UVALDE — District finance staff presented a preliminary 2025–26 budget at the July 10 UVALDE CISD board meeting and asked trustees to set a refined-ADA target to finalize revenue projections.

“This is a budget workshop, and we're gonna go over kinda some preliminary numbers, but, of course, you know, we're still working through legislative updates,” finance staff member Miss Federle told the board.

Federal grants and timing
Staff reported a delay in U.S. Department of Education allocations routed through the Texas Education Agency that put several federal programs on temporary hold. Impacted programs named in the presentation include Title I (Part A and Part C/migrant), Title II Part A, Title III (English learner support), Title IV and the 21st Century Community Learning Centers aftercare grant; the TEA has extended the 21st Century spending deadline this year to Sept. 30. The district said it can draw on current carryover to cover payroll in the short term but warned that protracted grant delays could affect positions supported by those grants.

Revenue, projections and the ADA question
Staff presented a conservative revenue forecast and said local property-tax revenue is expected to decline modestly because of changes to homestead exemptions in recent legislation. The district’s working template showed overall revenues down roughly $300,000 from the current year. Staff also said they have reduced projected salaries by about $2.5 million from the revised budget to the proposed budget, which they attributed primarily to scheduling changes, fewer class sections with very small enrollments, and other vacancy-driven savings.

A central disagreement among trustees and staff concerned the refined average daily attendance (refined ADA) to use in the budget template. Staff recommended a conservative figure (a 90% factor on current refined ADA) to reflect historical declines; trustees pushed back, noting that last year’s state projection undercounted the district and that modest improvements in attendance and program changes could raise ADA. The choice of refined ADA changes state allotment estimates by hundreds of thousands to more than $2 million.

Compensation and fringe costs
Trustees were briefed on state-required teacher compensation increases: the state’s $4,000–$8,000 teacher salary changes generate additional fringe costs (benefits) that the state does not fully fund. Staff told the board that, as a rule of thumb, each $1,000 increase in payroll costs roughly $100 more in benefits for the district, creating a budget pressure beyond the base pay increase.

Other items
• Staff reported an estimated $180,000 in new insurance cost to cover a forthcoming new campus (insurance is roughly $3,000 per $1 million of building value) but said carriers also expect some savings elsewhere.
• The district is monitoring delinquent tax collections and will ask the appraisals office to present certified values after July 25.
• The finance team asked for trustee guidance on a target number so it can publish the legally required budget notice (staff said the newspaper notice deadline is Aug. 4) and prepare the adoption resolution.

Board direction and next steps
Trustees asked staff to aim for a balanced budget but did not adopt final assumptions. Several trustees said they will press for an updated truancy and attendance-enforcement policy (to increase ADA) and requested more frequent, more detailed budget projections to track encumbrances and unspent allotments. Staff said they will return with updated figures after the appraisal district’s certified values and asked trustees to provide a target refined-ADA number before the next meeting so staff can prepare the public notice and final documents.

Vote at a glance
• Adjournment motion — Motion to adjourn made by Trustee Suarez; second by Trustee Flores. Chair declared the motion carried unanimously (recorded as “All in favor”); roll-call tally not read aloud.

No budget adoption took place at the workshop; trustees are scheduled to consider adoption after staff incorporates the appraisal district’s certified values and any adjustments the board requests.