Houston ISD Board Leaders Narrowly Approve $2.1 Billion Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25

Houston ISD board directors narrowly approved a roughly $2.1 billion budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year after hearing from more than 100 students, parents, teachers and members of the community at the June 13 council meeting.

The overview

Board directors voted 5-4 to approve the budget, the board’s closest vote since they and Superintendent Mike Miles were named to lead the district by the Texas Education Agency in June 2023.

Although board directors Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, Michelle Cruz Arnold, Rolando Martinez and Adam Rivon voted against the budget, they have not openly spoken about their decision to cast dissenting votes.

Despite a budget shortfall of nearly $528 million, average teacher salaries districtwide will increase from $68,250 in the 2023-24 fiscal year to $77,300 in the 2024-25 fiscal year .

Miles and the board released a joint statement after the vote saying they would “continue to work together and have difficult conversations as necessary to ensure we remain focused on improving student outcomes for all students HISD.”

How we got here

During a budget workshop on May 23, Finance Director Jim Terry highlighted several factors causing the district’s budget deficit, including:

Terry said the district is projecting a student population of 179,592 students for the 2024-2025 school year, which would represent a decrease of approximately 14.2% from the district’s student population of 209,309 students for the 2019-2020 school year.

To look closer

At a June 10 workshop, Miles said the fiscal year 2024-25 budget would reduce operational expenses by about $500 million compared to the fiscal year 2023-24 budget.

Among those reductions are about 1,500 layoffs at the district’s central office, Miles said, including:

• An 88 percent cut, or about $97 million, to the district’s human resources office budget
• A 45 percent budget cut, or about $101 million, for the district’s operations office, which employs custodians, bus drivers, maintenance workers and other non-teaching staff.
• A 37 percent budget cut, or about $69 million, for the district’s academic office, which employs classroom and program support staff.
• A 58 percent cut, or about $68 million, to the district’s office of information technology budget.

According to budget documents, the district is allocating about $684 million, or about a third of the budget, to fund 130 “New Education System” or “NES” campuses included in the budget.

NES campuses, which include centralized schedules with longer school days as well as district-approved classroom instruction and lessons, were the cornerstone of Miles’ overhaul of the district.

Eighty-five of HISD’s 274 campuses operated under the NES model in the 2023-2024 school year, and an additional 45 schools will be under that model in the fall.

Although NES campuses are expected to have about 23,000 fewer students than non-NES campuses next year, the FY 2024-25 budget allocates about $27 million more to NES campuses, which equates to about 2 $500 more per student.

Miles said the extra money is used to fund the hiring of new staff members, a new curriculum and higher salaries for teachers. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, average salaries on NES campuses will increase to $84,400, compared to $77,300 at non-NES schools.

Also note

The FY 2024-25 budget also includes the elimination of approximately 200 employees who provide comprehensive support services. HISD employs approximately 300 comprehensive specialists who help students and their families resolve issues outside of the classroom, including:

• Assistance with food and housing
• Tutoring
• Mentoring
• Help with obtaining basic needs, such as clothing and hygiene products

Officials noted that services will still be provided at seven Sunrise Centers across the district, which serve as community hubs where students and their families can access essential services from a variety of partners and providers.

Additionally, the FY 2024-25 budget includes approximately $1.8 million to expand the district’s partnership with Hazel Health to provide:

• Free Telehealth Services for Every HISD Student
• Resources to support school nurses
• Behavioral and mental health counseling
• Access to a clinical support team to help families navigate long-term treatment plans

And after

In addition to the roughly $500 million reduction in operating expenses included in the 2024-25 fiscal year budget, Miles said about $131 million was taken from the district’s reserve funding to make up a budget deficit of approximately $528 million.

Miles said the district will still have about $801 million in reserve funding between now and the 2024-25 fiscal year, noting the drop is not expected to affect the district’s bond rating.

Additionally, Miles said officials plan to sell properties worth $80 million next year, although he did not specify which properties the district plans to sell.