As growth continues in the district, Tomball ISD is preparing for more students by opening its fourth new school in two years.

Creekside Park Junior High School, which will open in August, is the third junior high school in the district. The school is funded through the district’s 2013 bond, which helped the district plan for growth during the next five years. Last year, TISD opened three new schools: Oakcrest Intermediate School and Creekview and Wildwood elementary schools.

TISD Chief Financial Officer Jim Ross said the district will need to hire an additional 99 staff members to staff Creekside Park and accommodate additional enrollment growth in the district. The new hires will include 63 teachers.

Despite the added costs of opening a new school, Ross said the district is expected to bring in a 9 percent increase in revenue compared with the past year, which is attributed to increased local property tax revenue.

The TISD board of trustees heard the second and final budget hearing for the 2016-17 school year during its June 12 workshop meeting.

Ross said the district expects nearly $121 million in expenditures in the 2016-17 budget and $119 million in revenue. The deficit is attributed to the opening of a new, larger school in the district. 

“We’ve had two years of opening four schools, which is pretty substantial for this district,” Ross said. “The greatest factor in this budget was the opening of a new school. Secondary schools have more needs for staffing, and then you get into extracurricular activities and things of that nature. It’s a little more costly.”

The new budget also includes a 2 percent general staff pay increase, bringing the starting teacher salary up to $52,000, an increase of $750 compared with the 2015-16 school year. The budget also allows for an added $25 in medical insurance plan contributions per employee.

“This is primarily funded by Tomball ISD—it’s mainly local taxes that are paying for this; 86.13 percent of the funding for our schools comes from local taxes,” he said.

Because of the need for more staff, payroll costs are expected to account for more than 89 percent of the district’s budget. It is a number Ross said he would like to see reduced in the next few years.

“Once you’re above 85 percent, you’re really in some dangerous territory with payroll,” he said. “This is indicative of opening a new school. In time, that’s going to come back down, and in a couple years, we need to be around at least 87 percent in order to control this cost in our budget.”

The budget was up for approval during the board’s Aug. 9 meeting, after press time.