Lamar CISD officials project balanced budget for 2026-27 school year

When those savings are combined with the decreased revenue, Buchanan said $10.8 million will be added to LCISD’s updated $106 million fund balance.

Zooming in

For the 2026-27 budget outlook, the board finance committee decided to proceed with a 3% property growth and low enrollment projection option that accommodates 50,307 students with an expected $562.7 million in revenue.

The committee also proposed giving teachers a 3% raise—or $2,200—as well as increasing starting teachers' salaries to $68,900.

Buchanan said the 3% option will require $11.6 million in funding and is consistent with what has been given in the past.

As several neighboring districts, such as Fort Bend ISD and Cy-Fair ISD, face budget shortfalls, Buchanan said he determined that it comes down to personnel.

With 83% of LCISD’s budget going toward personnel, Buchanan said it’s important for staffing to correlate with enrollment growth.

“As enrollment growth goes up or goes down, staffing would change according to the number of students,” he said.

Next steps

Trustees will set the proposed 2026-27 tax rate as well as determine when the budget and tax rate public meeting will take place at an upcoming May 19 meeting, officials said. The budget is scheduled to be adopted in June, and the tax rate will be finalized in August.