PISD trustees also approved additional personnel and an increase in employer insurance, bringing the surplus down from $3.6 million to $2.8 million, district officials said.
The overview
For FY 2024-25, PISD will have an estimated revenue of more than $210 million. This has decreased from FY 2023-24 by more than $2.1 million, according to district documents.
PISD will have estimated expenses of more than $216 million. This has increased from FY 2023-24 by more than $4.1 million, according to district documents.
Both the revenue and expenses have slightly changed from previous discussions dating back to the board’s May 14 workshop meeting.
Despite having more expenses than revenue, salary savings will add more than $8 million to the budget, providing the district a surplus of about $2.8 million, according to district documents.
Officials are projecting the tax rate to decrease by $0.0023, bringing the tax rate from $1.1373 per $100 valuation to $1.135, according to district documents. The tax rate won’t be approved until later in the summer.
While the interest and sinking, or I&S, rate will remain at $0.3481, the maintenance and operating, or M&O, rate will decrease from $0.7892 to $0.7869, according to district documents.
More details on how individual tax bills could be affected were not immediately available following the meeting.
The district’s new fiscal year will begin July 1, according to district documents.
What else?
Trustees approved the addition of the following positions:
- One instructional coordinator, who will provide on-campus instructional coaching for elementary classroom teachers
- One instructional coach, who will assist teachers with closing achievement gaps for all students
- One dual-instructional coach, who will assist teachers with closing achievement gaps for all students at dual-language elementary campuses
Both instructional and dual-instructional coaches will cost about $76,300 each, according to district documents. This will be paid with Title I funds, which are used to provide additional staffing for schools, and Title III funds, which are used to improve education for English learners, according to the Texas Education Agency.
Also of note
Participating employees at PISD will also receive an additional $37 per month for medical insurance coverage after the board of trustees approved the increase at its June 11 meeting.
This would bring PISD staff’s medical insurance coverage from $300 to $337. This will cost the district an additional $710,400, bringing the annual cost from $5.8 million to $6.5 million, according to district documents.
What they said
“I’m a big supporter of [increasing medical insurance] simply because ... it’s one way that we can help contribute to that health care cost,” board trustee Sean Murphy said at the meeting. “Its been a few years since we revisited this. Obviously health care costs have increased significantly.”
Regardless of the surplus decreasing for additional personnel and an increase in medical insurance, board members said they are happy to see the district in a good financial position.
“This is the first time since I’ve been on this board that we have had a balanced budget, and I can only thank our taxpayers for supporting us and voting for the VATRE but also the rest of us for being fiscally conservative and responsible with the budget,” trustee Toni Carter said.
Stay tuned
PISD will receive final certified values of the budget on July 25 and adopt the tax rate at either its Aug. 20 or Sept. 10 board meeting, according to district documents.
