The details
With the passing of the $5.5 million voter-approval tax rate election in November 2024, Ruffin said the district is in the position of not seeing a deficit.
“The biggest part of that [balanced budget] is absolutely because of the VATRE that's passed,” Ruffin said. “About 60% of the districts [in Texas] passed the deficit budget—of the ones that didn't pass the deficit budget, the vast majority of them had previously passed VATREs.”
At the beginning of the 2024-25 fiscal year, the district faced a shortfall of about $4.3 million, according to prior reporting.
Ruffin said moving forward, the community should expect a balanced district budget, increased compensation and fiscal transparency alongside MISD addressing its staffing, fund balance, long-term financial stability and continued advocacy for increased funding.
Ruffin said the budget objectives for the 2025-26 school year include:
- Compensation: provide competitive salaries across all positions
- People: staff campuses and departments based on campus needs
- Financial stability: ensure long-term financial health
- Safety: continue to improve safety and security across MISD
- Students: continue to offer programs that meet student needs
The district's budget is made up of 33% state funds while 67% comes from local taxes; federal funds make up less than 1% of general revenues, Ruffin said.
- $500 retention stipends to all district employees
- Hiring four teachers for class size reductions in needed areas
- Hiring six paraprofessionals to meet special education students’ needs
- Increasing the police stipends, purchasing additional police vehicles and maintaining staffing levels above the state requirement
Highlights from the current fiscal year include higher average daily attendance than projected, corrections from the appraisal district property value submissions, and a career and tech funding increase, according to the presentation.
MISD also conducted an efficiency audit in 2024 and key findings include the district having:
- A higher percentage of teaching staff than peer districts evaluated and the state average
- A lower percentage of administration staff than peer districts evaluated
- A lower teacher turnover rate than peer districts and the state average
Looking ahead
Ruffin said the district may look to ask voters to pass a bond as early as 2026.
“The overcrowding part of it is there's only one mechanism to build schools. That's the bond,” Ruffin said.
