La Porte ISD trustees direct staff to build FY26 budget assuming full disaster rate; discussion continues on teacher pay and stipends

La Porte ISD trustees on May 20 told staff to build the district’s fiscal 2026 budget assuming the full 12-cent disaster portion of the maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate, a direction staff said would reduce the district’s projected deficit compared with adopting a lower rate.

At a budget workshop presented to the board, district staff outlined FY25 and FY26 estimates, tax-rate options, and multiple salary/stipend scenarios and asked for direction on two items the board must later adopt: the M&O tax rate to use in budget development and the raise percentage to include for salaries and stipends.

Staff presented multiple numerical scenarios and background: - The estimated M&O (maintenance and operations) tax-rate starting point was 0.6323 for FY26 under current law; including the full 12‑cent disaster/voter-approval portion would raise the M&O to about 0.8023, which staff said would net the district materially more revenue after recapture calculations. - Staff estimated the district’s FY25 year-end general fund balance at about $54 million and presented a scenario in…