The Austin Independent School District‘s budget for the next fiscal year will be tight, but board members still think they can square the circle of falling revenues and rising costs. Staff recently presented a draft $1.448 billion budget for FY 2018 to the board (with $534 million of that going to the state in recapture payments). That means an estimated $43 million shortfall, and the administration is working on both finding efficiency savings and negotiating a staff pay raise. If they can’t get all the way there with current tax income, board president Kendall Pace said, “I’m okay with using reserves this year, [but] what’s the plan in the out-years?” While AISD enrollment is falling at a lower rate than anticipated, it is still dropping. Unless the district reverses that trend, Pace sees it as unlikely that they can financially justify keeping all campuses open. While that might be unpopular with many, it’s edging closer to a political reality. Even District 2 Rep. Jayme Mathias, who ran in 2014 on an explicit anti-closure platform, has talked about the benefits of consolidation into new campuses. As Pace warned, “If we don’t get a bond passed, and we don’t get any legislative relief, then it’s closures.”
This article appears in May 5 • 2017.
