Ysleta ISD adopts 2025–26 budget and compensation plan, board splits over hourly stipends

Ysleta Independent School District trustees voted 4–3 on June 25 to adopt the district’s 2025–26 budget and an accompanying compensation plan that incorporates state funds from House Bill 2 and uses district fund balance to cover a proposed $22.2 million deficit for the year.

The budget’s adoption follows a presentation from Chief Finance and Operations Officer Lindley Cambern detailing district revenues and expenditures, including certified and preliminary property values and the effect of House Bill 2 on pay schedules. Cambern told the board the district received certified property values of $7,808,000,000 and a preliminary appraisal figure of $8,986,000,000 — an increase she described as about 15.1 percent. She said the proposed budget includes $21.9 million in additional revenues from House Bill 2 and required related expenditures of $16.8 million, leaving a net proposed deficit of $22.2 million that the board will close in part by using fund balance.

Why it matters: the adopted plan places state-directed raises for eligible teachers and support staff onto the district salary schedules while also directing limited general-fund dollars toward hourly employees. That decision prompted substantial public comment and an extended trustee debate because many hourly employees and union…