The Round Rock ISD board of trustees approved a budget proposal for the 2024-25 fiscal year, setting itself up to start the financial year with a balanced budget after administrators identified almost $30 million in reductions to its operating budget.

The $466 million operating budget includes 1% raises for employees as well as slightly larger class sizes going into the 2024-25 school year in August.

What you need to know

At a June 18 board meeting, RRISD Chief Financial Officer Dennis Covington proposed a $466 million operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year with a maximum total tax rate of $0.8949 per $100 of valuation, made up of the district's maintenance and operations rate of $0.6969 per $100 of valuation and debt service rate of $0.1980 per $100 of valuation. This is $0.0241 lower than the rate of $0.9190 per $100 of valuation ratified for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The specifics


In a May 16 budget update presented to the RRISD board of trustees, Covington said his administration identified the following reductions in expenditures to balance the budget:
  • 52 unfilled or reassigned positions
  • Increasing class sizes by about two students at the elementary, middle and high school level
  • Reduced departmental and campus-level budgets
  • Reductions in expenses for legal fees and other contract services
  • Reductions in leasing and moving expenses for portables
  • Reductions in operating expenses for athletics programming
Covington said at the time that these measures helped RRISD to cover a potential shortfall many school districts across the state are reckoning with, as per-student funding in the form of the basic allotment remains stagnant. The basic allotment is an amount of per-student funding that's part of a formula determining how much state funding school districts receive each year. It has remained $6,160 since 2019, when it was raised from $5,140.

What they're saying

"We are the only district in Central Texas passing a balanced budget, but it is not without a lot of pains," said Board President Amber Landrum. "Thanks for sticking with us during this budget season."