This comes as the district faces a $7.5 million budget shortfall for fiscal year 2024-25 and prepares to make around $4.6 million in budget cuts next fiscal year.
Current situation
At a Dec. 16 board of trustees meeting, LHISD officials shared that the district will reduce the number of bus stops from 77 to 33. The reductions will allow the district to save money on fuel, improve safety for students by reducing traffic, and make bus routes more efficient, Chief Operations Officer Mark Willoughby said.
Consolidating the district's bus stops within each neighborhood will require students to walk less than 2 miles to reach their pickup location, he said. Willoughby pointed out that the district does not provide transportation services to students living within 2 miles of their school.
The district will make the following changes by neighborhood:
- Liberty Parke: reduced from 10 to four stops
- Grand Oaks/Horseshoe: reduced from four to two stops
- MorningStar and Omega Ranch: reduced from 17 to 10 stops
- Bar W: reduced from 25 to eight stops
- Wildleaf: reduced from seven to two stops
- Lively Ranch: reduced from 14 to seven stops
What else?
Additionally, the district is considering taking the following steps to save money this fiscal year, Superintendent Steven Snell said:
- Freezing hiring through attrition for some positions
- Reducing and eliminating travel outside of the district
- Reducing campus and department budgets by 10%
Looking to FY 2025-26, the district will need to pass a balanced budget of $99 million in expenditures to avoid further reducing its fund balance, Snell said. This will require around $4.6 million in budget cuts, assuming the district does not provide pay raises for staff.
An additional 800 students are expected to enroll in the district next year, requiring LHISD to hire more teachers, Snell said.
The district may look for efficiencies in its schedule, including requiring all secondary teachers to teach seven out of eight periods instead of six. LHISD may increase class sizes as well as make cuts to programs and staff, including central office positions, he said.
The district may take the following steps to increase revenue:
- Provide attendance incentives for campuses and staff
- Implement a fee for school supplies or participation in athletics
- Offer advertising opportunities through its buses or website
- Partner with a charter school to operate a campus through Senate Bill 1882
Texas lawmakers will reconvene for the 89th legislative session in January.
LHISD could see changes to its budget if the state increases the basic allotment of funding per student or allocates additional revenue for special education or school safety programs, Snell said. The state’s basic allotment of $6,160 per student has not increased since 2019.
Next steps
The board of trustees will have a budget workshop in January followed by a town hall to receive community feedback in late January or February.
District officials are expected to present recommended cuts to the budget in March.
