What you need to know
Facing a shortfall of about $3.72 million for the 2025-26 school year, GISD Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Hanna and Superintendent Devin Padavil presented another option to reduce expenses for the district in the coming fiscal year at an April 7 board workshop.
Recommendations for about $3.73 million in budget reductions from administrators focus mostly on the campus level, comprising 48% of reductions suggested. A total of 32% of the reductions are district-wide, with 3% concentrated in athletics and 6% in special education programming.
The details
The recommendations include campus and district-level department reductions in budgets, program changes and the elimination of some support positions on a campus basis.
Recommendations for a total of $3,731,971 in budget savings prepared by administrators include:
- Elimination of six district-level positions: $323,657
- Discontinuing travel stipends: $38,750
- Departmental budget reductions: $490,000
- Revisions to mental health staffing: $78,256
- Funding a portion of cafeteria staff with child nutrition service funds: $175,000
- Reducing the number of contract days for LDD/ARD facilitator, which is an employee who helps develop individualized education plans: $97,370
- Reduce staffing by one administrative assistant at each high school: $180,000
- Increase high school class sizes to 26 students per teacher: $240,000
- Reduce campus budgets by a minimum of 5%: $150,000
- Revised delivery of Gifted and Talented services: $330,000
- Reduce staffing of leadership development coordinators and assistant principals: $279,000
- Reduce the number of elementary paraprofessionals: $275,000
- Reduce receptionist staffing: $107,112
- Reduce staffing of interventionists: $240,000
- Adjustments to athletics staffing: $120,000
- Reduce random drug testing: $10,000
- Adjust career and technology education coding to generate additional revenue: $400,000
- Revisions to the special education residential placement model: $197,826
In March, Hanna said the school district was projecting about $172.09 million in expenditures for the 2025-26 school year as it anticipates about $168.37 million in revenue, creating a $3.72 million shortfall.
Budgeted expenditures, Hanna said, are the same for the 2025-26 fiscal year as the previous school year, meaning the shortfall does not yet include raises for employees, although this could change as the district continues planning its budget.
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.
What they're saying
Padavil said administrators would continue to work on its budget proposal, which will come to the board for final approval in June.
With the 89th Legislature still underway, lawmakers are still considering increases to the basic allotment that would provide GISD with additional funds for compensation increases for employees. House Bill 2 would require the majority of the $395 proposed increase to the $6,160 per student allotment to go toward compensation.
While this would help district employees, it is not enough to eliminate the shortfall projected for the 2025-26 school year, Padavil said.
"Everything in this process is asking people to do more with less," Padavil said.
