Austin ISD adopts $887M budget, keeps librarians after late-night vote

To close the projected $181 million shortfall, Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery told board members the district's total reduction package now stands at $205 million in gross cuts, or a net $192 million once new costs like teacher pay raises are factored in.

As Community Impact reported, the added cuts came after the district's fund balance—its financial reserve—was projected to close the current fiscal year at roughly 10% of operating expenditures, below the district's standard 20% policy and a temporarily lowered 15% floor the board approved last year.

Superintendent Matias Segura told the board at the June 18 public hearing the stakes were significant.

"Unfortunately, if we do not do this and if we do not bring a budget forward that is, A, approved, and B, begins to improve the fund balance, we run a real risk when it comes to our ability to serve our students in a way that aligns with who we are as an organization,” he said. “It's unfortunate. It's sad. It's disappointing. It's happening everywhere in the state of Texas.”

Inside the budget

According to a district announcement, the adopted budget includes $1.48 billion in revenue from Austin taxpayers and $630 million sent to the state through recapture.

This is the highest recapture payment of any school district in Texas, according to the release. The budget also includes a $19 million contribution back into the district's fund balance.

The reductions impacted more than 500 positions districtwide. Other changes include:

• A 2% pay reduction for designated central office staff, equivalent to five duty days
• Stipends narrowed to those tied directly to work supporting students and families
• Teacher planning periods reduced to the state minimum of one per day at some campuses, with modest class-size increases in grades 2-5
• A shift away from the district's 1:1 student-device model toward a needs-based approach
• Partner-provided student support services scaled back to the highest-need campuses
• Transportation changes including discontinued routes to choice schools and the Alternative Learning Center, eliminated late activity buses at secondary campuses, a return to a standard 2-mile walking-distance policy, and new transportation hubs for secondary students

The board spent more than three hours debating how to restore full-time librarians after a proposal earlier this year would have cut some positions to part-time. Sixteen of the 23 affected campuses are Title I schools, according to district staff.

Two earlier amendments failed, including one from board member Kathryn Whitley Chu that would have eliminated the deputy superintendent position to cover the cost—funding came up roughly $477,000 short.

The amendment that passed, from board member David Kauffman and seconded by Andrew Gonzales, restores one full-time librarian per campus by temporarily drawing $1.1 million from the fund balance. Segura agreed to bring an offsetting budget amendment to the board in August.

"I would not use the fund balance as the crutch,” Singh said, voting against the change. “I would not sacrifice that. We need that cushion."

The tax rate vote

The proposed tax rate is $0.9184 per $100 of property valuation—$0.7954 for maintenance and operations, $0.1230 for debt service.

The estimated tax bill for the median Austin homeowner is projected to fall from $3,525 to $3,461 as declining property values offset the rate.

The rate won't be formally adopted until September, after the district receives certified property values from the Travis Central Appraisal District.

Also on the agenda

The board considered, as a separate item, declaring six district properties as surplus—Becker, Dawson, Ridgetop, Sunset Valley and Widén elementaries, plus 14 acres of excess land at Bedichek Middle School—a step that allows the district to explore sale or lease options. Any transaction would require a separate board vote.

The board also unanimously approved an amendment to Segura's contract removing a proposed performance-pay provision that would have paid him $1,500 for each campus rated D or F by the state that improved to a C or better.

What’s next

The district expects to need a short-term loan this fall to cover payroll, as it did last year when it borrowed $19 million at a cost of about $250,000 in interest and fees. The board is scheduled to consent to an amended budget for FY 2026-27 on Aug. 13, incorporating certified property values and Segura's plan to offset the librarian restoration.

The statutory deadline to formally adopt the tax rate is Sept. 30.