Westlake Town Council unanimously approved Westlake Academy’s budget Aug. 7.

During her presentation to council, Director of Finance Cayce Lay Lamas said that the final proposed budget for fiscal year 2023-24 was $11.3 million, which was an increase of $1.2 million from the fiscal year 2022-23 adopted budget. She went on to say that enrollment at the school has remained flat for FY 2023-24 at 875 students.

Revenues for the FY 2023-24 budget were broken down as follows:
  • Town revenues: $1.62 million
  • State revenues: $8.06 million
  • Local revenues: $1.46 million
Expenditures included the following:
  • Operations: $2.13 million
  • Payroll: $9 million
Lamas added that local revenues included $1.25 million in donations from the Blacksmith Foundation and that expenditures for FY 2023-24 increased $1.24 million from the previous year.

According to the Westlake Academy website, the school is operated by the town of Westlake. It is the only municipally owned and operated open-enrollment charter school in the state of Texas.

With 875 students, the school is the largest operating department of the town. As a department of the town government, Westlake Academy’s financial management operates through two financial management mechanisms.