposed budget for 2026-27 at a June 4 board information session, where community members delivered more than 1.5 hours of public comment.
The proposed plan would eliminate or restructure positions across the district, including 215 teaching positions and 228 vacant roles. About 55 counselor, assistant principal and librarian positions would also be affected, according to the budget documents.
“There are no good decisions,” Segura said at the June 4 session. “Every single thing that we have brought forward has been scrutinized and debated.”
Community members wear library-themed shirts and hold signs at a June 4 Austin ISD board information session on the district's recommended $181 million budget cut plan. (Jessica McLaren/Community Impact)
Segura attributed the shortfall in part to stagnant state funding, declining enrollment and a larger-than-expected drop in Austin property values.
Payroll currently accounts for more than 88% of the district’s budget, according to the district’s recommended department reductions.
Breaking it down
The district’s proposed reductions span central departments, campus staffing and districtwide programs, according to the reductions table.
Operations: $9.8 million, including a 10% cut to facilities maintenance and custodial restructuring
Special Education: $4 million, through reduced contracted services and supplemental pay
Police Department: $5 million, including exploring a shift from sworn officers to licensed security personnel at some campuses
Academics Office: $3.4 million, including scaling back districtwide celebration ceremonies to campus-based events
Forced departmental reductions: $17 million in additional percentage-based cuts to all central departments, details to be finalized before the June 18 vote
To generate one-time revenue, documents say, the district plans to sell or monetize four surplus properties for approximately $60 million, according to previous reporting.
The district also projects $31 million in savings through staffing reductions over the course of the school year via attrition, reorganization and enrollment-based leveling, the documents say.
The district’s recapture payment—which the state recollects for redistribution—for 2025-26 was $715.5 million, nearly half of its $1.7 billion operating budget, the documents say.
What they’re saying
The library cuts drew the most sustained opposition at the June 4 session. The plan would convert 23 full-time librarian positions to part time at campuses with fewer than 400 students enrolled.
Sunny Steir, librarian at Boone Elementary School, spoke about how the cuts would affect students. (Jessica McLaren/Community Impact)
"Austin ISD made a public commitment to not cut librarians," said Heather Hughes, a librarian at Langford Elementary, one of the 23 affected schools, during public comment. "I urge the board to hold them to it."
Boone Elementary librarian Sunny Steir referenced district executive hiring documents, which she said include 51 hirings between 2016 and 2023, while stating “what matters most is the students.”
Langford and Boone elementary schools enrolled 319 and 389 students in the 2025-26 school year, according to TEA.
Parents and students also pushed back on the elimination of the district's water polo program, which Debra Squires, a parent, said during public comment costs the district roughly $89,000 annually, roughly the equivalent of 14 students based on current state funding.
“Less than 15 students would have to leave the district for this reason to make that worth it,” Squires said.
Students and parents hold signs urging the Austin ISD board of trustees to preserve the district’s water polo program during a June 4 board information session. (Jessica McLaren/Community Impact)
Speakers also called on the board to include Blackshear Elementary in upcoming boundary discussions before any closure decision is made. The 135-year-old East Austin school has not been formally voted on for closure by the board—a distinction several speakers emphasized during public comment.
In March, the district announced students from both Blackshear and the previously closed Oak Springs Elementary would eventually relocate to a modernized Oak Springs campus slated to open in 2028.
Marcus Charles, the father of a Blackshear student, said his family moved from Maryland and enrolled his son at the school specifically because of what it represented.
"Austin is a diverse city in some parts, but it's still predominantly white," Charles said. "At Blackshear, my son sees children who look like him. He sees teachers and staff who look like him. He sees a school community that reflects the diversity of the real world."
Eric Ramos, who taught history at Martin Middle School before its closure, questioned whether executive-level staffing had been cut proportionally.
“I don't think it's fair for certain departments to take much deeper cuts than others,” Ramos said. "How many less positions do we have at the executive director level and up compared to years before? If everyone else is getting cut, once again, we need everyone to help share this burden."
What's next
The board will hold an information session June 11 before voting on the final budget June 18. Community members can submit written comments through June 18 at 5 p.m. at www.austinisd.org.
