Keller ISD addresses $9.4M shortfall, budget cuts for fiscal year 2025-26

Keller ISD discussed budget cuts to the 2025-26 fiscal year to deal with an anticipated $9.4 million shortfall at the Feb. 27 board meeting.

What’s happening?

As the district prepares for the 2025-26 school year, projections indicate a $9.4 million deficit in its budget.

Chief Operations Officer John Allison detailed what expenses the district could cut to prepare for the shortfall and gave their projected savings.

Possible budget cuts include:

• Increasing the middle school student-teacher ratio by an average of 0.5, which will save $720,000
• Increasing the high school student-teacher ratio by an average of 0.5, which will save $2.38 million
• Reducing district-level positions, saving $2.13 million
• Cutting transportation given to students not within state transportation requirements, which will save $900,000
• Closing down Early Learning Center North and Early Learning Center South and moving kids into elementary schools, which will save $1 million
• Reducing funding for the Keller Wellness Center, which will save $760,545
• Pulling money out of different departments, which will save $800,000

Diving deeper

Other avenues the board meeting discussed to save money was closing down elementary schools, which Allison said they would start discussing early next fall.

“Closing an elementary doesn't save us as much, because the kids are going to go somewhere and those teachers are going to need to follow,” Interim Superintendent Cory Wilson said. "We would save on the property, but in the short term, we have to insure that property, which costs us actually even more.”

He added he didn’t want to look at that option right now because they would have to start discussing rezoning, which he wants to discuss with the community.

The district also approved granting an easement worth $503,066 to power company Oncor for 3.208 acres of land owned by KISD that borders Golden Triangle Boulevard, North Riverside Drive and Keller Hicks Road at the meeting.

“I want to express my disappointment that Oncor would not allow for a counter offer,” Place 7 Trustee Heather Washington said. “I do feel based on the growth in that area of commercial property that’s there, their final offer does not reflect the true value of that property.”

Zooming in

KISD worked through recent funding issues by reducing spending by nearly $45 million through administrative and staffing adjustments and program consolidations during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years, according to the district website.

KISD’s website also states the budget shortfalls are from lack of funding from the state and inflation.

Currently, the state gives $6,160 to districts for each student who attends school. That basic allotment has not changed since 2019, though inflation has risen by 22% since then.

The Texas House and Senate drafted a budget plan for 2026-27 to raise public education funding by $4.9 billion. In addition, they also plan to raise all public school teachers’ salaries by $4,000, according to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s office.

"Public education funding is at an all-time high,” Gov. Greg Abbott said at the Feb. 2 State of the State address. “Funding per student is at an all-time high. But improving education requires more than just spending more money. It requires high-level instruction and better curriculum."

Also of note

The board discussed their priorities to take to the Texas Education Agency for the 89th Texas Legislation, which consists of:

• Increasing the basic allotment that the state gives for each student
• Increasing teacher compensation and funding schools based on enrollment instead of attendance, which is how schools are currently being funded by the state
• Funding state mandates
• Providing transparency and accountability for recapture funds
• Providing flexibility in summative assessments
• Ensuring accessible testing
• Tasking the TEA with creating an ongoing list of books prohibited in school libraries