Conroe ISD is looking to cover increasing costs and staffing needs in the 2024-25 fiscal year despite a lack of increased state funding.
The Texas Legislature designated $4 billion for public education funding in the 88th legislative session in 2023, but measures to provide that funding to schools failed to pass.
CISD expects an $11.9 million budget shortfall in 2024-25. Officials said the district can cover the gap this year, but planning for the 2025-26 fiscal year may require other approaches.
“December, January is when those decisions [to make cuts] are going to have to be made,” Superintendent Curtis Null said.
A public hearing and vote on the budget and a tax rate of $0.9496 per $100 valuation was held Aug. 20.
What’s happening?
Of the 16 Greater Houston-area school districts covered by Community Impact, officials for 11 districts said they are expecting budget shortfalls in FY 2024-25.
Comparing the anticipated budget shortfalls per student by using the Texas Education Agency’s 2023-24 student enrollment numbers, CISD’s shortfall of $245 per student was smaller than that of other neighboring districts. However, CISD officials said enrollment numbers are growing, and the shortfall will continue to increase if legislative action does not occur.
CISD leaders have attributed the budget shortfalls to high rates of inflation and a lack of additional funding from the state’s 2023 legislative session as well as increasing personnel needs due to enrollment growth, especially in special education.
“There’s just a mix of things that are really pressuring school districts into having to make and adopt deficit budgets or cut programs, ... and that is a big problem moving into not only next school year, but the school year after,” said Bob Popinski, senior director of policy at Raise Your Hand Texas, a nonprofit education advocacy group.
Personnel additions in CISD’s FY 2024-25 budget include 147 new full-time positions, which will add $10.8 million to the projected budget, CISD Chief Financial Officer Karen Garza said. The estimated total expenditures in 2024-25 are $711.97 million, she said. Garza said many of the personnel additions are in special education, which has seen enrollment nearly double since 2020 because qualifications for student eligibility have changed, and more students have been able to enter the program.
Increased overall enrollment projections in the district provided some additional state revenue for 2024-25, reducing the anticipated shortfall, Garza said. According to the TEA website, enrollment projections are used by the Legislature to determine the cost of public education for the next legislative session and determine state aid for schools.
CISD officials said while major budget cuts were not planned in 2024-25, they will be needed in 2025-26 if legislative action does not bring more funding to public schools.
To balance the budget in the 2024-25 year, the district can dip into its fund balance, or reserves, but that is a one-time solution, Garza said.
The fund balance of $152.2 million can be used to cover the shortfall this year, but the fund balance is not a sustainable solution because the district aims to maintain a fund balance of 20% of the budget, Garza said. As of August 2025, the fund balance is projected to be $140.3 million, which will fall short of the minimum required for 2025-26.
“Since 2019, there has been no increase in the basic allotment, despite inflationary price increases we have seen," Garza said.
“There has never been a session where public education funding has not gone up, and with the exception of this past legislative session, it’s the only time it hasn’t kept pace with inflation," said Texas House District 15 Rep. Steve Toth.
“We should be able to come out, even in January, and tell our staff, ‘Everyone will have a job. You may not have the job you have today, but ... you will have a job'," said CISD Superintendent Curtis Null.
Why it matters
Looking ahead to FY 2025-26, a plan for employee raises is not yet included in projections, Garza said. The FY 2025-26 budget year has a projected $17.43 million shortfall, according to the funding formula.
“As we begin planning ... for budget cuts for the 2025-26 year, ... we’ll bring you a menu of items in terms of what we want to cut because we want to have a plan in place in the event that the Legislature does not provide any additional funding for us,” Garza said. “Our fund balance will not support another deficit budget.”
Since almost all of the district’s maintenance and operations budget is in payroll, the district will have to consider its staffing numbers if additional legislative aid does not come through, officials said. However, Garza said the district will rely more on strategies such as leaving positions unfilled or increasing class sizes rather than layoffs. “Given our natural turnover in staff from year to year, we should be able to accomplish this through attrition in the event we have to eliminate positions,” Garza said.
What’s next?
Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, filed Senate Bills 1 and 2 during the 88th Legislature in 2023 that would have provided funds for public education and teacher stipends, but also included funding for private school vouchers with up to $8,000 for each student through an education savings account.
The bills were sent to the House of Representatives but did not advance beyond that stage.
“There is ... strong support to pass the school finance legislation I filed last year, which would infuse our public schools with historic new funding and provide an increase to the basic allotment,” Creighton said in an email. “Anyone who asserts that we can’t deliver historic new funding for public schools while also providing school choice is ... grossly misinformed.”
