Campus closures, staff cuts? North Texas schools brace for tough budgets

North Texas school districts face the possibility of campus closures and staff cuts as education leaders confront stagnant state funding, rising inflation and declining enrollment.

“It’s rough out there,” said Amanda Brownson, deputy executive director of the Texas Association of School Business Officials.

Richardson ISD officials presented Thursday a proposal to close a handful of elementary schools and reshape attendance boundaries. Fort Worth education leaders earlier this month announced the district would cut roughly 130 positions. Across the state, districts face budget shortfalls that will trigger hard choices.

Public schools’ funding troubles stem from a confluence of factors, including the looming expiration of federal pandemic relief dollars.

Plus, the Legislature has not increased the base amount of funding it provides per-student since 2019, even as the cost of bus fuel, technology and myriad other expenses skyrocketed.

“I’m frustrated because it is our kids and our teachers and our community that is paying the price,” RISD trustee Eric Eager said during the board’s recent budget discussion. “In this narrative of a failing public school system … I can tell you right now, in big business, if you want a business to fail or a subsidiary or a division, you choke it of funding. That’s how you kill it.”

Proposals to boost public school funding died in Austin last year alongside a controversial plan to allocate state dollars for private school tuition.

Gov. Greg Abbott made education savings accounts a top priority, and Republican leadership tied the fate of additional public school dollars to the passage of such a plan. Rural House Republicans and Democrats united in opposition to all voucherlike bills.

Public school leaders across Texas were incensed that the “basic allotment” per student remained stuck at $6,160 despite a huge state surplus. The impact will be felt this budget cycle.

Irving ISD plans to close two elementary schools next year and Plano trustees approved a committee to study the long-range future of the district.

“Some districts are out of time, and some districts have a couple of years and they can implement the cuts slowly over time,” Brownson said.

Changes to North Texas schools

Richardson ISD Superintendent Tabitha Branum said if the district wants to boost academic outcomes for kids, they need to have strong educators in the classroom.

“And if we’re going to attract and retain the very best teachers, we have to have room in the budget to prioritize teacher compensation,” Branum told trustees Thursday.

That’s part of why her administration presented the RISD school board with a proposal she knew would be tough for families to hear: consolidate Greenwood Hills, Springridge, Spring Valley, and Thurgood Marshall elementaries with neighboring campuses next school year. Dobie Pre-Kindergarten School would be repurposed the following year.

District officials are considering ideas for what to do with the buildings, including potentially using them for new student programs, office space or a community center.

RISD has more than 9,000 empty elementary school seats, officials said. The campus closures are part of a broader proposal, called Project RightSize, the district is working on. The plan would cut operating expenditures by nearly $11 million per year, district officials said.

The moves are not finalized. District leaders are holding listening sessions with families and staff ahead of an expected vote in March.

“Any positions that we eliminate will be done through attrition,” Branum assured staff.

RISD officials projected a roughly $28 million deficit for next school year if the district decided to give employees a 3% raise and nothing changed.

The percentage of Texas educators leaving teaching rose to a historic high, according to the Texas Education Agency. Public education advocates worry about a larger exodus. They point to concerning data points, such as a 2022 poll that found roughly three-quarters of teachers in the state said they seriously considered leaving the profession.

“Inflationary pressures are hitting our staffs’ families. Districts are feeling a lot of pressure to provide something in order to keep folks from walking out the door,” Brownson said.

In Fort Worth ISD, trustees recently approved a resolution to cut 133 positions, most of which were funded by federal dollars. School leaders are holding an internal job fair to help affected employees find different jobs within the district.

“From Seattle to Boston, school districts are being forced to make major cuts. We’re not alone,” Fort Worth board president Camille Rodriguez said during a recent meeting.

School districts are staring down the expiration of billions in federal pandemic relief funding. Many used the money to fund new positions, expand tutoring programs and offer bonuses.

Brownson said it’s not necessarily the things that districts paid for with federal funding that they need to cut.

“Maybe you were doing things with [pandemic relief money] that you have found are really important and that you need to keep,” she said. “If that’s true, then you’re going to have to find a cut somewhere else.”

The Dallas ISD administration has not yet brought its budget proposal to the board. The district is beginning to hold community budget meetings this week.

Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde previously said that she’s working on a plan to eliminate some unpopular high school programs, which would open up staff positions and funding that could be used to hire additional counselors.

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.