While the state will provide teachers with salary increases during its 2025 legislative session, it gave “very little” flexibility for funding within school districts, CCISD’s Chief Financial Officer Alice Benzaia said at the board of trustees’ June 10 work session.
“The projections provided are not what I had hoped for,” Benzaia said. “The state gave districts very little flexibility within the funding provided. We're grateful that our classroom teachers will receive a well-deserved salary increase, but the remaining funding will not get us to a balanced budget.”
What you need to know
CCISD is projected to have $424.3 million in expenses—a $21.1 million increase compared to FY 2024-25—and $410 million in revenues—a $15.4 million increase compared to FY 2024-25. An additional $2.1 million in other sources lands the district in an anticipated $12.1 million shortfall, according to budget documents.
- $13.1 million mandated salary increase
- $2.5 million increase in special education staffing
- $2.2 million operational budget increase
- $1.3 million increase due to safe and secure grant fund ending
- $18.7 million increase in state and local revenue
- $4.9 million decrease in capital and contingency funds
- $1.4 million decrease in operating budget stemming from a decline in students transferring into the district
- $700,000 decrease from a decline in pre-K tuition
For staff compensation and benefits, the district will consider the following:
- Teacher retention allotment, which was funded in the state’s House Bill 2 funding package to the tune of $3.7 billion. It will provide permanent raises for teachers with at least three years of classroom experience. The district will have to decide how this will be implemented and how nonrecipients will be impacted.
- Support staff retention allotment, which is a $500 million allotment for support staff statewide. CCISD will decide how these funds will be distributed among support staff.
- Health insurance and whether the district should increase contribution to premiums or increase minimum hourly rates to comply with the Affordable Care Act
- Other staff receiving compensation increases if funding is available
- Stipends and if market adjustments should be considered in the budget
In order to lessen the shortfall, the district provided the board with the following options:
- Revenue optimization via tax rate. The district could also opt to use its copper pennies through a one-time disaster payment, or the district could undergo another tax rate election. A decision on a potential election would be made by September, officials said. Copper pennies are a part of the maintenance and operations portion of the district’s tax rate. Each penny, in which the district could earn nine, yields a net of $2.4 million, according to district documents.
- Reduce expenses through staffing reductions
- Reduce expenses through facility changes
- Capital and contingency utilization through a five-year depletion plan
- Using its general fund balance via a limit to $13 million over two years without reducing the balance below 20% of funding
The district and board will go through the following steps in the coming months:
- Evaluate staffing parameters and priorities
- Consider partnering with a firm to conduct an external review of the budget
- Evaluate options to enhance revenue through tax rate increases
- Continue to adjust staffing as enrollment changes
- Prepare the 2025-26 compensation recommendation
- Approve the budget
- July 28: board meeting to schedule public hearing on budget and tax rate
- Aug. 11: board workshop to provide budget update
- Aug. 25: board meeting, public hearing and adoption of budget
- Sept. 22: board meeting to adopt 2025 tax rate
