What happened?
The 1.5% pay increase for teachers and staff was approved by the board 6-1 with Trustee Matt Foust in opposition.
“I have an [abiding] confidence and faith in our educators and, for my part, I’m not in a position where I can’t support anything less than at least [a 2% increase],” Foust said.
The approved raise applies to teachers and staff who are not covered by the state's teacher incentive allotment program, according to district documents. District officials said the 1.5% increase was the only option presented at the June 9 meeting that kept the budget balanced for next fiscal year.
“We would all love to pay our teachers the highest level that we can,” Chief Human Resources Officer Kelly Mires said. “To be fiscally responsible for district funding, to ensure that we have a balanced budget and [to] plan for unintended increases and costs that may come up during the school year, this would be our recommendation.”
The teacher allotment program gives GCISD teachers with three or more years of experience pay increases. The pay raise was a part of House Bill 2, which was passed in the 89th Texas Legislature June 4. Moak Casey, a company that aids Texas schools with state funding calculations, estimated HB 2 will give GCISD $6.1 million and require the district to allocate $3.88 million to the teacher allotment program. The rest of the anticipated state revenue has been allocated to the district’s maintenance and operation fund.
The board also expressed interest in giving a one-time bonus to teachers and staff if the district receives extra funds, GCISD Superintendent Brad Schnautz said.
Breaking down the budget
The budget was approved 5-2 with Foust and Trustee Dalia Begin in opposition.
The FY 2025-26 budget is made up of three separate budgets that present an overall financial plan for the district. The plan includes:
- a general fund, which funds daily operations including staff compensation and maintenance projects
- a debt service fund, which is for bond and interest payments
- a child nutrition fund, which provides breakfast and lunch to students
The district calculated that the debt service fund has $2.14 million in revenue, which is more than the calculated expenditures, according to district documents. The child nutrition fund has $22,727 in additional revenue compared to the amount the district plans to spend.
The debt service budget will likely need to be amended to take into account how much the district can tax properties, Johnson said. The Tarrant County Appraisal District will announce the property tax values July 25.
The additional revenue calculated for the child nutrition fund will go toward equipment replacement or repair and other program needs, Johnson said.
What’s next?
GCISD used preliminary tax values, which are property values given by the Tarrant County Appraisal District, to create this budget.
GCISD will adjust the budget as needed once it receives funding from the state, Johnson said. The tax rate will be adopted in August or September.
