About 300 Socorro ISD employees will be laid off in the coming weeks, the starkest of a number of actions the school board approved Wednesday to cut $38 million from next year’s budget. Socorro’s dire financial situation – officials said the district would be insolvent next year without the steep cuts – has a number of causes. But the primary cause is simple: The district has been spending more money than it takes in for a decade. And each year in that time, the Socorro ISD board voted to knowingly spend more than it was taking in, according to a presentation the school board received during the meeting. view article

The Canutillo Independent School District is grappling with a severe budget deficit that could lead to bankruptcy, according to Superintendent Dr. Pedro Galaviz. In a message shared on social media, Galaviz warned of "a serious financial challenge" facing the district, necessitating further cuts to address the shortfall. view article

Denton ISD wants to pay talented, skilled teachers more. Administrators said they plan to apply to the Teacher Incentive Allotment, a program created by the 86th Texas Legislature meant to put educators on a path to a six-figure salary. view article

While the Lottery Commission says it can’t regulate sales to couriers, lawmakers want changes after two major jackpots were won using those services.   view article

Parents in the Socorro Independent School District (SISD) are expressing shock and concern over potential cuts to fine arts programs in elementary schools, which could take effect next year. Union officials and fine arts teachers have indicated that most elementary students may lose access to these programs. view article

A dual language enrichment program in Conroe ISD will continue after the superintendent had previously moved to end the program. The program's uncertainty had some parents upset. Some of the parents who support the program are breathing a sigh of relief, but the program's future is still unclear. view article

Budgeting and the 89th Texas Legislature were high on the list of priorities at College Station ISD’s Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday. As the legislative session progresses, one of the district’s big concerns is the basic allotment not increasing. The basic allotment is the minimum amount of money a school district receives per student from the state. It’s remained stagnant at $6,160 since 2019. view article

Budgeting and the 89th Texas Legislature were high on the list of priorities at College Station ISD’s Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday. As the legislative session progresses, one of the district’s big concerns is the basic allotment not increasing. The basic allotment is the minimum amount of money a school district receives per student from the state. It’s remained stagnant at $6,160 since 2019. view article

New funding requests, compounding costs and lower-than-projected property tax revenue has pushed the Austin school district’s budget deficit from $92 million to $110 million, prompting officials to implement a spending and hiring freeze, interim Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery told board members. view article

New funding requests, compounding costs and lower-than-projected property tax revenue has pushed the Austin school district’s budget deficit from $92 million to $110 million, prompting officials to implement a spending and hiring freeze, interim Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery told board members. view article

New funding requests, compounding costs and lower-than-projected property tax revenue has pushed the Austin school district’s budget deficit from $92 million to $110 million, prompting officials to implement a spending and hiring freeze, interim Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery told board members. view article

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The quality of education a child receives in the early years sets the stage for future learning and academic achievement. Many students, at every level of education, need additional supports such as tutoring, special education, or language services to be successful academically. Our analysis of campus-level spending on educational programs found that when Texas cut education funding, low-income students and those in need of additional support lost the most.  view article

New funding requests, compounding costs and lower-than-projected property tax revenue has pushed the Austin school district’s budget deficit from $92 million to $110 million, prompting officials to implement a spending and hiring freeze, interim Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery told board members. view article

The Socorro Independent School District (SISD) in El Paso is preparing to lay off employees as it grapples with a $38 million budget deficit. Interim Superintendent James Vasquez announced the impending layoffs in an email to teachers and staff, stating that the district must make these cuts to ensure financial stability for the 2025-2026 school year. view article

The Austin Independent School District (AISD) announced a districtwide spending and hiring freeze starting March 1 as it grapples with a worsening financial crisis. The decision follows the approval of the 2024-25 budget in June and aims to address a projected budget deficit that has ballooned from $78 million to $110 million, despite $26 million in cuts. view article

The Socorro Independent School District is planning to lay off employees, increase class sizes and cut programs in an effort to save itself from financial ruin. SISD employees late Friday received an email from Acting Superintendent James Vasquez informing them the district needs to reduce its budget by $38 million for the 2025-26 school year and will need to cut staff to do so. view article

fficials in the Fort Worth Independent School District are looking to turn over operations at a struggling middle school to Texas Wesleyan University as a part of an six-year-old partnership with the college. Fort Worth ISD’s board will consider a proposal to renew its partnership with the university to run the five campuses currently in the district’s Leadership Academy Network, and also to add Leonard Middle School to the network. view article

Austin ISD will institute a districtwide hiring freeze on March 1 as the school district tries to claw its way out of a financial hole that has grown deeper since the 2024-25 budget was approved in June. Though district officials initially anticipated a $78 million budget deficit, that figure climbed to $92 million. Now, it’s reached $110 million, despite Austin ISD already making $26 million in spending cuts. Only special education services will be exempt from the hiring freeze, according to a district spokesperson. view article

Interim Superintendent Karen Molinar knows Fort Worth ISD needs to close schools. She isn’t sure when or how many. However, she knows the district cannot keep stretching resources into too many classrooms with too few students. “We’re trying to staff 140 buildings when we do not need that many buildings,” Molinar told the Fort Worth ISD Council of PTAs during its annual luncheon Feb. 11. “When we do consolidate, we’re going to be able to increase the resources for our students.” view article

Fort Worth ISD is considering closing up to 25 schools to address a $17 million budget deficit, a move that has caught many parents by surprise. The district, which serves about 75,000 students, could undergo significant changes that many families say caught them off guard. view article

Following a Texas Supreme Court ruling denying the City of Houston’s appeal of a decision ordering the city to spend $100 million more on water drainage infrastructure, City Controller Chris Hollins warned that without significant cuts or increased revenue, he might not be able to certify the fiscal year 2026 budget this coming June.  view article

The multi-billion dollar bond was later rejected by voters, but questions have been raised about wording in the budget item.   view article

Texas’ population surpassed 31 million in 2024, state demographer Lloyd Potter told attendees at the two-day Water for Texas conference Jan. 28 in Austin. He stressed the importance of investing in infrastructure as people and businesses move to the state. “Water is one of the most urgent and important things for Texas right now. ... If you have people, you need water,” Potter said. “The people individually need water, and then all the infrastructure that comes with them needs water.” view article

In a typical school week, Delaila Constante makes more than a dozen calls to parents of students who are frequently absent from school. Last October, she made around 50 to 60 calls each week. view article

District administrators highlighted areas of priority for GISD in a Jan. 7 board workshop, which will be shared with the broader district community and legislators, to communicate what is important to the school district serving their constituents: view article

Big changes are coming to Northwest Independent School District after voters rejected funding proposals last November, and parents are just starting to hear about it. The district, which has some of the fastest growth in the region and serves roughly 34,000 students in Tarrant, Denton and Wise counties, is facing a massive $16 million budget shortfall. Now, tough decisions are being made to keep things afloat. view article

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott insisted Monday that he would accept nothing less than a robust, universal school choice voucher program, and he resisted calls to join the plan with blanket increases in public school funding. view article

Chronically absent students — those who missed at least 10% of their school days — are more likely to drop out, education advocates say.   view article

Jonathan Pastusek, Northwest ISD’s chief financial officer, recently likened his district’s current financial predicament to moving “big rocks.” Those big rocks include staffing adjustments, program efficiencies and budget reductions aimed at closing a $16 million budget shortfall for the 2025-26 school year. In November, district residents rejected an increased tax rate that would have raised enough revenue to cover the deficit. view article

Gov. Greg Abbott will lay out his legislative priorities Sunday night during his biennial State of the State address giving lawmakers marching orders on what topics he wants them to fast-track this session. view article

The Board of Trustees at the La Joya Independent School District approved a plan that would affect three of its elementary campuses. Board members met Wednesday to approve a plan to restart Evangelina Garza Elementary and Juan N. Seguin Elementary schools under the Accelerated Campus Excellence (ACE) model. According to La Joya ISD, the ACE model is a proven turnaround approach that has successfully transformed over 50 low-performing schools across Texas into high-performing campuses. view article

Round Rock ISD board members on June 17 adopted a $467.42 million general operating budget for fiscal year 2021-22. The general operating fund budget includes $444.53 million in revenues and $467.42 million in expenses, creating a deficit in this fund of $17.2 million, RRISD Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Adix said. view article

State lawmakers were prepared for a budget crunch, since the COVID-19 pandemic slashed revenues from sales taxes, energy taxes, and other sources. The question they now face is how to close the shortfall without choking off long-term growth.  The answer is far from clear, but it’s certain to involve cuts to popular programs.  In fact, such cuts are what's expected this session. The state comptroller's office says lawmakers need to close a shortfall of nearly $1 billion in revenues. And Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton of Conroe, who serves on the Senate Finance Committee, noted that Gov. Greg Abbott has asked state agencies to reduce budgets by 5%. view article

Bryan ISD's Board of Trustees have approved a one-time $500 supplement for their salaried employees. Teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses, administrators and professional staff receive their pay bonus on their Dec 15 paycheck. view article

Texas pre-K programs are just scraping by after losing millions of dollars last year — and without sustainable funding, they could see greater problems down the line, school officials say. During the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers decided not to fund a $118 million high-quality pre-K grant program that was created in 2015 and championed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The money had gone to 573 districts and charter schools that pledged to meet measures such as setting a lower student-teacher ratio, avoiding Common Core curricula and reporting student progress to the state. view article