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Prosper ISD officials have balanced a nearly $10 million deficit in the 2023-24 fiscal year budget as student growth exceeded budgeted revenue expectations.
The district will receive an additional $10 million in state revenue to go toward the budget, said Bill Beavers, president of PISD’s board of trustees. The board of trustees approved the budget amendment Oct. 16.
The background
The board of trustees approved its budget and tax rate for FY 2023-24 on Aug. 28.
Here is a quick breakdown of what is included in the approved budget:
The preliminary general budget accounted for $296.21 million in revenue from local, state and federal sources. District officials expected $306.01 million in expenditures for the general fund, creating a $9.79 million shortfall, according to the approved budget.
What happened
Student enrollment in the 2023-24 school year has increased by 3,458 students from the 2022-23 school year, according to district data.
Due to the fast growth of the district, Superintendent Holly Ferguson said student numbers surpassed the district’s demography projections used when creating the FY 2023-24 budget. With this, the increased enrollment brought in $10 million to balance the budget’s maintenance and operations fund, she said.
“Welcome to being in the black, not the red,” Ferguson said. “It’s always a good thing.”
Stay tuned
Texas lawmakers began the third special session of the year Oct. 9. The session will address school finance, such as teacher salaries, Ferguson said.
On Oct. 12, the Texas Senate voted to inject $5.2 billion into Texas public schools, which would provide raises for Texas teachers, increase the base amount of money schools receive per student and boost funding for school safety.
“We’ll be keeping our eye on that special session to see what’s occurring,” Ferguson said.
