Conroe ISD board passes 2020-21 budget, tax rate to be approved in September

Conroe ISD's fiscal year 2020-21 budget was unanimously passed by the district board of trustees during their Aug. 18 regular meeting.

The budget, which passed in a 7-0 vote, calls for $576.99 million in spending from the district's general operating funds over the coming year with the majority—just under $506 million—dedicated to payroll. Based on the approved budget, the district expects to collect $582.46 million in revenue over the coming year.

“We are in strong financial shape to address the challenges ahead with COVID-19, the start of school and then the upcoming legislative session," Chief Financial Officer Darrin Rice said.

During a public hearing on the budget prior to the regular board session, Rice said the district is planning for more than $19 million in new spending or revenue shortfalls from the pandemic this year. Rice said that figure includes more than $6 million dedicated to buying new remote learning technology; protective and sanitization equipment; additional custodial and health care staff hires; and an estimated $5 million for employee leave and absences related to COVID-19. More than $7 million in lost revenue will also contribute to the pandemic's financial effects, Rice said.

While the district unanimously passed its budget Tuesday evening, the district's FY 2020-21 tax rate is set to be approved at the board's September regular meeting. The proposed tax rate of $1.2125 per $100 property valuation includes a $0.9525 maintenance and operations rate and a $0.26 debt service rate. The overall rate represents a 1.42% decrease over CISD's FY 2019-20 rate, and Rice said the district's certified property values increased around 5.71% over the previous tax year.

During the board's regular meeting Aug. 18, trustees also unanimously approved purchases of heating, ventilation and air conditioning filter media at an annual cost of $80,000 and a one-time $160,000 purchase of the Proctorio testing security program.

CISD Purchasing Director Rick Reeves said Proctorio's secure browser, identification and plagiarism detection tools will be used for remote high school students in the district this year.

"It provides a great deal of security for our remote users to kind of level the playing field between the remote users and the kids who are on campus with a teacher in front of them," CISD Director of Information Systems Teri Ross said.