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LBB recommends modest increases for Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired and Texas School for the Deaf; educators request program and campus funding
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Summary
LBB recommended $72.9 million for the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and $84.9 million for the Texas School for the Deaf in 2026–27; agency leaders outlined requests for salary adjustments, related services funding, transportation and campus infrastructure projects not fully funded in the introduced recommendation.
Legislative Budget Board staff and agency leaders from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) and the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) presented agency‑level budgets and exceptional‑item requests to the Article III subcommittee.
Why it matters: Both schools serve small statewide special‑education populations with specialized residential and outreach services elected districts often cannot provide. Their budgets include salary parity provisions tied to Austin ISD salary schedules, federally mandated related services and sizeable capital and campus‑infrastructure requests.
TSBVI highlights - LBB recommended about $72.9 million in all funds for 2026–27, an increase of roughly $4.5 million (6.6%) from the base, LBB presenter Antonio Najera told the committee. - Major items: LBB listed a $900,000 request to maintain education professional salary increases (TSBVI is required by statute to match Austin ISD educator increases), a $5.7 million general‑revenue increase for related services and administration (including $600,000 for previously vacant central‑office positions and $5.1 million to maintain federally required related services), and $1.6 million for student transportation that includes $1 million for charter bus weekend‑home travel. - Superintendent Emily Coleman described program needs including residential staffing shortages (the school reported a 7% vacancy rate in residential and 23% in weekends‑home staffing), increased outreach and teacher mentor programs tied to new deafblind certification, cyber security and infrastructure refreshes, and an exceptional request for a blind soccer pitch to expand athletic and leadership opportunities.
TSD highlights - LBB recommended about $84.9 million in all funds for TSD for the biennium, a roughly $1.8 million (2.2%) increase. LBB identified a $600,000 request to maintain Austin ISD salary parity for teachers and a $3.5 million general‑revenue increase for federally mandated special‑education services (30.7 FTEs), plus $7.6 million for transportation (including $2 million for charter buses). - Superintendent Peter Bailey and CFO Justin Weddell emphasized a central utility plant that they say is approaching critical age; TSD’s requested phase 3B campus master‑plan funding of $35.3 million to upgrade the central utility plant was not included in the LBB recommendation.
Members’ questions touched on the number of students served (TSBVI serves about 11,000 identified students statewide with roughly 300 short‑term program and 140 full‑time campus students; TSD reported serving about 7,500 statewide through outreach and about 500 on campus, 250 residential), vacancy rates and the interplay between salary riders and local educator markets.
Ending: Both agencies asked the subcommittee to consider exceptional items for salary and staffing parity, infrastructure and expanded outreach in the Article III appropriations process.
