CFO outlines budget shortfalls, Senate Bill 2 effects and proposal to shift fiscal year to July 1

Rudy Cocino, Brazosport ISD chief financial officer, told trustees the district adopted a 2025 budget with an $11.7 million deficit but that improved revenue and planned reductions have reduced the projected shortfall.

Cocino said actual Chapter 313 revenues will be higher than budgeted and special-education services brought additional revenue; he reported a projected year-end fund balance of about $38.2 million, roughly $77,000 above the district target. He said the district now expects to end the year with a projected deficit of $5.6 million — about $6.1 million better than originally anticipated.

Cocino reviewed tentative state-level changes filed in Senate Bill 2 that would affect school finance. He highlighted three provisions that were straightforward to estimate: an increase in the basic allotment from $6,160 to $6,380 (projected to add roughly $3.3 million to district revenue under preliminary estimates), a new per-ADA aid for certain regional insurance costs (about $55 per ADA, roughly $550,000) and a move to an intensity-of-services model for special education plus $1,000 per special-education evaluation (roughly $500,000 to the district under preliminary modeling). Cocino cautioned the figures are preliminary and that more legislative changes and certified property-value estimates could change projections.

To close the remaining gap for 2026, Cocino presented cost-reduction options. The single largest proposal would shift the district’s fiscal-year start from Sept. 1 to July 1 beginning in FY2026–27. He said that move would provide a one-time savings of about $5 million by eliminating two months of operating expenses in the transition year and would align the district with federal-grant July 1 cycles; the board would adopt a modified 2025–26 schedule (Sept. 1, 2025–June 30, 2026) before changing the fiscal year to begin July 1, 2026.

Other proposed reductions included reclassifying certain software-license purchases to capital projects (approx. $1.5 million), lowering property-insurance costs ($400,000) and drawing on workers’ compensation fund balances to reduce next-year charges ($245,000). Cocino said the package of contemplated reductions could total about $8.4 million; under current-law revenue assumptions that would reduce a projected $12.6 million shortfall to about $4.2 million, and under the Senate Bill 2 scenario the deficit could fall to roughly $900,000 after the same cuts.

Cocino described implementation trade-offs, including an accelerated budget-adoption timeline (adopting the budget earlier in the summer before certified property values are finalized) and the need for staff and campuses to adjust purchasing timing. He said staff will continue to refine projections using the April 30 property-value preliminary estimate and will update trustees in subsequent meetings.

Ending: Cocino said the district will keep the board informed as property values and legislative details arrive; trustees asked clarifying questions about timelines and the potential for pay increases, which the staff said have not yet been finalized.