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Godley ISD previews balanced 2025–26 budget, warns most revenue tied to payroll and fixed costs
Summary
At a May budget workshop, Godley Independent School District staff presented a preliminary balanced 2025–26 budget that preserves current positions, emphasizes safety and technology, and shows payroll and fixed costs consuming roughly 96% of projected expenditures, leaving limited new money for program growth.
Godley Independent School District presented a preliminary balanced budget for the 2025–26 school year during a budget workshop, with adoption scheduled for the June 16 board meeting and the official tax-rate adoption planned for August after certified values are released.
The budget presentation, delivered by Spencer, a district staff member, said the proposal preserves existing positions and adds a small number of roles while projecting no net addition to the fund balance in the base proposal. "I'm presenting a balanced budget, so there would be nothing going into fund balance right now," Spencer said.
Why it matters: Spencer told trustees that payroll and fixed costs leave the district little flexibility. After payroll, shared services and fixed items, the presentation shows roughly 96.2% of the budget already committed to staffing and essential campus functions; about 3.8% remains for discretionary items. That leaves about $100,000–$150,000 of "new money" after accounting for enrollment growth and projected step increases, Spencer said.
Key details: The district projects enrollment growth of about 213 students next year. That growth is estimated to generate about $1.4 million to $1.5 million in additional revenue, while a one-step raise for eligible staff would cost roughly $700,000. Fixed costs that reduced flexibility this year include a 20% increase in the district's JCSSA shared-services payment, an 18% insurance increase last year (projected 5–10% this year), and other utilities and maintenance line items.
Spencer told the board that function-level spending remains focused on instruction: "If we look at instruction, library, media, curriculum, instruction all specifically related to the classroom, we're well over 50% of the funding that goes directly to classrooms." He also noted that some positions (about five FTEs referenced in the packet) are in the budget authorization but not currently funded; those would require additional revenue or state action to fill.
Discussion and next steps: Trustees asked for comparative data on staff pay and historical function-level budget snapshots; Spencer agreed to provide multi-year comparisons and a district pay study for the next workshop on June 9. The board will consider and is scheduled to adopt the 2024–25 amended budget and the preliminary 2025–26 budget on June 16; the tax rate will not be adopted until August after county-certified values and TEA calculations are final.
Ending: Spencer said the district will continue to monitor state legislative activity that could provide additional funding and that any new state dollars would be presented to the board for allocation. The board did not take a formal vote on the 2025–26 budget at the workshop.
