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Midyear review: Crowley ISD revenues outpace expenditures; trustees keep pay raises under study
Summary
CFO Dwayne Fisher told the board the district’s revenues are outpacing expenditures, the district holds roughly $35 million in fund balance (about 19% of expenditures), and staff will present pay‑increase scenarios later this spring. Trustees also asked for deeper analysis of potential federal funding impacts.
CFO Dwayne Fisher presented the district’s midyear 2024–25 budget review Wednesday, telling trustees that revenues are outpacing expenditures and that the district’s fund balance improved following the prior year’s adjustments.
Fisher walked the board through the district’s “financial big six” guiding principles — a conservative approach to revenue projections, an aggressive approach to monitoring expense drivers, protection of fund balance, and a focus on investments in classroom instruction. He said the district’s beginning and final budgeted revenue numbers came within 0.49% of actual revenue last year, and staff use multiple analytic tools to compare budget-to-actuals by TEA function.
“Instruction remains the main thing,” Fisher said, describing the vertical analysis that keeps classroom expenditures prioritized and showing that the district reached roughly 67% of the fiscal year as of the February reporting cutoff.
Fisher said prior budget reductions and a targeted spending freeze reduced projected shortfalls; he reported a fund balance position of about $35 million (about 19% of expenditures for fiscal year 2023–24) as an outcome of that management.
Board President June W. Davis and other trustees pressed staff about salary and benefits. Davis noted the district had not been able to grant raises entering the year and asked whether, given the improved position, staff could begin considering pay increases and higher contributions to health insurance. Fisher and Superintendent Michael McFarland said staff will prepare best-case, worst-case and most-likely scenarios and present options to the board; no compensation decisions were made at Wednesday’s meeting.
Trustees also asked about federal funding uncertainty. Fisher said the district has roughly 35 federally funded positions and that administrators are preparing scenario plans in case federal funds are reduced or delayed.
Fisher closed by sharing the budget calendar and explaining next steps; the board will receive scenarios and additional detail on April 24, and staff expect to return with recommended options once legislative and federal funding uncertainties are clearer.
