Houston Independent School District (HISD) school board members are expressing concern over proposed budget cuts to schools, arguing that such cuts could create instability as the district is set to be taken over by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in the coming months.
Judith Cruz, an HISD trustee who represents District VIII, thinks that even though some money is often left, cuts have been made consistently to the campuses.
“Every time we look at the budget there is money sitting in the pot, yet we’re talking about cutting money in campuses so I’m trying to reconcile that,” said Cruz, per the Houston Chronicle.
Susan Deigaard, a trustee for HISD and a representative for District V, voiced concern with the proposed cuts, similar to Cruz.
“I’m still bothered we added $100 million to our unassigned fund balances, but we’re cutting $40 million to campuses at an incredibly unstable time for this district, and I don’t understand when [sic] we’re doing it with this much savings in the bank,” said Deigaard, per the Houston Chronicle.
A state-selected board and superintendent are expected to be named by June. Board members are concerned that making significant budget cuts before the takeover could increase the expected instability.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, HISD prompted a state takeover when one of its campuses received five unacceptable accountability ratings by TEA. It will be the first district of its size to have its elected leadership dismissed and replaced by the state, perhaps opening up the possibility for the same to occur in other large, troubled districts like Dallas Independent School District (DISD).
While HISD is the first big district to trigger a takeover, DISD is currently yielding worse student outcomes. Only 81.1% of its Class of 2022 graduated in four years, and only 41% of its students scored at grade level on last year’s STAAR exams. For its part, HISD graduated roughly 85% of its seniors on time; however, it produced similar STAAR results, with 43% of students scoring at grade level.
Deigaard believes that maintaining funding levels for HISD schools would provide some stability during this transition period.
“It doesn’t make sense to me why we are putting our principals through this,” said Deigaard, per the Houston Chronicle. “This new administration and board are going to come in and make a whole lot of changes to this district.”
Superintendent Millard House II said that district officials received input from principals by attending their meetings and surveying them.
“The majority of our principals have recognized the idea of where we are at with this budget. They really understand, and the majority of them have been supportive,” said House, per the Houston Chronicle.
However, trustees noted that the sentiment across all campuses might not be the same.
“We have schools in my community that don’t have librarians, nurses and people answering the phones. I understand what you’re hearing back from principals, but we are getting different responses from the community members and other people across HISD,” District I Trustee Elizabeth Santos stated, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
House acknowledges that it is ultimately up to the board to decide whether the budget passes.
“We were trying to prevent kicking the can down the road with the deficit, which has been happening for quite some time. We feel it’s still the responsible thing to do, but at the end of the day it’s at the will of the board.”
Beginning next week, TEA representatives will collaborate with the HISD budget team. According to a district statement, Commissioner Mike Morath “engaged with school leadership” at the monthly principals’ meeting held last week, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
The district estimates that the suggested changes will save about $62 million, but additional budget cuts will likely be necessary to meet the $2.2 billion budget. If cost-cutting measures are not implemented by the 2024–2025 school year, the district’s deficit is predicted to reach around $280 million. In the fiscal year 2026, HISD’s savings fund would fall short of the needed amount.
The “hold harmless” provision allowed campuses to receive full funding despite a decline in enrollment. Eliminating the coverage would save roughly $29 million. If the district, as anticipated, eliminates funding from the small school subsidies and high school allocation, another $13 million could be saved.
