In light of expected increased health insurance costs for Houston ISD employees in the 2026-27 school year, a 4% pay raise for teachers will be proposed, district leaders said during HISD’s May 20 budget workshop.
Current situation
HISD leaders are projecting higher insurance costs due to national trends such as higher pharmacy costs and more out-of-network provider costs, said Chief of Staff Monica Zdrojewski during the HISD board of manager’s May 20 budget workshop.
“Collectively, these factors are creating structural pressure on our health insurance fund that must be addressed proactively. ... I do want to emphasize the fact that these are systemic health care market pressures that employers are experiencing nationally,” Zdrojewski said. “It's not isolated to HISD.”
Since fiscal year 2022-23, HISD has lost money from health insurance costs, according to Zdrojewski’s presentation. For the FY 2025-26 budget, HISD is expected to lose about $25.4 million for health insurance costs.
The approach
During the workshop, Superintendent Mike Miles declined to speculate how much the insurance costs would be increasing for employees, since open enrollment will not begin until this fall. However, he said district leaders will be proposing a 4% pay raise for teachers to help offset the added insurance costs.
Zdrojewski said an hourly minimum pay for employees of $17 per hour will also be proposed.
“Employees ... in most places expect health care costs to go up,” Miles said. “[HISD] will continue to eat our share of it ... but [HISD] can't eat all of it.”
No action was taken on employee raises or the draft FY 2026-27 budget at the May 20 workshop.
In case you missed it
During HISD’s first FY 2026-27 budget workshop, held April 23, the draft budget featured about $46.8 million in spending cuts, as previously reported by Community Impact.
On May 20, the draft FY 2026-27 budget featured about $62.5 million in net expenditure cuts, according to Mile’s budget presentation.
The planned cuts come as the district faces about $50 million in lost revenue due to roughly 4,000 expected student enrollment losses, as previously reported.
Stay tuned
HISD’s next FY 2026-27 budget discussion is scheduled for June 11, when the board of managers will likely consider approving the final version, Miles said.
