Klein ISD voters rejected the Tax Ratification Election on June 16 that would have raised the district tax rate by 9 cents, and the board of trustees must now make $30.2 million in cuts before adopting the budget Aug. 27, KISD Superintendent Bret Champion said.

Voters opposed the measure by a vote of 5,063-4,136, according to the Harris County clerk’s office. KISD plans to canvas the votes Wednesday, said Judy Rimato, associate superintendent of communications and planning.

The KISD board of trustees met June 21 to discuss possible cuts to the 2018-19 budget, and it will assess the final budget draft July 30. The board outlined a total of $37 million in possible cuts to allow for some variances before the budget is adopted Aug. 27, Champion said.

“The framework to reach the budget shortfall is the same plan we shared prior to the election,” Champion said. “First, finding additional revenue and then cuts in nonpayroll areas. Most hiring is currently on hold as we work through the many details related to this massive budget reduction.”

The first draft of the plan discussed June 21 included $11.7 million in campus reductions, including $3.5 million from discontinuing the permanent substitute teacher program, and using them on an as-needed basis, KISD Chief Financial Officer Dan Schaefer said. Other proposed reductions include increasing the student-to-teacher ratio by one student, which would save the district $7.8 million and result in 112.5 jobs being eliminated districtwide, he said.

The district will also save $1.7 million by delaying the opening of Elementary School No. 33, which was slated to open in August 2019, until funds are available, he said.

Other possible cuts in 2018-19 include $6.22 million in noncampus reductions, like administrative salaries, as well as $8.15 million in cuts to benefits and compensation in 2018-19 through measures like freezing salaries, Schaefer said. Another $10.3 million would be cut in 2019-20, he said.

The district will also save money by generating revenue through a state tax code provision, which allows districts to move 2 cents from the debt service portion of the tax rate to the maintenance and operations side in the year after a natural disaster, e.g., Hurricane Harvey. The move will generate $10.8 million in new revenue, he said.

See the full outline below in the letter Champion shared with KISD families last week.