Budget projections show Denton ISD will spend about $28 million more on district personnel for fiscal year 2026-27, according to a May 12 report from Jennifer Stewart, DISD's executive director of budget.
By the numbers
Spending changes include an additional $12.6 million for personnel, which was mandated by House Bill 2, for the staff and teacher retention allotments.
The state government will provide about $10.4 million for the HB 2 spending and the district will use local funds for the remaining $1.9 million, district staff said.
Other increases to staff funding include $4 million for the mid-year pay increase, $5.3 million for special education staff and $930,000 for instructional support.
Teachers and librarians will receive a raise equivalent to 4% of the area median teacher salary, according to previous reporting. All other staff will receive a 2% raise.
The salary adjustments will cost the district about $9 million over fiscal year 2026-27. The cost is covered by the FY 2026-27 compensation plan balance and will be combined with the $4 million mid-year pay increase to fund district salaries, district staff said.
The district also saw about $3.8 million in personnel savings from Paloma Creek Elementary School’s repurposing in February.
Support staff were reassigned to other campuses that had vacant positions, and the formerly vacant positions are no longer hiring, allowing the district to save about $2 million.
After the students were reassigned, the teaching positions were closed, resulting in about $1.9 million in savings, according to Stewart’s presentation.
Looking ahead
The personnel spending changes will be factored into the FY 2026-27 budget. Trustees will finalize the budget later this summer.
After the changes in personnel spending and roughly $6.5 million in non-personnel spending, like supplies and contract services, current projections show a roughly $325,000 surplus, per Stewart’s report.
Current projections show the district collecting almost $380.34 million in revenue and spending just over $380 million in expenditures.
