Carroll ISD officials expect budget shortfall

David Johnson, assistant superintendent for financial services at Carroll ISD, updated the school board on the fiscal year 2024-25 budget at a May 15 meeting.

In a nutshell

The district will operate with a $8.5 million budget shortfall going into next year, Johnson said.

Since the last snapshot, in April the district’s total projected revenue for FY 2024-25 dropped from $105.7 million to $105.3 million, partly due to a forecasted dip in district enrollment next year by nearly 120 students, according to Zonda Education data. This has a direct effect on the amount of funding the district receives from the state, which is allocated based on attendance, Johnson said.

“As that declines, state and local revenue will have an impact as well,” he said.

However, CISD was also able to mitigate expenditures by around $1 million through staff attrition, Johnson said. Overall, the budget shortfall was reduced from $9.2 million to $8.5 million.

Going forward

District staff will bring forward another budget update at a June 10 board workshop to discuss any changes ahead of final board approval June 24, Johnson said.

The district also plans to form a budget reduction committee tasked with analyzing the budget shortfall and recommending actions to the board. The process to determine who will comprise the committee begins in August, he said.