The Cy-Fair ISD board of trustees adopted a $920 million budget for the 2017-18 academic year at last night’s regular meeting.

Highlights of the budget included increasing the starting teacher salary from $52,025 to $53,000 and a 3 percent raise for all classroom teachers. All other employees in the district are slated to receive a salary increase of 3 percent of midpoint or base salary—whichever is greater.

The district plans to spend $17.4 million on teacher raises and $6.9 million on raises for all other employees.

A Region 4 Education Service Center survey revealed that area school districts typically increase salaries between 2 and 3 percent, said Stuart Snow, associate superintendent of business and finance. Snow said CFISD is competitive with neighboring districts by raising the average employee’s salary by $1,970.

“Our governor, as part of his special session, has also included a $1,000 unfunded mandate for local school districts for pay raises for teachers, and this would more than offset his unfunded mandate,” CFISD Superintendent Mark Henry said. “As was said earlier in this meeting, the best government is government close to the people, and I think this body is much more capable of determining a budget for Cy-Fair ISD than the state governor is.”

Additionally, the budget provides $7.4 million for the opening of new facilities: Bridgeland High School, Wells Elementary School, Hoover Elementary School, the new Matzke Elementary School campus and a new natatorium—a building that contains a swimming pool—located next to Pridgeon Stadium.

Other budgeted items include software licenses, general equipment, facility maintenance, furniture, fixture and equipment replacement as well as an increase in property insurance.

Karen Smith, assistant superintendent of business and finance, said factors that contributed to decisions made in formulating the budget included a modest economic recovery, a decline in the student enrollment growth rate, the opening of new facilities, a slight decline in property value growth rate and school finance legislation. The property tax rate will remain at $1.44 per $100 valuation.

Snow confirmed that CFISD receives less funding per student than a majority of the other large districts in Texas. While the state average is around $8,500 per student, CFISD is funded about $7,600 per student.



Expenditures for the general fund are estimated at $920,479,152, leaving an $18 million deficit—about one week’s expenditures—for the $902,271,716 the district reports is available for next year.

Smith said the budget presented reflects a situation in which each estimated expenditure is spent and every budgeted employee is hired. Smith later noted that about 150-200 positions are unfilled in a typical year, equaling about $11 million in costs.

“We always have budgeted but unfilled positions, and we usually have money left on the table because all the expenditures do not occur,” she said. “Therefore, we’re hoping with prudent spending and if things happen kind of how they have in the past, that we will still end up with a balanced budget or much less than what we’re showing you here as a deficit.”